Historical Markers in U Street Corridor, District of Columbia
Washington and Vicinity
Washington(2607) ► ADJACENT TO WASHINGTON Montgomery County, Maryland(751) ► Prince George's County, Maryland(644) ► Alexandria, Virginia(378) ► Arlington County, Virginia(461) ► Fairfax County, Virginia(709) ►
Touch name on this list to highlight map location. Touch blue arrow, or on map, to go there.
Near U Street Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
Paul travelled the world using his art as his weapon to fight against oppression and for self determination for all people. His home turf and land of his birth was not off limits as he marched with others to advance the cause of civil rights and . . . — — Map (db m112000) HM
Near U Street Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
Paul Robeson's passport was restored in 1958. It is fitting that the former Soviet Union named a mountain in honor of this colossus of a man. His birthday has been honored in China and India with national days of celebration.
Workers around . . . — — Map (db m112002) HM
Near U Street Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
Paul Robeson Jr. (November 2, 1927 - April 26, 2014) was Paul and Essies only child.
He was born in Brooklyn, NY and as a young boy lived with his grandmother in Moscow where his parents sought to protect him from American racism.
He . . . — — Map (db m111998) HM
Near U Street Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
Robeson met his future wife Eslanda Cordoza Goode while at Columbia University (1919-1923) where he received a law degree.
His interest in law took a decisive turn when a secretary refused to take dictation from him because of his race. He . . . — — Map (db m111994) HM
Near U Street Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
Paul Robeson is cast as the stevedore Joe in the musical Showboat, music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Robeson sings the show's most memorable song "Old Man River" which he would later change the lyrics to become a . . . — — Map (db m111995) HM
Near U Street Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
"Soft you. A word or two before you go.
I have done the state some service, and they know 't.
No more of that I pray you, in your letters,
When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Nor set down . . . — — Map (db m111999) HM
Near U Street Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
Paris Peace Conference April 20, 1949: "It is unthinkable that the Negro people of America or elsewhere in the world could be drawn into war with the Soviet Union" Paul Robeson.
Before Robeson even spoke in Paris a distorted version of . . . — — Map (db m112001) HM
On U Street Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
Paul Leroy Robeson (April 9, 1898 - January 23, 1976) was the son of William Drew Robeson a runaway slave and Maria Louisa Bustill, daughter of a prominent Philadelphia Quaker family. Maria died tragically in a fire when Paul was six years old.
. . . — — Map (db m112942) HM
On U Street Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest.
Eslanda Cardozo Goode Robeson, wife of Paul Robeson was the grand daughter of Francis Cardozo the first African American to hold a Statewide office in the United States.
The Cardozo Education Campus located at 13th and Clifton St. NW . . . — — Map (db m111997) HM
On U Street Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
Paul Robeson approached the role as Brutus in the Emperor Jones as one of the greatest challenges of his early acting career.
The forceful drama compelled him to look deeper into his own interpretation of dramatic roles and their contribution . . . — — Map (db m111996) HM
On U Street Northwest at 11th Street Northwest, on the right on U Street Northwest.
Black businesses sprung up everywhere on U Street in the early 1900s. As racial segregation increased, African Americans in Washington began a tradition of protest. They also responded by creating institutions of there own. In the 25 years . . . — — Map (db m173377) HM
On 12th Street Northwest north of T Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south.
The Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage occupies the historic Italian Renaissance-style building of the 12th Street YMCA, known after 1972 as the Anthony Bowen YMCA.
The 12th Street YMCA was the first African American YMCA . . . — — Map (db m130788) HM
On 14th Street Northwest at T Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north on 14th Street Northwest.
Louis Armstrong and Sarah Vaughn were two of the nationally famous entertainers who played in the brick building on this corner, once home to the popular Club Bali, also called the New Bali. In the memory of one former customer, it was a . . . — — Map (db m130789) HM
On 14th Street Northwest at W Street Northwest on 14th Street Northwest.
You are standing at the fourth home of the Anthony Bowen YMCA, named for the formerly enslaved minister who founded the nation's first independent "colored" YMCA. As the YMCA opened in Washington in 1853, slavery was legal. Yet the majority . . . — — Map (db m149453) HM
On 16th Street Northwest at New Hampshire Avenue Northwest, on the right when traveling north on 16th Street Northwest.
The grand Beaux-Arts buildings near this corner stand witness to the status of this area in early 20th century Washington, and as tribute to the indomitable spirit of Mary Foote Henderson. The wealthy wife of Senator John B. Henderson, she . . . — — Map (db m130803) HM
On U Street Northwest at 15th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west on U Street Northwest.
Although Washington, D.C., has been a racially segregated city for much of its history, black and white Washingtonians have shared parts of this neighborhood. The modern building across 15th Street sits on the site of Portner Flats, . . . — — Map (db m130802) HM
On U Street Northwest at Vermont Avenue Northwest, on the right when traveling south on U Street Northwest.
This memorial is dedicated to those who served in the African American units of the Union Army in the Civil War. The 209,145 names inscribed on these walls commemorate those fighters of freedom.
[Names of the officers and enlisted men who . . . — — Map (db m41748) HM
On U Street Northwest east of 11th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling east.
The African American Civil War Memorial pays tribute to the 209,145 black soldiers and the 7,800 white officers who led them in their fight for freedom in the Civil War. following the Civil War, many soldiers would return home as war heroes to . . . — — Map (db m113686) HM
On U Street Northwest east of 12th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
Ben's Chili Bowl, founded in 1958 by Ben and Virginia Ali, is one of the oldest continuous businesses on U Street. It is also one of the few to survive both the assassination of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and the years of the disruptive . . . — — Map (db m20341) HM
On U Street Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east. Reported permanently removed.
Not too long ago black artists, performers, and patrons created this place called Black Broadway, risen from the ground ascending to monumental heights the entire world witnessed in awe! Every day... every night.
Black Broadway is sacred and . . . — — Map (db m111991) HM
On U Street Northwest at 10th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east on U Street Northwest. Reported missing.
The Shaw neighborhood and the Greater U Street Historic District are rich in African American and Civil War history. They are the ideal place for the African American Civil War Memorial now located on this Metro plaza. The neighborhood was . . . — — Map (db m130790) HM
On "S" Street Northwest at 14th Street Northwest when traveling west on "S" Street Northwest.
Dedicated to the Whitman-Walker Clinic and the many health care workers who served the LGBT community in this building from 1987 - 2008, the early days of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. — — Map (db m202432) HM
On U Street Northwest just east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
In the aftermath of the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, following the burning and destruction, Claven Wood purchased and restored 1351 U Street.
During the restoration, Mr. Wood made the decision to preserve a small portion of . . . — — Map (db m143211) HM
On 13th Street Northwest north of S Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north.
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899—1974), the internationally renowned composer and musician born in Washington, DC, spend part of his youth here at 1805 13th Street, NW (1910—1914). During those formative years he studied classical piano as well . . . — — Map (db m79980) HM
On Vermont Avenue Northwest at 11th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south on Vermont Avenue Northwest.
Frelinghuysen University was founded in 1917 to provide education, religious training, and social services for black working-class adults. Founders include Jesse Lawson, a Howard University-educated lawyer; his wife Rosetta C. Lawson, an advocate . . . — — Map (db m48407) HM
On S Street Northwest at 15th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west on S Street Northwest.
During the 1920s and 1930s, this house hosted a Saturday evening literary salon, welcoming such luminaries as Alice Dunbar Nelson, Angelina Grimké, Langston Hughes, Alain Locke, Kelly Miller, and Jean Toomer. Poet and hostess Georgia Douglas Johnson . . . — — Map (db m114763) HM
On T Street Northwest at Vermont Avenue Northwest, on the left when traveling east on T Street Northwest.
To the northeast rises the tower of Founders Library at Howard University - an institution created in 1867 that has trained and inspired generations of African American leaders and has been a lodestar for its own community.
The highest . . . — — Map (db m130791) HM
On U Street Northwest west of 11th Street Northwest.
Industrial Bank stands as a testament to the Black business movement that began in the 1880s in downtown Washington and spread to the U Street area by the 1900s. Industrial Bank was the only Black-owned financial institution in the city when . . . — — Map (db m41804) HM
On Swann Street Northwest east of 15th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling east.
Lawyer, scholar, and publisher John Wesley Cromwell (1846-1927) lived here from 1894 until his death. Born enslaved in Portsmouth, Virginia, Cromwell moved to Washington in 1871 to study law at Howard University. He published the weekly People's . . . — — Map (db m96273) HM
On U Street Northwest east of 13th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.
The Lincoln Theatre, built by white theater magnate Harry Crandall, opened in 1922 under African American management as U Street's most elegant first-run movie house. With 1,600 seats, it also was one of the biggest. In addition to films, the . . . — — Map (db m33736) HM
On T Street Northwest west of 12th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling west.
Louise Burrell Miller led a group that successfully sued the DC Board of Education in 1952 to have deaf African American children educated within the District. Until Miller v. the Board of Education, the children, including Miller's young son . . . — — Map (db m96272) HM
On U Street Northwest east of 13th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling west.
In honor of Metro Transit Police Officer Marlon Francisco Morales, who was mortally wounded at the U Street/African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo Metrorail Station on June 10, 2001. — — Map (db m15473) HM
On W Street Northwest west of 14th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling east.
Mary Ann Shadd Cary House
Has been designated a
National Historic Landmark
This site possesses national significance
In commemorating the history of the
United States of America.
An African American renaissance woman, . . . — — Map (db m182687) HM
On W Street Northwest west of 14th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling east.
When the lists of African American “firsts” are read, Mary Ann Shadd Cary’s name is everywhere. Born in Delaware to a free Black abolitionist family, Cary (1823-1893) moved to Canada in 1850 and ran a racially integrated school. Her anti-slavery . . . — — Map (db m61813) HM
On New Hampshire Avenue Northwest south of Florida Avenue Northwest, on the right when traveling north.
Just ahead of you at the corner of 15th Street and Florida Avenue is the entrance to Meridian Hill Park, a dramatic urban oasis established in 1912 and completed in 1936. Its stunning, 12-acre landscape features the longest cascading waterfall . . . — — Map (db m130792) HM
Near U Street Northwest west of Vermont Avenue Northwest, on the right when traveling east.
The first African Masonic order south of the Mason-Dixon line was founded in the District of Columbia in 1825. Social Lodge No. 7, as it was known, combined with two other lodges in 1848 to form the Union Grand Lodge. Later, the name was changed to . . . — — Map (db m33737) HM
On 11th Street Northwest just south of U Street Northwest, on the left when traveling north.
In 1933 the New Negro Alliance instituted then-radial "Don't Buy Where You Can't Work" campaigns: boycotts and pickets of white-owned businesses in black neighborhoods, including the Sanitary Grocery (forerunner of Safeway) at this . . . — — Map (db m187423) HM
On 15th Street Northwest north of U Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north.
In 2009, the Residents Association of the Campbell Heights Apartments was given the opportunity to preserve their community by exercising their District of Columbia Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act rights. Jair Lynch Development Partners created a . . . — — Map (db m80483) HM
On U Street Northwest at 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west on U Street Northwest.
The corner of 14th and U Streets has been a city crossroads, a neighborhood gathering place, and a stage set for events that have shaken the city and the nation.
For city residents, it was the transfer place for crosstown streetcars and . . . — — Map (db m130793) HM
On U Street Northwest at 9th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east on U Street Northwest.
Addison Scurlock (1883-1964) was the photographer of black Washington, specializing in dignified portraiture. In 1911 he opened a studio at 900 U Street (just west of the building of that address erected in 1999). The Scurlock Studio photographed . . . — — Map (db m109162) HM
On 15th Street Northwest at V Street Northwest on 15th Street Northwest.
St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church began in 1858 when African American congregants of the Saint Matthew's Church departed to organize their own day school. The group raised funds -- even held an event on the White House lawn -- and eventually . . . — — Map (db m154001) HM
On U Street Northwest at 17th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west on U Street Northwest.
Police Call Boxes such as this one (originally painted blue) were installed in the District after the Civil War. Officers on foot patrol used this secure telegraph system to contact the station, accessing the box with a now highly collectible . . . — — Map (db m129486) HM
On New Hampshire Avenue Northwest just south of V Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north.
The Northumberland
Apartments
Erected 1909 - 1910
Albert H. Beers, Architect
Harry Wardman, Builder
was listed in the District of Columbia
Inventory of Historic Sites and in
the National Register of Historic Places,
U.S. . . . — — Map (db m212704) HM
On U Street Northwest at 12th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west on U Street Northwest.
The daily lives of residents of this historic African American community were woven together through hundreds of social and civic organizations--fraternal organizations, clubs, school alumni associations, civic associations and the like. The . . . — — Map (db m130800) HM
On T Street Northwest at 13th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east on T Street Northwest.
The elegant Whitelaw Hotel at the corner of 13th and T Street opened its doors in 1919, offering African American travelers their first opportunity to stay in a first-class hotel in the segregated nation's capital. Inside they found a lobby . . . — — Map (db m130796) HM
On T Street Northwest at 15th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east on T Street Northwest. Reported unreadable.
Police Call Boxes such as this one (originally painted blue) were installed in the District after the Civil War. Officers on foot patrol used this secure telegraph system to contact the station, accessing the box with a now highly collectible . . . — — Map (db m112665) HM
On 11th Street Northwest north of S Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south.
The independent weekly Afro-American, one of the most enduring Black newspapers in the country was founded in Baltimore in 1892 by John H. Murphy, Sr. The Washington Afro-American began publication in 1932, and operated from this . . . — — Map (db m55538) HM
On T Street Northwest at 9th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling west on T Street Northwest.
The Washington Conservatory of Music and School of Expression, which operated in this building from 1903 until 1960, was one of DC's earliest African American arts institutions. Harriet Gibbs-Marshall (1868-1941), the first African American to . . . — — Map (db m109161) HM
On U Street Northwest at 13th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east on U Street Northwest. Reported permanently removed.
You are standing on Washington’s historic Black Broadway–the heart of African American life in Washington, D.C. from about 1900 to the 1950s. Duke Ellington, its most famous native son, grew up, was inspired, trained, and played his first . . . — — Map (db m130799) HM
On U Street Northwest just east of 13th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east.
You are standing on Washington's historic Black Broadway—the heart of African American life in Washington, D.C. from about 1900 to the 1950s. Duke Ellington, its most famous son, grew up, was inspired, trained, and played his first music . . . — — Map (db m212702) HM
