Save Haven in the Face of Segregation

Save Haven in the Face of Segregation. . , Up until the late 1800s, small farms populated the area that is now known as Fairmount Heights. As improvements in transportation expanded the suburbs around Washington, D.C., developers purchased and consolidated these farms to build a new subdivision of about 50 acres., When the developers advertised the first lots for sale in May 1900, they encouraged Black families to settle here. And, facing the effects of Jim Crow laws and the "separate but equal" principles that originated from the 1896 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, Black families were eager to build communities, facilities, schools, and housing specifically for them. Fairmount Heights became one of the first planned communities for Black families in the Washington, D.C. area., Several prominent figures settled in Fairmount Heights. William Sidney Pittman, a noted architect and son-in-law of Booker T. Washington and his wife, Portia Washington-Pittman, an accomplished pianist were among the community's noted residents., [Captions:] , Henry Pinckney , Henry Pinckney was a White House steward and President Theodore Roosevelt's personal valet. After Roosevelt's tenure ended, Pinckney worked for other political figures. He and his wife, Lenora, were active in the Fairmount Heights community. They were founding members of the First Presbyterian Church of Fairmount Heights., Pinckney's son, Roswell, often played with Theodore Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin. Here, the two boys are seated on the White House steps in 1902., William Sidney Pittman , William Sidney Pittman, an architect and Booker T. Washington's son-in-law, called Fairmount Heights home. He was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on April 21, 1875. He attended Tuskegee Institute, then attended Drexel Institute in Philadelphia, where he studied architecture., In 1905, Pittman established his architectural practice in Washington, D.C. Two years later, he built his house in Fairmount Heights. Pittman was very involved in the community's development. He formed the Fairmount Heights Mutual Improvement Company, which constructed Charity Hall, and designed the town's first school