“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.’ . . . — — Map (db m130756) HM
The House at 3017 Sherman Avenue once was a boardinghouse for Howard University students. In 1923 a determined and talented young woman from the tiny town of Eatonville, Florida, lived here while earning an Associates Degree at Howard. In a . . . — — Map (db m130759) HM
"Innumerable colored Chinese lanterns ... shedding that dim uncertain light which is the delight of lovers and the poetry of beer drinking"
— Washington Post, June 1879
Back when this area was open . . . — — Map (db m99221) HM
Braving a blizzard in February 1936, eager customers lined up to experience a modern, self-service, cash-only supermarket. Nehemiah Cohen and Samuel Lehrman’s Giant Food here on Georgia Avenue was the chain’s first. Although the Memphis-born . . . — — Map (db m130768) HM
Caribbean immigrants discovered this stretch of Georgia Avenue in the 1940s, bringing island culture along with jerk chicken, curry, and coco bread. Many, like Eric Williams, who later led Trinidad and Tobago to independence in 1962, came to . . . — — Map (db m130769) HM
These Rowhouses Were Built by developer Harry Wardman, whose houses, hotels, and apartment buildings are known for elegant, solid construction. When these became available in 1912, buyers snapped them up. Among them were an electrician, a . . . — — Map (db m130770) HM
It’s the summer of 1862. Early morning, but already hot and dusty. You’re standing at this spot, when you see a tall man on horseback. It’s President Abraham Lincoln. You’re pleased to see him, but not surprised. After all, he rides by here . . . — — Map (db m130757) HM
Howard University has a long history of student activism for civil rights, peace, and academic reform.
Students of the 1930s and '40s protested lynchings nationwide and DC businesses that snubbed African Americans. In the early 1960s . . . — — Map (db m130758) HM
With its Afro-centric shops and connections to Howard University, this stretch of Georgia Avenue has been called the “Nile Valley.” Blue Nile Botanicals opened first at 2826 Georgia in 1977. Hodari Ali, a former editor of Howard’s . . . — — Map (db m130761) HM
During the Civil War, thousands of once-enslaved people crowded into DC, desperate for shelter, work, and protection. Most vulnerable were orphans and children separated from their families. In 1863 the National Association for the Relief of . . . — — Map (db m130762) HM
The area west of this spot once was an Irish and German immigrant neighborhood known as “Cowtown.” That's because, before 1871, cows, pigs, and sheep roamed freely here, while those kept in Washington City, south of Boundary Street (today's . . . — — Map (db m130763) HM
Back in the '60s, everyone came to Murph's.
Ed Murphy's Supper Club, that is, located across Georgia Avenue from 1963 to 1975. In the beginning suits and ties were mandatory for the club's highpowered male patrons. But as the Black Power . . . — — Map (db m130773) HM
During the Civil War (1861-1865), thousands of formerly enslaved people came to Washington in search of new lives. They needed work, education, shelter – and health care. In 1862 the U.S. government responded with Freedmen’s Hospital, located . . . — — Map (db m130764) HM
As the Civil War was ended in 1865, most formerly enslaved African Americans arriving in the District could not read or write. The following year members of the First Congregational Society considered organizing a school to train teachers and . . . — — Map (db m130765) HM
The body of water that inspired the line in Howard University’s alma mater, “far above the lake so blue stands old Howard firm and true,” is McMillan Reservoir, which opened in 1902 to supply water to the city. The reservoir and . . . — — Map (db m130766) HM
Shortly before midnight on July 22, 1919, James Scott, a black army veteran, boarded a streetcar at the corner and nearly lost his life.
A few days before, a white mob, including many veterans of World War I, had terrorized Southwest DC, . . . — — Map (db m130772) HM
Thursday Evening, April 4, 1968. The news that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., has been assassinated in Memphis makes its way like lightning through the city. Nearby at 14th and U Streets — once the cultural heart of DC's African . . . — — Map (db m130774) HM
The legendary Howard opened in 1910 as the nation’s first major theater built for African Americans. Audiences came for plays, variety shows, concerts, and movies. In the 1930s, under manager Shep Allen, the Howard became part of the . . . — — Map (db m130775) HM
Back in the day, Seventh and T was the place to go for a good time. Once the Howard Theatre opened at 620 T Street in 1910, restaurants, nightclubs, and businesses serving the diverse African American communities followed. As Marita Golden . . . — — Map (db m148751) HM
