The Carnegie Library in Mt. Vernon Square, which used to house the Historical Society of Washington. Photo by andertho.

We’ve certainly seen better times for Washington’s history, but there’s still hope on the horizon.

Though the Historical Society of Washington’s longstanding financial ills caused the organization to shut down this summer, history buffs across the city have united to ensure that the 38th Annual D.C. Historical Studies Conference can take place without interruption.

The conference is scheduled for November 3-6 at the Goethe-Institut and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, and will include an opening lecture on the District during the Civil War, concurrent sessions on everything from public school history to contraband in the city, and historical tours of Lafayette Square, Civil War fortification and key prohibition-related sites. (The latter tour is linked to a fascinating new book, Prohibition in Washington: How Dry We Weren’t.)

So if you’re into books about D.C., like knowing what the city was like in the late 1800s or enjoy stumping your friends with random D.C.-specific factoids, the conference may well be for you. To register, simply email jasonr.moore [at] dc [dot] gov or dchistoricalstudies [at] gmail [dot] com.