The table was set in the morning mist. Organized sweets. A white tablecloth touched the floor surrounded by 12 gold-backed chairs.
Five decades ago, twelve friends gathered here on the iconic National Mall for breakfast. Formal coats, dresses, and hats were worn by women. They ate oysters, drank champagne and danced as a string quartet played in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial.
The “outrageous” scene on July 19, 1974 caught the interest of a Washington Post photographer, who captured the moment in an image that would travel the country in newspaper reprints.
The specter of death in a “sophisticated” celebration
But The people and circumstances at the center of this famous image have remained a mystery to those who admired, purchased, and hung it on their office walls.
They didn’t know who the co-editors were and why they had gathered for such an elaborate event near the park’s lake.
They didn’t know that the specter of death hung over the festive atmosphere or that the people who were at the center of it they would grow up to participate in many important aspects of American life – the civil rights movement, gender equality in schools, the defense of the blind and disabled.
It all came to a head when Joyce Naltchayan Boghosian — daughter of the late Post photographer Harry Naltchayan, who captured the image — met one of the participants a year ago and began putting the pieces together.
It all started in the late 1960s
In the late 1960s, the government was recruiting. A generation of young people flocked to the nation’s capital in search of a job they hoped would turn into a career.
That’s how 20-year-old Janet Harley and Carolyn Basser arrived from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. in Washington.
Roger Poore, a fellow student and college friend who lived in southwest Washington, introduced them to Dorothy (Dotty) Wallen, who offered them a place to stay until they found a place of their own.
Soon, acquaintances became friends and friends became almost family.
They were united by common circumstances – almost all worked in government bodies – and common interests: nplay, explore the outdoors and organize noisy meetings.
Sophisticated birthday parties
On their birthdays, they organized elaborate celebrations: a “road rally,” a scavenger hunt in Rock Creek Park — a masquerade party where everyone dressed up as vegetables.
They enjoyed each other’s successes and milestone achievements. And they were there to help each other with each other’s difficulties.
The cancer blow
When Harley was just 27 years old, she was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer.
The news shocked the team. They couldn’t understand – how could their friend die? She was so full of life and laughter, always ready for another party or adventure.
“How are you living with this news?” said Hilton Foster, a Harvard Law School graduate and a key member of the team. “How are you? What are you doing?”
About a month before Harley’s 28th birthday, several of her friends had an idea: They would celebrate with the most extreme event they had ever planned.
The way was “opened” by Nixon’s secretary
Just a few weeks earlier, President Richard M. Nixon’s personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, was photographed on the Mall drinking champagne during a picnic.
If he can do it, thought Basser and Foster, why can’t we?
Days later, they entered Park Service headquarters.
“You can’t drink champagne on the Mall,” she remembers being told. “I think they were afraid we were going to be loud left-wing radicals. And, of course, we were. But not that day,” says Basher, 78, who cited the photo of the president’s secretary.
Eventually, the Park Service relented.
Organization of the celebration
A string quartet. A meal served. Limousines to pick them up. The organization of the celebration, which was kept secret from Harley, was progressing quickly, without her knowing anything.
Just after 5am on a FridayBasher woke Harley with a command: “Put it on.” It was the ball gown Harley’s – which mom had sent from Ohio.
Confused but curious, she obeyed. Nearby, her boyfriend, Wesley William Collins, wait in a horse-drawn carriage.
Harley, who Basser said looked “brilliant” in her old ball gown, sat at the head of the table.
His friends had outdone themselves.
At 9:30 am the party ended. The table was set and the team rushed home to change into their work clothes. When they arrived at the office, they learned that the breakfast had been reported on the local news.
No one noticed the Washington Post photographer.
The meeting
Almost 50 years since that day, which they often avoided talking about, six members of the group, now in their 70s and 80s, walked onto the National Mall and found a table set up waiting.
Death came early, but not without a “legacy”
Janet Hurley married Wesley William Collins, who accompanied her in a carriage to celebrate her birthday. He died on April 3, 1982. He was 35 years old.
Before her death, she helped write the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare’s interpretive guidance on civil rights, which prohibits gender discrimination in education.
Credit from the Washington Post – Photos: WP