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Atlas District in Northeast Washington in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

The Fires of 1968

Hub, Home, Heart

— Greater H Street NE Heritage Trail —

 
 
The Fires of 1968 Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Craig Swain, September 29, 2012
1. The Fires of 1968 Marker
Inscription.
On Friday, April 5, 1968 the 600 block of H Street went up in flames. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been assassinated a day earlier, and grief-stricken, angry men and women had taken to the streets across the city. Some took part in looting and burning.

Helen Wooden Wood remembered watching from her home on Linden Place as flames spread. "It was horrible. You could feel the heat and couldn't open the windows for the smoke." According to a fireman, the alley behind Morton's Department Store became "a freeway for looters" carrying "television sets, clothes, everything." Yet other people supported the firefighters, bringing them chairs and coffee.

When Morton's first opened downtown in 1933, it was among the few white-owned department stores that did not discriminate in hiring or sales. In fact owner Mortimer Lebowitz was a former Urban League president who had marched with Dr. King. Nevertheless, looters ransacked and torched his store here. The destruction, Lebowitz told a reporter later, "was nothing against me personally."

"The riots did not happen in a vacuum," recalled Sam Smith of the Capitol East Gazette. In 1968, "24 percent of the [area's] labor force was unemployed or underemployed." After the smoke cleared, 90 buildings in Greater H Street, containing 51 residences and
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103 businesses, were gone. Most stores that weren't destroyed closed, never to reopen.

While the city cleared land for sale, it didn't pay to repair existing businesses or develop new ones. In 1984 the H Street Community Development Corporation formed to attract investment for development. The corporation and other nonprofits built housing and commercial buildings but H Street suffered from relentless suburban competition. It took the rehabilitation of the Atlas Theater, which started in 2002, investments in nightlife, and a new appreciation for the charms of the neighborhood's close-in, 19th-century buildings for H Street's revival to take hold.
 
Erected 2012 by Cultural Tourism DC. (Marker Number 16.)
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African AmericansCivil RightsNotable Events. In addition, it is included in the Greater H Street Heritage Trail series list. A significant historical date for this entry is April 5, 1878.
 
Location. 38° 54.017′ N, 76° 59.752′ W. Marker is in Northeast Washington in Washington, District of Columbia. It is in the Atlas District. Marker is at the intersection of H Street Northeast and 7th Street Northeast, on the right when traveling west on H Street Northeast. Touch for map. Marker is at or
Back of Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Craig Swain, September 29, 2012
2. Back of Marker
near this postal address: 700 Street Northeast, Washington DC 20002, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. At the Crossroads (within shouting distance of this marker); Get Behind the Wheel (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Sanctuaries (about 700 feet away); Life on H Street (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Changing Faces of H Street (approx. ¼ mile away); Cathy Hughes (approx. ¼ mile away); Brickyards to Buildings (approx. 0.3 miles away); Education for All (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Northeast Washington.
 
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Greater H Street NE Heritage Trail
 
Southwest Corner of Intersection image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Craig Swain, September 29, 2012
3. Southwest Corner of Intersection
Where Morton's Department Store stood.
Buildings along H Street image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Craig Swain, September 29, 2012
4. Buildings along H Street
Older surviving, restored structures stand alongside newer construction along H Street.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 29, 2012, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. This page has been viewed 746 times since then and 17 times this year. Last updated on February 11, 2014, by A. Taylor of Laurel, Maryland. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on September 29, 2012, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 29, 2024