Yes, there is a new version of the evolving history of DC cooperatives!

Washington, DC has had a long history of cooperatives. In part, this was because African Americans have sought to form cooperatives as a way create economic and political freedom. As Jessica Gordon Nembhard has argued, “African Americans have used cooperative economic development as a strategy in the struggle for economic stability and independence.”  In 1907,W.E.B. Dubois spoke in favor of a wide range of cooperatives and alternative economic institutions. Cooperatives would remain a key institution in the toolbox of African American social movements. These attempts were supported in DC by people like Arthur Capper, a Kansas senator who headed the District of Columbia Committee, and Cornelius “Cornbread” Givens,  a national advocate for cooperatives, who moved to DC when Marion Barry became mayor.  Washington, DC remains a central location for these social movements and thus would have a rich cooperative history.

Johanna Bockman has been slowly writing an evolving history of DC cooperatives. Here is the newest version of this history, which she presented at the 2014 DC Historical Studies conference: http://tinyurl.com/lck8j5d  (The earlier version: https://coopdc.org/evolving-history-of-dc-cooperatives/)

She is going to revise this paper significantly. If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to contact Johanna Bockman: johanna.bockman@gmail.com