Named after 19th-century bank financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869), the Peabody Room became part of the District of Columbia Public Library system when the Georgetown Branch Library opened to the public on October 5, 1935. Prior to that it was part of a private lending library established in 1876 by the Peabody Trust and located in the Curtis School on O Street N.W. This special collection houses historical and current materials related to the history, culture and economy of Georgetown. Found here are house histories (for most individual Georgetown addresses), subject vertical files, photographs, maps, neighborhood microfilmed newspapers, paintings, engravings and artifacts that document various aspects of Georgetown life. The Peabody Room is the only District of Columbia neighborhood special collection and is part of the Washingtoniana Division, located in the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.