. >> reporter: betty king sharing photographs and warm hugs with a few dozen progressive veterans of that 1978 brash barry campaign that upset two veterans of city politics for barry to first become mayor. king, now 85, was an influential party activist who joined the insurgent bid. >> i thought, well, hell, if i can make the difference, i'm going where my heart is, which is with marrion. >> women, latinos, gays and lesbians and others committed to public service, >> reporter: george washington's library is curating the oral history. a privately financed project open to the public and online. richard mossy, one of the first openly gay persons appointed by marian barry, said that campaign was a banner time. >> i want you to feel where we are today and where we have been. it's been a long journey. >> reporter: marion barry died in november 2014, and king says the recordings don't sugar-coat barry's history. >> people were very candid. it isn't all just a whitewash of marion. some of them are tear-jerkers, and some of them are laugh-out-loud and fall on the floor. >> reporter: in the di