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

Langston Terrace Dwellings / Hilyard Robinson

21st Street and Benning Road, NE

— African American Heritage Trail, Washington DC —

Langston Terrace Dwellings/Hilyard Robinson Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), January 15, 2018

1. Langston Terrace Dwellings/Hilyard Robinson Marker

Inscription. Langston Terrace Dwellings, opened in 1938, was the first federally funded public housing project in Washington and among the first in the nation. It honors John Mercer Langston (1829-1897), abolitionist, founder of Howard University Law School, and U.S. congressman from Virginia. Langston architect Hilyard Robinson, a native Washingtonian, designed city housing and various buildings for Howard University, where he taught briefly. Langston Terrace is known for artwork that decorates the fine International style buildings. "The Progress of the Negro Race," a terra cotta frieze by Daniel Olney, lines the central courtyard and chronicles African American history from enslavement through World War I migration.

Erected by Cultural Tourism DC.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Architecture • Arts, Letters, Music • Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the African American Heritage Trail, and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1938.

Location. 38° 53.919′ N, 76° 58.446′ W. Marker is in Northeast Washington in Washington, District of Columbia. It is in Carver Langston. Marker

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is at the intersection of Benning Road Northeast and 21st Street Northeast, on the right when traveling west on Benning Road Northeast. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2101 G 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. Langston Golf Course and Driving Range (approx. 0.2 miles away); Langston Golf Course (approx. ¼ mile away); Welcome to Kingman & Heritage Islands (approx. 0.4 miles away); The Hub (approx. half a mile away); Native Fish of Kingman and Heritage Islands (approx. 0.6 miles away); Native Birds of Kingman and Heritage Islands (approx. 0.6 miles away); a different marker also named Native Birds of Kingman and Heritage Islands (approx. 0.6 miles away); Clark Calvin Griffith (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Northeast Washington.

More about this marker.
Caption:
Moving into the newly built (and not yet landscaped) Langston Terrace Dwellings, 1938.
Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University

Also see . . .
1. Langston Terrace Dwellings/Hilyard Robinson, African American Heritage Trail. (Submitted on January 15, 2018, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.)
2. Ten Buildings that Changed the World. (Video) PBS, the episode on Langston Terrace Dwellings is #6. (Submitted on March 13, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.)

Langston Terrace Dwellings Entrance Sign image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), January 15, 2018

2. Langston Terrace Dwellings Entrance Sign

Langston Dwellings

Langston Dwellings is Listed on the
National Register of Historic Places

3. Making Modern Homes: A History of Langston Terrace Dwellings. (PDF) A dissertation by Kelly Anne Quinn, University of Maryland, 2007. (Submitted on March 13, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.)

<i>The Progress of the Negro Race</i> image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), January 19, 2018

3. The Progress of the Negro Race

Hilyard Robinson image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Wikipedia

4. Hilyard Robinson

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. "Designs war housing projects" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1939 - 1945.

John Mercer Langston<br>Minister to Hayti image. Click for full size.

Library of Congress

5. John Mercer Langston
Minister to Hayti

“John Mercer Langston (December 14, 1829 – November 15, 1897) was an abolitionist, attorney, educator, activist, diplomat, and politician in the United States. An African American, he became the first dean of the law school at Howard University and helped create the department. He was the first president of what is now Virginia State University, a historically black college.” -- Wikipedia from ‘Distinguished Colored Men’ by A. Muller & Co., c1883.

<i>Progress of the Negro Race</i><br>1937 terra cotta bas-relief by Daniel Olney<br>Panel 1 image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Allen C. Browne, March 11, 2018

6. Progress of the Negro Race
1937 terra cotta bas-relief by Daniel Olney
Panel 1

“In the upper left corner, the prophetic likeness of Langston can be seen dressed in long robes and extending his proper left arm to direct the African-American farm laborers depicted in some of the vignettes to the industrial jobs in the city depicted in other vignettes.” — SIRIS

<i>Mother and Children</i><br> 1937 Terra Cotta Sculpture by Daniel Olney image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Allen C. Browne, March 11, 2018

7. Mother and Children
1937 Terra Cotta Sculpture by Daniel Olney

This statue echoes a similar one at Vienna’s 1927-1930 Karl Marx Hof a significant influence on Hilyard Robinson’s design for Langston Terrace. “The female madonna figure may represent the theme of the Public Housing Authority which put an emphasis on family unity.” — SIRIS

Enslaved Agricultural Workers<br><i>Progress of the Negro Race</i> image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Allen C. Browne, March 11, 2018

8. Enslaved Agricultural Workers
Progress of the Negro Race

Free Industrial Workers<br><i>Progress of the Negro Race</i> image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Allen C. Browne, March 11, 2018

9. Free Industrial Workers
Progress of the Negro Race

Closeup of image on the marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0)

10. Closeup of image on the marker

Moving into the newly built (and not yet landscaped) Langston Terrace Dwellings, 1938.
Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University

Plaque on the G Street side of the building image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), January 15, 2018

11. Plaque on the G Street side of the building

Langston

built by
the Federal Emergency
Administration of Public Works
and
the United States Housing Authority

Franklin D. Roosevelt
President of the United States of America

Harold L. Ickes
Secretary of the Interior
and
Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works

Nathan Straus
Administrator of the
United States Housing Authority

Washington Housing Association
Advisory Committee
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Honorary President
Anson Phleps Stokes, President
Marion Everett Glover, Vice President
J. Bernard Wyckoff, Treasurer
Florence D. Stewart, Secretary
Anne Archbold Mildred Bliss, Robert W. Brooks
James A. Cobb
Frederick A. Delano
Clarence Phelps Dodge
William J. Flather, Jr.
U.S. Grant 3rd.
Elizabeth Armstrong Hawes
Campbell C. Johnson
Joseph D. Kaufman
Leifur Magnusson
Laurence F. Schmeckebier
George N. Thompson
Joseph P. Tumulty

Associated Architects
Hilyard R. Robinson, Chief Architect
Irwin S. Porter
Paul R. Williams

Coath & Goss Incorporated, Contractor
1936 - 1938

Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on January 15, 2018, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 654 times since then and 43 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on January 15, 2018, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 3. submitted on January 19, 2018, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 4. submitted on March 25, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. 5. submitted on March 12, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. 6, 7. submitted on March 13, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. 8, 9. submitted on March 25, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. 10. submitted on January 17, 2018, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 11. submitted on January 18, 2018, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.