A young woman boards a bus in Richmond and heads for 17th and L streets in the District. Her first job out of high school: Taking dictation from government lawyers and then burning the typewriter ribbon. After her plan for housing falls through, she finds an apartment in Anacostia. For an out-of-towner, "it was the big city," says Caroline G. Pleasant, who talks with Anacostia Unmapped contributor John Johnson about her experience settling in Southeast D.C. nearly five decades ago.

Photo: National Youth Administration youth assis in the South Parkway Branch of the YWCA in Chicago in an undated photo. More information: nypl.org