The Changing Faces of Adams Morgan

The Changing Faces of Adams Morgan. Roads to Diversity. , The large building to your left is Adams School (1930), built for white students when the DC Public Schools were segregated. An Americanization School taught immigrant adults and children the English language and American culture here from 1949 to 1967, when it moved to Georgetown., By the 1920s Adams Morgan was a destination for European immigrants attracted to the range of accommodations including moderate rentals (often boarding houses), accessible employment, and eventually the presence of family and friends. In addition to the many Latinos who came between the 1950s and 1980s, Southeast Asians came during the Vietnam War, and subsequent unrest in Ethiopia and Eritrea brought more immigrants from those nations., It has become commonplace for signs to advertise products or church services in multiple languages. In the early 1970s, the grassroots Adams Morgan Organization, a homegrown precursor of the city's Advisory Neighborhood Commission system, adopted the motto "Unity in Diversity" recognizing some 40 ethnic groups. Residents may disagree on how unified the neighborhood actually is, but many take pride in its long history of tolerance and diversity., The mansion to your right at 2001 19th Street (now condominiums), was built in 1903 as the Royal Chinese Embassy. When it opened the press hailed the building as the "finest and most costly" diplomatic residence in the city., City Council Chairman David Clarke (1944-1997), known for his concern for civil rights, the poor, and affordable housing, once lived at 1909 19th Street. He was first elected to represent Ward 1 in the City Council in 1974.