Originally presented as the Letitia Wood Brown Memorial Lecture at the Historical Society of Washington's 37th Annual Conference on Washington, D.C., Why Washington History Matters: Lessons from U Street was published in the November 2011 issue of Washington History. In the article, CUSP Director Blair Ruble discusses his motivation to write Washington's U Street: A Biography, reviewing the importance of U Street for Washington, D.C. history, and argues that the exploration of local history can expand our knowledge of larger questions of urban life. Ruble stresses the value of recognizing that Washington, D.C. is a “real” city with a “real” history worthy of study, that urban neighborhoods that function as "zones of contact" among diverse groups, and that human creativity in the face of the challenges of urban life can add value to cities overall.