Council Member Michael A. Brown, Chair of the Special Committee on Statehood and Self-Determination, invited several noted historians to testify about the history of the District of Columbia and the impact of that history on D.C.'s struggle for voting rights and statehood.  

Professor Kenneth R. Bowling is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the History Department at The George Washington University. He spoke about the early history of the new national capital (1779-1801). His testimony follows.

C.R. Gibbs, a historian, author, Smithsonian Institution Scholar and Founder of the African History and Culture Lecture Series, spoke about the District's history during the early Mayoral Period (1802-1871), the period of the Territorial government (1871-1874), and the period of Presidentially appointed three member commission government (1874-1961).  His testimony follows.

Samuel Jordan, is a D.C. human rights lawyer and former chairperson of the D.C. Statehood Party and member of D.C. Statehood - Yew We Can!.  His testimony follows.

Washington Post reporter David Nakamura covered Emancipation Day in D.C. and D.C. rapper Rasi Caprice's rap "Free D.C."

On May 13, 2009, the D.C. Council's Special Committee on Statehood and Self-Determination, chaired by Council Member Michael A. Brown, held a public hearing on the history of the District of Columbia and that history's impact on voting rights and statehood for D.C. The hearing concluded with a panel of five D.C. high school students who eloquently expressed their desire to be full citizens of the United States.  The students were Ms. Lisa Femia, a junior at Woodrow Wilson Senior High School, Pricilla Lyle, a senior at Hyde Public Charter School, Hayley Miles McLean and Miya Brown, both seniors at the School Without Walls, and Jameelah Morris, a senior at Benjamin Banneker High School.