LeDroit Park in Northwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Griffith Stadium
"Lift Every Voice"
— Georgia Ave./Pleasant Plains Heritage Trail —
“I used to come home every night, get a quarter from my mother, run to Griffith Stadium, and sit in the bleachers,” Abe Pollin once said. “I would look out at these good seats and say, ‘Some day, maybe I will get a good seat.’ “When Pollin’s MCI Center opened downtown in 1997, the respected real estate developer got himself – and gave his city – thousands of good seats.
Griffith Stadium occupied this block until it was razed in 1965. (Howard University Hospital opened here ten years later.) During the 1940s, Griffith crowds cheered batting superstar Josh Gibson of the Homestead Grays, the Negro League team that won more games than any other hometown team. Here ace pitcher Walter Johnson led the all-White Washington Senators to their only World Series victory in 1924. While Griffith was one of DC’s few public venues open to all during segregation, the races sat separately.
Griffith also hosted the Washington Redskins (1937-1961), student cadet competitions, Boy Scout jamborees, National Negro Opera Company performances, and mass baptisms conducted by Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux, whose Church of God still stands just across Georgia Avenue. The charismatic Michaux organized affordable housing, had his own radio show, and served bargain meals at the Happy News Café.
In 1946 impresario David Rosenberg hired prominent African American architect Albert Cassell to design a music hall at 815 V Street. Soon after, Duke Ellington lent his name to a nightclub there. By 1952 WUST Radio occupied the facility, hosting evangelical broadcasts, jazz, and later, reggae and go-go concerts. After WUST moved to Virginia, the 9:30 Club relocated there from 930 F Street.
Erected 2011 by Cultural Tourism DC. (Marker Number 5.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music • Churches & Religion • Sports. In addition, it is included in the Georgia Avenue / Pleasant Plains Heritage Trail, and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1997.
Location. 38° 55.046′ N, 77° 1.309′ W. Marker is in Northwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia. It is in LeDroit Park. Marker is on Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29) south of V Street Northwest, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 700 V Street Northwest, Washington DC 20001, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Griffith Stadium Site (here, next to this marker); Armed Resistance (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Chris Pyrate + The Shay
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), September 3, 2021
More about this marker.
[Photo captions:]
Homestead Grays power hitter Josh Gibson at bat. Library of Congress.
Walter Johnson photographed in 1924, the year the Senators won it all. Library of Congress
High School Cadets participated in separate competitive drills at Griffith Stadium, 1940s. White cadets march [above], and a company from the “Colored” schools stands in formation [at left]. The Washington Post * Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Elder Solomon Michaux’s Church of God, 1949, across from Griffith Stadium. Upper right, a baptism begins at Griffith Stadium. Upper left, Elder Michaux welcomes diners in his Happy News Café, 1727 7th St., 1937.
Library of Congress * Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History * Historical Society of Washington, DC.
WUST Radio DJ Steady Eddie was a Howard University senior and member of the Howard Players, 1952. The WUST building, far left, became the "9:30 Club" in 1996.
The Washington Post * Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University.
Also see . . . Homestead Grays. ... During the late 1930s through the 1940s the Grays played their home games at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, during this same period the club adopted the Washington, D.C. area as its "home away from home" and scheduled many of its "home" games at Washington's Griffith Stadium, the home park of the Washington Senators. (Submitted on January 14, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.)
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on January 14, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. This page has been viewed 1,644 times since then and 54 times this year. Last updated on March 7, 2019, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. Photos: 1. submitted on January 14, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. 2. submitted on September 3, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 3. submitted on January 14, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. 4, 5, 6. submitted on June 28, 2015, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.