Interview with Margaret Roberts Drucker, April 1, 2022

Today is April 1st 2022. We're in front of the Martin Luther King jr. branch of the DC Public Library, in downtown Washington, DC. Could you tell us your name?

My name is Margaret, full name is Margaret Roberts Drucker.

And could you tell us about your memories of downtown and how it may have been different when you first - Actually, let me ask you this question first: How long have you been in Washington, DC?

I've been in Washington, DC since 1984.

Could you tell us what downtown was like when you first came downtown?

When I first came downtown, it was my husband who knew the city well. And an important store was Woolworth's. I remember buying a beautiful red coat which I wore for a very, very long time. So when I pass the metro station and I see the place, it really brings back, a lot of wonderful, wonderful memories.

Now, I do have to say that I probably know DC much more in the last 10-15 years. But my most vivid impression of the past would have been that particular block where I went shopping. The window shopping was really beautiful, they had very wonderful displays. I really can't say that I remember more than that, but one familiar place for me is Saint Mary's Church, H street. We used to go there, so I always have been to that church. Another church would be the one that's very close by. So this is the main areas I would have been really aware of that particular time.

I do remember that we had, uh, a very bleak area around the church but then came MCI. After that, I was so sad when the name changed to what it is right now, because I like the fact of that kind of longevity. So that would be my impression in the early time of being in this area.

I'm curious, would you be able to tell us a little bit about the bleak area? How would you describe that area?

Now I cannot really say, it was dismal or anything like that. I don't have those kind of impressions because in reality, I would have arrived over here in - my husband would have been driving us, so we would park on the street and - At that time, they used to have a lot of parking around the street that's parallel to H street. So, I shouldn't really say anything about bleakness, but I can tell you that was the impression.

And I think one way to also link it is that we used to have the Bullets, right? And then for reasons of all that was happening in the city, the name was changed to the Wizards. That's my historical context of the place.

The neighborhood around - Were there people who were living downtown too then, or has that changed, the people people who are the residents of downtown?

That that's a very nice question to ask me, because obviously, I came from Michigan and I came over here because my husband had had a job and he was working. His office was the National Theater building. So I have been to that building. That was a developing area, or rather it had already been developed. That was where his office was. [pauses] Go over that question again?

The people who lived downtown.

Yes. Yes. And so when I was asked in Michigan, where are you going to stay in DC? Very ignorantly, I used the word "downtown." Someone who knew downtown, this was one of the sisters from Providence Hospital, she obviously made trips over here from Michigan. And she was a little bit quizzical, "What do you mean, downtown?" Then she mentioned, "there's no one really living downtown." This would have been in the 19- 83, 84. That language was very foreign when she heard what I said.

And I of course had no concept when she asked that question because downtown then and downtown today are two very, very different concepts.

Where did you move?

So we moved - It took a while for us to decide where to stay. My husband didn't know the area. So we first went to Virginia, we stayed in Virginia. We used to do that - we used to cross the [muffled] street bridge and there was a bunch of traffic. So we moved to this area. What we did, we stayed in this the Southeast - Eastern Market area, and eventually, that's where we bought our house. And it's absolutely beautiful over there. It's different but it's a wonderful community.

Lastly, could you tell us about the role that the library itself has played in your experiences in the city? The downtown library.

The library's experience in my life or downtown?

Your experience with the downtown library.

Got it, wonderful question for me. Libraries have been a very big part of my life because - I'm a professional, when I moved over here I started working in Saint Elizabeth's Hospital. I'm a psychiatrist. Many of my years have been with the District government. At that time, the hospital t was under the federal government. I was here during that transition where it moved.

This particular library has been a large part of my life because I used to come here very often, although my own home library would be the Southeast, but this was a wonderful place to come to because it's the Martin Luther King Library and it was close to the church where I go.

I would often come here on a Saturday. Stay over here, work on the computers, etc. Then from here I would go to the 5:00 mass. It was a very convenient. I also attended many of the book talks. I attended - what things to have were Great Books [?]. They would have the book clubs, [muffled] the book clubs over here. I did know a librarian at another agency and she used to come here. In that day, my knowledge of library books increased.

The library has been a very, very large part of my life and my profession. I am totally amazed at what libraries can do for people. I am presently volunteering at the library, and I said to the front desk over there, "I'm seeing the people who come in and out, it's so marvelous to see the range of people." I have been with different kinds of people in Martin Luther King Library, and I characterized that in a story that I wrote about the way it was. Big difference from the way it is today.

So much is going through my mind about the library. I have used the library's computers extensively. I have had experience with the in libraries when they had, they called them Express, they used to do an Express thing, and we actually had a book published by one of the libraries. It was printed over there. So mostly I have used the computers.

I have come to many classes over here, computer classes. So when the library closed, I would have no where to continue to come every Saturday. I was on my way to church and I took the metro, I would walk [muffled]. I went through the progress of these renovations as it was happening. Except everything was happening inside. So you really didn't know what was going on. When I walked, there would normally be some construction barriers, but otherwise you didn't know.

So it was like a miraculous thing to think that all this is going on inside. Business is going on on this street. And that's how we have survived all these years. No obstruction. Life went on. I came, if course I had to visit other libraries in the interim. But it was a good experience for me. Mostly I enjoyed walking down to see what I could see of the construction, renovation that is going on right now.

Would you like to leave us with any other thoughts about you downtown and and your perceptions of how it's changed?

It has changed remarkably. In terms of the [muffled]. The fact that when I walk out of church every Saturday, I find the crowds walking to and from the Metro or entering the arena, it's life in Dc. I wonder, I say, "Where are all these people coming from?" It's absolutely - the crowd, the kind of people that are attending whatever they are attending. It's [muffled] because I'm coming from [muffled] Eastern Market where people are shopping, especially on Saturday at Eastern Market. And suddenly here, there's a drastic - very, very big difference in the life of the people that are walking downtown. It's almost like a marvel: Where are these people coming from? And you know that a lot of them are DC. But they're coming from the surrounding area, the DC area, and [muffled] the city is thriving. During Christmastime when they have that market over there, that's a wonderful opportunity.

I try to engage in whatever the city offers just to see what's happening. I know there's a niece of mine who attends the dancing program [muffled] tank. So the fact that anyone can come and engage in anything, and here's the place where you can do it. So that is a nice opportunity for people who don't have another venue to come here, and you can find anything.

Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Thanks a lot.