Jesse Holland - Black Men Built the Capitol: Discovering African-American History In and Around Washington, D.C.

Jesse J. Holland is a nationally recognized journalist and media personality from Washington, D.C., who for years has combined his work as a political writer for the worlds largest news organization, The Associated Press, with a love of African-American history and news.

In addition to being responsible for coverage of the confirmation process of the three most recent Supreme Court justice candidatesJustices John Roberts and Samuel Alito, as well as failed nominee Harriet MiersHolland has written hundreds of stories about African-American politics, history, and news for the New York Times and for The Associated Press in Washington; Columbia, South Carolina; and Albany, New York.

PHOTO BY VICKI KELLIEBREW

In 2004 Holland became the first African American ever elected to the Congressional Standing Committee of Correspondents, a congressionally created committee of journalists elected by their Washington, D.C., peers to represent the Congressional Press Corps in front of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Holland has been a guest on a number of shows discussing African-American and Washington political topics; he has appeared on C-SPANs Washington Journal, ABCs News Now, and WHUT-TVs Evening Exchange with Kojo Nnamdi. He is also the former host of The Wednesday Agenda radio talk show on WUMSFM in Oxford, Mississippi, and has appeared as a guest on the Inside Albany political television show in Albany, New York, and WIS-TVs Newswatch in Columbia, South Carolina.

Holland is a member of the prestigious National Press Club, the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Washington Association of Black Journalists, and he is one of the creators of the former newspaper comic strip Hippie and the Black Guy. He is also a co-founder of two National Association of Black Journalists chapters: the University of Mississippi Association of Black Journalists and the South Carolina Midlands Association of Black Journalists. He is an active member of the Washington Press Club Foundation, which promotes and provides funding for aspiring female and minority journalists.

Originally from Holly Springs, Mississippi, Holland graduated from the University of Mississippi with degrees in journalism and English. While at Ole Miss, he was only the second African-American editor of the daily campus newspaper, The Daily Mississippian. He now lives in the historically African-American section of Washington, D.C.s, Capitol Hill neighborhood with his wife, Carol, and his daughter, Rita.

First and foremost I thank the two loves of my life, Carol June and Rita Elaine. Without them none of this would have been possible. This book is dedicated to them.

I also want to thank my parents, Jesse and Yvonne, who taught me that anything is possible if youre willing to take a chance and work for it; my siblings, Twyla, Candace, and Fred, who keep me grounded and humble; my nieces, Alexandria and Samantha, who taught me joy; my best friends, Lee Eric, Amy, and Rodney, who taught me that you can dream about the stars and still keep your feet firmly here on the ground; my frats, who kept me sane for the longest time: Mark Stephens in Carolina and Chandler Mouton and the rest of the Brothers of the Eta Zeta chapter of Omega Psi Phi at Ole Miss; my in-laws, Rita Joy, Mark, Leslie, and Soreya; Dr. Will Norton, formerly of the University of Mississippi and now of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the first person who truly made me believe that I could write; David and Lain, my HATBaG buddies, for introducing truly creative writing into my life; Shannon, Joe, Tutor, Baker, Goodwin, Rushing, and everyone else at The Daily Mississippian for some of the most entertaining nights of my life; Dr. Samir Husni and the rest of the journalism professors at the University of Mississippi, who kept me in line while I was working at the Mississippian; Eve, Mona, Pete, Bob, Jack, Colette, Christie, Nikki, Carrie, Dave, Leigh, Bill, John, Jim, Jennifer, and the rest of the South Carolina crew for being there when I needed friends in a new place; Robert Naylor, Mark Humbert, and everybody at APAlbany who taught me to love the snow; Sandy Johnson and everybody at APWashington, for being patient with me as I worked my way through this book and back to the real world; and finally, to all my friends and relatives who were there for me along the way: all my aunts and uncles, but especially Joyce; all my cousins, but especially Renita, Casey, Stacey, San, Sean, and Tiffany; all of the teachers, professors, and instructors at H. W. Byers High School and the University of Mississippi; Sonya, Darlene, Janelle, Mike Wool-folk, and Kymm Hunter; Ralph Eubanks for hooking me up with the people who brought you this book; the librarians at the Washington, D.C., public library system, the Alexandria public library system, and the Library of Congress; the researchers at the National Archives, Barbara Wolanin, and the ladies in the Capitol Curators office; William Allen, Richard Baker, and everyone who took the time to help me craft this book. There are hundreds of more people I could mention here (and they know who they are), but I want to end with heartfelt thanks to you, the reader. Thanks for taking a chance on this book. I hope you enjoy it.

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