Webinar: DC’s Roller Skate History
Join the DC Preservation League for a webinar tracing the full arc of Washington, DC’s roller skating history, from the city’s earliest indoor rinks in the late 1800s, through the segregated skating venues that defined the sport for decades, to the vibrant parallel skating culture Black Washingtonians built and sustained across generations. The presentation begins with the Anacostia Park Skating Pavilion, marking its 50th year this summer as a current cornerstone of DC skate culture, facing new pressures from nearby development and long-term neglect.
Presented by native Washingtonian, roller skate historian, and National African American Roller Skating Archive (NAARSA) curator Tasha Klusmann, this session draws on decades of archival research, oral histories, and firsthand experience as a performance skater to show what roller skating has meant to DC residents for over a century, and what’s been lost since the city’s last dedicated indoor rink closed in the late 1980s.
This is more than a history talk. It’s a call to action: DC deserves a city-built, world-class indoor roller rink, open to all residents regardless of income, that preserves this history while building something new for the generations to come.
The event is free and open to the public.
