Peter MacPherson – Community Activist – April 12, 1961 – September 13, 2024
RIP Peter MacPherson
by Suzanne Wells
Posted October 3, 2024
Peter MacPherson, a long-time Capitol Hill resident, passed away on Friday, September 13, 2024. The cause of death was colon cancer.
MacPherson is remembered by family and friends as someone who was most fulfilled when he was fighting for a cause he cared about deeply. His fights, some might call them epic battles, went on for years, and he was relentless and effective in holding accountable government officials responsible for fixing problems.
MacPherson is best remembered for his advocacy of school libraries. When MacPherson began getting involved in the issue, school librarian positions were in jeopardy of being cut, and few funds were budgeted to replenish library collections. After countless testimonies before the City Council and DC Public Schools (DCPS), and even holding bake sales in front of the Wilson building and DCPS offices to shame government officials into providing funds, a DCPS School Libraries Task Force was established. This Task Force recommended many of the things MacPherson had advocated for, and today thousands of students at DCPS are the direct beneficiaries of his work.
MacPherson also put a spotlight on school modernization inequities and, through tireless advocacy with others, brought about major repairs to Stuart-Hobson Middle School after serious flaws were found with its renovation. Before he began his advocacy, no city leader was willing to undertake additional work on the building, but eventually over $50 million was budgeted to fix many of the problems he identified.
Congressional Cemetery was also a passion of MacPherson. He served on the board of the cemetery as a representative of Christ Church. He enjoyed photography and took thousands of photos at the cemetery. At one point, he put on a show of his photographs, and donated the money raised to the cemetery. Victor Romero, a decades-long member of the dog walkers group, remembered Peter fondly. “Peter was indeed among the most friendly K9 Corps members. Our walks and talks were always filled with lively exchanges about national politics and local life in Hill East DC. A conversation with Peter would invariably cheer me up.”
Born on April 12, 1961, at Columbia Women’s Hospital in DC, MacPherson grew up in Arlington, VA. He attended the Virginia Commonwealth University. In 1992, he married his wife Rebecca, and they moved to Capitol Hill in 1996.
He was a health policy freelance journalist, and for a time worked for the Congressional Quarterly. Shortly after his daughter Evelyn was born, he became a stay-at-home dad.
Peter and Rebecca moved to Chicago in 2018 for Rebecca’s work as a Regional Administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration. Peter continued to do his DC advocacy work from Chicago.
Many people remember him as being a great friend who would often call and visit. Someone once said Peter was often a better friend to others than they were to him. Jackie Sink, one of his many friends, said “I remember walking out my front door one morning and finding Peter weeding my garden. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he knew I didn’t have time, so he thought he would help.”
Peter was known for always helping his 200 block of Kentucky neighbors. Gregory Cavanaugh, one of Peter’s neighbors, also remembered his self-effacing humor. Gregory recalled Peter saying “Remember Greg, I want to be like you someday when I grow up.”
Peter is survived by his wife, Rebecca, daughter Evelyn, and son-in-law Sean Lynch.
A funeral will be held at Christ Church, 620 G Street, SE, on Monday, October 7, at 11 am with internment to follow at Congressional Cemetery. A celebration of life will be held later that day at the Hill Center from 6 – 10 pm.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to An Open Book Foundation.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
Categorize this under, “God has a wicked sense of humor”. I came to know Peter from my days at the Cluster, specifically, Stuart-Hobson. I was kind of the angry black Dad, who fought too hard and advocated too strenuously for the school receiving its fair share and the kids and teachers receiving the level of institutional support that they deserved. He and I shared that attending the Cluster was a privilege and not a right. I was always ready for a fight for right, but Peter made me look like a piker. He was smarter, meaner, and more calculating than anyone I had ever met. Together, we got $65 Mil for Stuart-Hobson and traded a grant with another school to secure the turf field. I never imagined that I would become the “good cop” in our fights with anyone other than ourselves. Peter was tireless and relentless. A conversation at 9 PM led to an email at 2:30 AM. I would talk him out of a nuclear attack at 9 PM, only to receive a call from a political figure or contractor asking if I could forestall his one-man protest (With media in tow) at a Grand Opening or Political Stump. Peter made being his friend difficult because he set the bar so high. He loved you more than you deserved and helped you more than merited. His personality was like his hugs-comforting, assuring, embracing, and protective. Thanks for being you, Peter.
Clayton, you were always a close second to Peter! Love you!
Suzanne
Posting fot Valerie Jablow:
It is not an exaggeration to say that without Peter and Clayton, Stuart-Hobson would never have been renovated. City officials left it off modernization lists, and it was repeatedly given only small funds to repair very specific items, some of which were nearly 100 years old.
I always wondered if the plan was to ignore it so DC could close it (under the pretext that it was too old and decrepit to fix–which DC tried with Peabody decades ago) and either sell it for condos or let charter schools have it.
Sadly, many neighborhood DCPS schools east of Rock Creek Park with majority Black student bodies like Stuart-Hobson have experienced just that. Unlike Stuart-Hobson, those schools are also under-enrolled so closure is a continuing existential threat.
But we on Capitol Hill are lucky to have this gem of a school right here–and its continued success is due to Capitol Hill Cluster School teachers, families, and community members like Peter and Clayton. Thank you all.
Valerie Jablow
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