If These Walls Could Talk

City Tavern Club’s Brian Bello salutes America’s first ladies in programming at Washington, D.C. historic venue in lead up to the nation's 250th anniversary.

A doorman at the entrance of City Tavern Club in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy of City Tavern Club)

On an early spring morning from a quiet room in one of Washington, D.C.’s most historic buildings, Brian Bello is busy thinking about anniversary plans. Not just any anniversary, but the anniversary.

On July 4, 2026, America turns 250 years old.

A little more than a year off, it may seem like a date still in the distant future. To be expected, there will be salutes to founding fathers and remembrances of key American moments in history.

However, Bello wants another set of historic figures commemorated in the lead up to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence—America’s first ladies.

“I’m part of the American education system,” he says. “I didn’t learn much about the first ladies except maybe Martha [as in Martha Washington].”

So this year, Bello, the general manager of City Tavern Club located in Georgetown at M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, began by offering …