African American Heritage Trail Historical Markers

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African American Heritage Trail Historical Markers

A set of more than 100 sites celebrating African American history in Washington, DC.

By Allen C. Browne, May 25, 2013

Jones-Haywood School of Ballet Marker

GEOGRAPHIC SORT

1► District of Columbia (Washington), 16th Street Heights — Jones-Haywood School of Ballet — African American Heritage Trail, Washington DC — 1200 Delafield Place, NW —

On Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29) at Delafield Place Northwest, on the right when traveling south on Georgia Avenue Northwest.

The Jones Haywood School of Ballet was founded here by Doris W. Jones and Claire H. Haywood in 1941. Their Capitol Ballet Company, established in 1961, remained the nation's only predominantly African American, professional ballet troupe through the . . . — — Map (db m65511) HM

2► District of Columbia (Washington), Adams Morgan — Calvin T.S. Brent Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1700 V Street, NW —

On 17th Street Northwest south of V Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south.

Calvin T.S. Brent (1854-1899), believed to be Washington's first African American architect, lived here briefly in the early 1890s. (His other residences have been demolished.) Brent began practicing in 1875 and after a two-year apprenticeship and . . . — — Map (db m129528) HM

3► District of Columbia (Washington), Barney Circle — Seafarers Yacht Club — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1950 M Street, SE —

On M Street Southeast east of Water Street Southeast, on the right when traveling east.

The Seafarers Yacht Club is the oldest African American boat club on the East Coast. It was founded in 1945 by Lewis T. Green, Sr., a vocational arts teacher in the DC Public Schools who built boats as a hobby. Needing a dock, he contacted the U.S. . . . — — Map (db m89445) HM

4► District of Columbia (Washington), Barry Farm — Campbell African Methodist Episcopal Church — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 2562 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, SE —

On Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue Southeast at Stanton Road Southeast, on the right when traveling north on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue Southeast.

Campbell AME, established in 1867 as Mount Zion AME, was an outgrowth of its overcrowded parent church, Allen Chapel AME, founded in 1850. When it moved to a location near the present one in 1890, Mount Zion was renamed for AME Bishop Jabez B. . . . — — Map (db m33749) HM

5► District of Columbia (Washington), Bloomingdale — Barnett Aden Gallery — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 127 Randolph Place, NW —

On Randolph Place Northwest west of 1st Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.

The Barnett Aden Gallery, which operated on the first floor of this house between 1943 and 1968, was the first privately owned black art gallery in the United States. It was founded by James Vernon Herring (1897-1969), chair of Howard University's . . . — — Map (db m110518) HM

6► District of Columbia (Washington), Brightwood — Military Road School — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1375 Missouri Avenue, NW —

On Missouri Avenue Northwest east of 14th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.

The Military Road School opened in 1864 here along what then was Military Road, an artery linking Civil War forts. The School was one of the first to open after Congress authorized public education for Washington's African Americans in 1862. . . . — — Map (db m115232) HM

7► District of Columbia (Washington), Brookland — Lois Mailou Jones Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1220 Quincy Street, NE —

On Quincy Street Northeast east of 12th Street Northeast.

Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1998), internationally acclaimed artist and teacher, lived here from the 1950s into the 1970s. Born and educated in Boston, Jones joined the Howard University Art Department in 1930 and stayed for nearly 50 years. She began . . . — — Map (db m111784) HM

8► District of Columbia (Washington), Brookland — Robert Clifton Weaver Residence Site — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 3519 14th Street, NE —

On 14th Street Northeast north of Monroe Street Northeast.

Economist Robert Clifton Weaver (1907-1997) was born in Washington and grew up here in Brookland. After graduating from Dunbar High School, he earned three degrees in economics from Harvard and moved into a long career in government service. Weaver . . . — — Map (db m111796) HM

9► District of Columbia (Washington), Brookland — Sterling A. Brown Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1222 Kearny Street, NE —

On Kearny Street Northeast east of 12th Street Northeast.

Sterling Brown (1901-1989) was a central figure of the New Negro Renaissance of the 1920s and '30s and the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and '70s. Brown's work includes Southern Road (1932), The Negro in American Fiction (1937), and . . . — — Map (db m111799) HM

10► District of Columbia (Washington), Buena Vista — Barry Farm - Hillsdale — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — Bounded by St. Elizabeths Hospital, Alabama Avenue and Morris Road, SE, and the Anacostia River —

On Howard Road Southeast west of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue Southeast, on the right when traveling east. Reported missing.

In 1867 the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen’s Bureau) purchased 375 acres from white farmers David and Julia Barry to resettle formerly enslaved African Americans. By 1870 more than 500 families had purchased lots . . . — — Map (db m113607) HM

11► District of Columbia (Washington), Buena Vista — Nichols Avenue Elementary School/Old Birney School Site — 2427 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE — African American Heritage Trail, Washington DC —

On Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue Southeast at Howard Road Southeast, on the right when traveling south on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue Southeast.

James G. Birney Elementary School (founded 1889) was the city's first public school for African Americans in this area, then known as Hillsdale. Previously, residents organized their own schools. The Old Birney School expanded in 1901 with the . . . — — Map (db m100679) HM

12► District of Columbia (Washington), Capitol Hill — Ebenezer United Methodist Church — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 400 D Street, SE —

On D Street Southeast near 4th Street Southeast.

Ebenezer United Methodist Church is Capitol Hill’s oldest independent Black congregation. Ebenezer UMC was founded in 1827 by African Americans who left a biracial church on Capitol Hill because the White congregants practiced segregation. The new . . . — — Map (db m30053) HM

13► District of Columbia (Washington), Carver Langston — Langston Golf Course and Driving Range — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 2600 Benning Road, NE —

On 26th Street Northeast north of Benning Road Northeast, on the right when traveling north.

Until 1939, the only place for African Americans to play golf in Washington was West Potomac Park. That year, in response to petitions by African American golfers asking Interior Secretary Harold Ickes to desegregate the city's public golf courses, . . . — — Map (db m112998) HM

14► District of Columbia (Washington), Carver Langston — Langston Terrace Dwellings / Hilyard Robinson — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 21st Street and Benning Road, NE —

On Benning Road Northeast at 21st Street Northeast, on the right when traveling west on Benning Road Northeast.

Langston Terrace Dwellings, opened in 1938, was the first federally funded public housing project in Washington and among the first in the nation. It honors John Mercer Langston (1829-1897), abolitionist, founder of Howard University Law School, and . . . — — Map (db m112792) HM

15► District of Columbia (Washington), Colonial Village — Frank D. Reeves — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 7760 16th Street, NW —

On 16th Street Northwest near Kalmia Road Northwest, on the right when traveling south.

Frank D. Reeves (1916–1973), a lawyer and civil rights activist, was part of the team that shaped the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case outlawing school segregation. He advised Senator John F. Kennedy on minority . . . — — Map (db m24679) HM

16► District of Columbia (Washington), Columbia Heights — Charles R. Drew and Lenore Robbins Drew — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 3324 Sherman Avenue, NW, Apartment 1 —

On Sherman Avenue Northwest south of Morton Street Northwest, on the right.

Dr. Charles R. Drew (1904-1950), renowned for his blood plasma research, was associated with Howard University College of Medicine during most of his career. In 1941 Drew joined a national effort to set up a blood banking process but left because . . . — — Map (db m65523) HM

17► District of Columbia (Washington), Columbia Heights — Drum and Spear Bookstore Site — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1371 Fairmont Street, NW —

Near 14th Street Northwest at Fairmont Street Northwest.

The Drum and Spear Bookstore, founded in 1968 by Charlie Cobb, a former secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, specialized in books written by black authors, and books on Asian, African, and African American subjects. Growing . . . — — Map (db m85756) HM

18► District of Columbia (Washington), Congress Heights — Congress Heights School — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 3100 Martin Luther King, Jr., Avenue, SE —

On Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue Southeast at Raleigh Place Southeast, on the right when traveling north on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue Southeast.

The eight-room brick Congress Heights Elementary School opened in 1897 to serve the new, whites-only Congress Heights development. The iconic tower and clock were added in 1913. After public schools were desegregated in 1954, Congress Heights became . . . — — Map (db m112782) HM

19► District of Columbia (Washington), Downtown — Metropolitan AME Church — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1518 M Street, NW —

On M Street Northwest west of 15th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling west.

This church started on Capitol Hill in 1821 as Israel Bethel, was founded by African Americans denouncing White racism at Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church. Later, Pastor Henry McNeal Turner helped persuade President Lincoln to accept Black . . . — — Map (db m30056) HM

20► District of Columbia (Washington), Downtown — Wormley's Hotel Site — African American Heritage Trail — 1500 H Street, Northwest —

On 15th Street Northwest at H Street Northwest when traveling north on 15th Street Northwest.

James Wormley (1819-1884), free-born like his parents, was one of a number of African Americans entrepreneurs with downtown hospitality and service businesses. His five-story Wormley's Hotel opened here in 1871, catering primarily to wealthy and . . . — — Map (db m87577) HM

21► District of Columbia (Washington), Dupont Circle — Alma Thomas Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1530 15th Street, NW —

On 15th Street Northwest north of Church Street Northwest, on the left when traveling north.

Alma Thomas (1891-1978), the nationally acclaimed abstract artist, lived in this house from 1907 until her death. In 1924 she became the first graduate of Howard University's Art Department — and possibly the first black woman in the country . . . — — Map (db m110908) HM

22► District of Columbia (Washington), Dupont Circle — Blanche K. Bruce and Josephine Beall Willson Bruce Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 2010 R Street, Northwest —

Near R Street Northwest west of Connecticut Avenue Northwest.

Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce (1841-1898) and his wife Josephine Beall Willson Bruce (1853-1923), leaders of Washington's “aristocrats of color,” lived here from 1890 to 1898. Born in Virginia, Blanche escaped slavery during the Civil War, . . . — — Map (db m119125) HM

23► District of Columbia (Washington), Dupont Circle — Charles Hamilton Houston Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1744 S Street, NW —

On S Street Northwest east of 18th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling east.

Charles Hamilton Houston (1895-1950) was a legal theorist and mentor to an entire generation of African American lawyers. As Howard University School of Law's vice dean, the Harvard-educated Houston helped transform the school into an accredited . . . — — Map (db m97798) HM

24► District of Columbia (Washington), Dupont Circle — Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, D.C. — 17th and M Streets, NW —

On 17th Street Northwest at M Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north on 17th Street Northwest.

This school, completed in 1872, was one of three public elementary schools built for DC's black children just after the Civil War. Its name honors U.S. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, who fought to abolish slavery here, pay black soldiers . . . — — Map (db m8184) HM

25► District of Columbia (Washington), Dupont Circle — Historic Kappa House — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1708 S Street, NW —

On S Street Northwest east of New Hampshire Avenue Northwest, on the right when traveling east.

Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity was founded at Indiana University in 1911. The ten founders determined from the start that membership would be based solely on achievement. In 1949 the fraternity's Washington Alumni Chapter worked with undergraduate . . . — — Map (db m93390) HM

26► District of Columbia (Washington), Dupont Circle — St. Luke's Episcopal Church / Alexander Crummel — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1514 15th Street, NW —

On 15th Street Northwest south of Church Street Northwest, on the left when traveling north.

This was the first independent black Episcopal parish church in the city. It was established in 1879 by a breakaway group from a Foggy Bottom mission church, St. Mary's Chapel for Colored People, led by former St. Mary's pastor, Alexander Crummell . . . — — Map (db m110910) HM

27► District of Columbia (Washington), Dupont Circle — Todd Duncan Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1600 T Street, NW —

On T Street Northwest west of 16th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east.

Internationally renowned baritone Todd Duncan (1903-1998) lived here from about 1935 until about 1960. Duncan originated the role of Porgy in George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess on Broadway. He later refused to perform the role at DC's . . . — — Map (db m97801) HM

28► District of Columbia (Washington), Eastland Gardens — Eastland Gardens — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — Between Kenilworth and Anacostia Avenues, and Lee and Ord Streets, NE —

On Lee Street Northeast east of 42nd Street Northeast, on the right when traveling east.

Water and land embrace one another here in Eastland Gardens, adjacent Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. The Neighborhood dates to 1928 when a group of developers call Eastland Gardens Inc. bought some 150 acres of the former Benning Racetrack property and . . . — — Map (db m119740) HM

29► District of Columbia (Washington), Foggy Bottom — St. Mary’s Episcopal Church — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 728 23rd Street, NW —

On 23rd Street Northwest south of H Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south.

[Panel 1]: St. Mary’s was the first Episcopal church in Washington where African Americans could worship free of discrimination. It was established in 1867 by 28 men and women, many of them formerly enslaved. Two White congregations, St. . . . — — Map (db m46905) HM

30► District of Columbia (Washington), Fort Dupont — Woodlawn Cemetery — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 4611 Benning Road, SE —

On Benning Road Southeast at C Street Southeast, on the right when traveling south on Benning Road Southeast.

Woodlawn Cemetery, established in 1895, serves the final resting place for Sen. Blanche K. Bruce, Mary P. Burrill, Will Marion Cook, John W. Cromwell, John R. Francis, Rep. John Mercer Langston, Jesse Lawson, Mary Meriwether, and Daniel Murray, . . . — — Map (db m42050) HM

31► District of Columbia (Washington), Georgetown — Emma V. Brown Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 3044 P Street, NW —

On P Street Northwest east of 31st Street Northwest.

Emma V. Brown (1840-1902) was an accomplished poet and the first African American teacher to be employed by the DC Public Schools. Educated at Myrtilla Miner's school on N Street, NW, and at Oberlin College, native Washingtonian Brown opened a . . . — — Map (db m97745) HM

32► District of Columbia (Washington), Georgetown — First Baptist Church, Georgetown — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 2624 Dumbarton Street, NW —

On Dumbarton Street Northwest at 27th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east on Dumbarton Street Northwest.

The first Baptist church established in Georgetown was funded in 1862 by the Reverend Sandy Alexander (1818-1902), a former slave who led the church until 1889. Among the founding members was Collins Williams, a preacher from Fredericksburg, . . . — — Map (db m33773) HM

33► District of Columbia (Washington), Georgetown — Mount Zion United Methodist Church and Heritage Center, and the Female Union Band Cemetery — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1334 29th Street, NW —

On 29th Street Northwest north of Dumbarton Avenue Northwest, on the right when traveling south.

Mount Zion United Methodist Church is Washington’s oldest Black congregation. It was established in 1816 by Shadrack Nugent and 125 other congregants who split from nearby Montgomery Street Methodist Church (now Dumbarton United Methodist) over its . . . — — Map (db m32930) HM

34► District of Columbia (Washington), Georgetown — Rose Park Recreation Center — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 26th and O Streets, NW —

Near 27th Street Northwest south of O Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north.

Rose Park Playground was established in 1918 by the Ancient Order of the Sons and Daughters of Moses to serve African American children. The city acquired it in 1922. Georgetown neighbors ignored the segregation rules at this "colored" facility, . . . — — Map (db m120439) HM

35► District of Columbia (Washington), Hillbrook — National Training School for Women and Girls / Nannie Helen Burroughs — African American Heritage Trail — 601 50th Street, NE —

Near 50th Street Northeast at Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue Northeast, on the right when traveling south.

The National Training School for Women and Girls was founded here in 1909 by Nannie Helen Burroughs (1879 - 1961). With its focus on the “three B's” — “Bible, bath and broom” — the school taught skills such as . . . — — Map (db m103272) HM

36► District of Columbia (Washington), Judiciary Square — DC Recorder of Deeds Building/WPA Era Murals — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 515 D Street, NW —

On D Street Northwest west of 5th Street Northwest.

DC’s Art Deco/Art Moderne Recorder of Deeds Building (1941) houses city land records. Many notable African Americans have served as recorders of deeds since President Garfield appointed Frederick Douglass to the post in 1881. These include Branche . . . — — Map (db m29657) HM

37► District of Columbia (Washington), Lamond Riggs — WOOK-TV Building — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 5321 First Place, NE —

On First Place Northeast south of Riggs Road Northeast, on the right when traveling north.

WOOK-TV, on the air from 1963 to 1972, was the first "all-Negro" television station in the nation. White founder Richard Eaton also started its predecessor, WOOK-Radio, in 1947 in the nation's first "Negro-oriented" . . . — — Map (db m113223) HM

38► District of Columbia (Washington), LeDroit Park — Alice Moore Dunbar [Nelson] and Paul Laurence Dunbar Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1934 Fourth Street, NW —

On 4th Street Northwest just south of Elm Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south.

Alice Moore Dunbar [Nelson] (1875-1935), a budding poet and essayist, and Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), already a nationally and internationally acclaimed poet, married in 1898 and moved to this house. Mary Church Terrell, an activist and . . . — — Map (db m144576) HM

39► District of Columbia (Washington), LeDroit Park — Anna Julia Hayward Cooper Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 201 T Street, NW —

On T Street Northwest west of 2nd Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.

Educator, feminist, and civil rights activist Anna Julia Hayward Cooper (1858-1964) lived here from 1916 until her death. Born in North Carolina, Cooper graduated from Oberlin College and moved to Washington in 1887 to teach Latin at the Preperatory . . . — — Map (db m124921) HM

40► District of Columbia (Washington), LeDroit Park — Christian Fleetwood and Sara Fleetwood Residence Site — 319 U Street, NW — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC —

On U Street Northwest west of 3rd Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.

Christian Fleetwood (1840-1914) was one of 21 African Americans to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery during the 1864 Battle of Chaffin's Farm near Richmond. After the Civil War he worked for the federal government and organized . . . — — Map (db m77543) HM

41► District of Columbia (Washington), LeDroit Park — Elks Columbia Lodge No. 85 — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1844 Third Street, NW —

On 3rd Street Northwest south of Rhode Island Avenue Northwest (U.S. 1), on the left when traveling north.

Columbia Lodge No. 85 of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks of the World was incorporated in Washington in 1906, eight years after the parent organization was incorporated in Cincinnati, Ohio. Lodge No. 85's first meeting took . . . — — Map (db m130833) HM

42► District of Columbia (Washington), LeDroit Park — Freedmen's Hospital — African American Heritage Trail, Washington DC — 520 W Street, NW —

Near W Street Northwest at 6th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling west.

Freedmen's Hospital was established by the federal government in 1862 to address the needs of thousands of African Americans who poured into the city seeking freedom during the Civil War. The hospital's first administrator was Major Alexander T. . . . — — Map (db m84805) HM

43► District of Columbia (Washington), LeDroit Park — Griffith Stadium Site — African American Heritage Trail, Washington DC — 2041 Georgia Avenue, NW —

On Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29) south of V Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north.

Before Howard University Hospital was built in 1975, Griffith Stadium stood here. Constructed in 1914, the stadium was one of the few public spaces that were open to everyone during the segregation era. It was home to the Homestead Grays of the . . . — — Map (db m107755) HM

44► District of Columbia (Washington), LeDroit Park — Willis Richardson Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 512 U Street, NW —

On U Street Northwest west of 5th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east.

Willis Richardson (1889-l977) Was a prolific and acclaimed playwright known for realistic portrayals of ordinary African Americans. Family circumstances forced the promising writer to choose work over college, and Richardson spent his career at . . . — — Map (db m86907) HM

45► District of Columbia (Washington), Logan Circle — Alain Locke Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1326 R Street, NW —

On R Street Northwest west of 13th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling west.

Alain Locke (1886-1954), a leading 20th-century intellectual and the nation's first black Rhodes Scholar, was a central figure in the New Negro (sometimes called the Harlem) Renaissance. Locke edited The New Negro (1925), an anthology of . . . — — Map (db m110915) HM

46► District of Columbia (Washington), Logan Circle — Belford V. Lawson and Marjorie M. Lawson Residence — 8 Logan Circle, NW — African American Heritage Trail, Washington D. C. —

On Logan Circle Northwest west of 13th Street Northwest when traveling west.

Belford V. Lawson (1909–1985) and Marjorie M. Lawson (1912–2002) were prominent attorneys. Mr. Lawson helped win landmark civil rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery (1938) . . . — — Map (db m79362) HM

47► District of Columbia (Washington), Logan Circle — Charles M. “Sweet Daddy” Grace Residence — African American Heritage Trail – Washington DC —

On Logan Circle Northwest west of 13th Street Northwest.

Charles M. “Sweet Daddy” Grace (1881-1960) brought his United House of Prayer for All People of the Church on the Rock of the Apostolic Faith to Washington in 1927, eight years after founding the charismatic Christian denomination in . . . — — Map (db m79318) HM

48► District of Columbia (Washington), Logan Circle — Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 15th and R streets, NW —

On 15th Street Northwest north of R Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north.

The Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church has been a vital religious, educational, and social center since 1841. It was founded by John F. Cook, Sr. (ca. 1810-1855), who rose from slavery to run Union Seminary and become Washington's first black . . . — — Map (db m112661) HM

49► District of Columbia (Washington), Logan Circle — Vermont Avenue Baptist Church — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1630 Vermont Avenue, NW —

On Vermont Avenue Northwest at 15th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south on Vermont Avenue Northwest.

Vermont Avenue Baptist Church was formed in 1866 by seven formerly enslaved men and women meeting in the home of John and Amy Slaughter. They joined the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church for assistance in organizing their own church. Then, led by . . . — — Map (db m145601) HM

50► District of Columbia (Washington), Mayfair — Mayfair Mansions / Albert I. Cassell — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 3819 Jay Street, NE —

On Kenilworth Terrace Northeast at Jay Street Northeast, on the right when traveling south on Kenilworth Terrace Northeast.

Mayfair Mansions, completed in 1946 on the site of the old Benning Race Track, was one of the city's earliest garden apartment developments. The 500-unit, first-class complex was designed by Howard University Professor of Architecture Albert I. . . . — — Map (db m136186) HM

51► District of Columbia (Washington), Mount Vernon Square — Central Public Library — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — Mount Vernon Square —

On K Street Northwest east of 9th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east.

This majestic building was opened in 1903 as the Central Public Library, popularly known as the Carnegie Library because Andrew Carnegie donated funds to build it. From the start Central was open to all. Mary Church Terrell and historian John . . . — — Map (db m18794) HM

52► District of Columbia (Washington), Mount Vernon Square — Second Baptist Church — 816 Third Street, NW —

On 3rd Street Northwest just north of H Street Northwest, on the left when traveling north.

Second Baptist Church was organized in 1848 by seven members of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church. Under the leadership of the Reverend Sandy Alexander — eventually one of the country's best-known black Baptist ministers — the church . . . — — Map (db m152617) HM

53► District of Columbia (Washington), Navy Yard — Saint Paul African Union Methodist Protestant (AUMP) Church — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 401 I Street SE —

On I Street Southeast east of 4th Street Southeast, on the right when traveling east.

The St. Paul African Union Methodist Protestant (AUMP) Church is the first and only church in Washington, DC that evolved from what is considered the oldest incorporated, independent African American denomination in the country. The AUMP Church, . . . — — Map (db m113632) HM

54► District of Columbia (Washington), North Cleveland Park — Wormely Family Estate Site — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 3530 Van Ness Street, NW —

On Van Ness Street Northwest west of Reno Road Northwest, on the left when traveling west.

Celebrated hotelier James Wormley (1819-1884) and his family owned at least two country houses (since razed) on ten acres here during the 1870s and 1880s. This plaque marks approximately the southeast corner of the property. As a young man the . . . — — Map (db m126974) HM

55► District of Columbia (Washington), Penn Quarter — National Council of Negro Women — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 633 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW —

On Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest at 7th Street Northwest, on the left when traveling east on Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest.

The National Council of Negro Women was founded in 1935 by Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) to "harness the power and extend the leadership of African American women." Early on, the Council campaigned to outlaw the discriminatory poll tax, develop a . . . — — Map (db m30059) HM

56► District of Columbia (Washington), Petworth — Billy Simpson's House of Seafood and Steaks — African American Heritage Trail — 3515 Georgia Avenue, NW —

On Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29) south of Randolph Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north.

Billy Simpson's provided DC's African American community with an upscale venue for dining and socializing in the period when segregation was ending and African Americans claimed a larger role in city affairs. The restaurant (open 1956-1978) . . . — — Map (db m66181) HM

57► District of Columbia (Washington), Pleasant Plains — Andrew F. Hilyer Residence Site — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 2352 Sixth Street, NW —

On 6th Street Northwest south of Howard Place Northwest, on the right when traveling south.

Andrew F. Hilyer (1858-1925) fought racism and promoted the "moral, material, and financial interests" of African Americans through the Union League of the District of Columbia, which he co-founded in 1892. Hilyer's Union League Directory . . . — — Map (db m111803) HM

58► District of Columbia (Washington), Pleasant Plains — Founders Library and Moorland-Spingarn Research Center — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 500 Howard Place, NW, Howard University Campus —

On Howard Place Northwest east of 6th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east.

Founders Library houses wide-ranging collections, the university's museum, and the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, one of the world's largest repositories dedicated to the culture and history of people of African descent. Dedicated in 1939, the . . . — — Map (db m116653) HM

59► District of Columbia (Washington), Pleasant Plains — Howard Hall — African American Heritage Trail, Washington D.C. — 607 Howard Place, NW —

Near Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29) north of Howard Place Northwest, on the right when traveling north.

Howard Hall was completed in 1869 as the home of white Civil War General Oliver Otis Howard (1830-1909), for whom Howard University was named. As commissioner of the Bureau of Refuges, Freedman and Abandoned Lands (Freedman's Bureau), General Howard . . . — — Map (db m65707) HM

60► District of Columbia (Washington), Pleasant Plains — Howard University — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — Sixth Street and Howard Place, NW —

On 6th Street Northwest at Howard Place Northwest on 6th Street Northwest.

Howard University, one of the oldest Black colleges in the United States, was established by Congress in 1866 to educate formerly enslaved individuals. Its name honors Freedman's Bureau Commissioner General Oliver Otis Howard, a member of the white . . . — — Map (db m66401) HM

61► District of Columbia (Washington), Pleasant Plains — Howard University Gallery of Art — African American Heritage Trail, Washington DC — Lulu Vere Childers Hall, Howard University Campus —

Near 6th Street Northwest south of Fairmont Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north.

The Howard University Gallery of Art was established in 1928 on the lower level of Rankin Chapel. Professor James V. Herring (1897-1969), founder of the University's Art Department, and professor and artist James A Porter (1905-1970) were its . . . — — Map (db m85112) HM

62► District of Columbia (Washington), Pleasant Plains — Kelly Miller Residence Site — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 2225 Fourth Street, NW —

On 4th Street Northwest south of College Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north.

Kelly Miller (1863-1939), a prominent Howard University scholar and leader, taught mathematics and sociology. He went on to serve as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Miller laid the groundwork for the formation of African American sociology . . . — — Map (db m111801) HM

63► District of Columbia (Washington), Pleasant Plains — Merriweather Home for Children — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, D.C. — 733 Euclid Street, NW —

On Euclid Street Northwest west of Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29), on the right when traveling west. Reported missing.

The National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children was established by an 1863 Act of Congress. Elizabeth Keckley (ca. 1818-1907), former slave and seamstress for Mary Todd Lincoln, was a founding member and spent her . . . — — Map (db m112005) HM

64► District of Columbia (Washington), Pleasant Plains — Miner Teachers College — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 2565 Georgia Avenue, NW —

On Georgia Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29) south of Euclid Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south.

Miner Teachers College, which operated here from 1914 until 1955, was the principal school training black teachers in the city for more than 70 years. Named for Myrtilla Miner (1815-1864), a white educator who founded Miner Normal School in 1851, . . . — — Map (db m114359) HM

65► District of Columbia (Washington), Pleasant Plains — Will Marion Cook Family Residence Site — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 2232 Sixth Street, NW —

On 6th Street Northwest at College Street Northwest, on the right when traveling south on 6th Street Northwest.

Will Marion Cook (1869-1944) was an internationally renowned violinist and composer. After studying music at Oberlin College (Ohio) and the National Conservatory of Music (New York), Cook turned to creating musical comedies. Among them was . . . — — Map (db m111802) HM

66► District of Columbia (Washington), Shaw — Daniel A.P. Murray Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 934 S Street, NW —

On S Street Northwest west of 9th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling east.

Daniel Alexander Payne Murray (1852-1952) was the second African American to hold a professional position at the Library of Congress, achieving the level of assistant librarian by 1881. One of Murray's responsibilities was to gather a copy of every . . . — — Map (db m129070) HM

67► District of Columbia (Washington), Shaw — Dunbar Theater/Southern Aid Society — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1901-1903 Seventh Street, NW —

On 7th Street Northwest at T Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north on 7th Street Northwest.

The Southern Aid Society, one of the nation's oldest black insurance companies, opened this building as its headquarters in 1921. At the street level it housed the Dunbar Theatre, a popular movie house owned by the Murray family. Offices occupied . . . — — Map (db m84762) HM

68► District of Columbia (Washington), Shaw — Engine Company No. 4 — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 931 R Street, NW —

On R Street Northwest east of 10th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.

This 1885 building originally housed the DC Fire Department's Engine Company No. 7. It eventually became home to Washington's first all-black fire company. The department had included a few African American firefighters since 1868, but none ever . . . — — Map (db m129347) HM

69► District of Columbia (Washington), Shaw — Phyllis Wheatley YWCA — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 901 Rhode Island Avenue, NW —

On Rhode Island Avenue Northwest (U.S. 29) west of 9th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west.

This was the city’s first Young Women’s Christian Association and the nation’s only independent Black YWCA. It was organized in Southwest Washington as the Colored YWCA in 1905 by members of the Book Lovers Club, a Black women’s literary group led . . . — — Map (db m130891) HM

70► District of Columbia (Washington), Truxton Circle — Baker's Dozen, Inc. Building — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1509 and 1511 Fourth Street, NW —

On 4th Street Northwest north of P Street Northwest, on the right when traveling north. Reported missing.

Starting in 1950, the Baker's Dozen, Inc. Youth Center operated here in two formerly derelict buildings redesigned by architect Howard H. Mackey. The youth center was the project of the Baker's Dozen social club, founded in 1944 by 13 members of . . . — — Map (db m111760) HM

71► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — Ben's Chili Bowl / Minnehaha Theater — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1213 U Street, NW —

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

72► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — Edward “Duke” Ellington Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington DC — 1805 13th Street, NW —

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 . . . — — Map (db m79980) HM

73► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — Frelinghuysen University/Jesse Lawson and Rosetta C. Lawson — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1800 Vermont Avenue, NW —

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

74► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — Georgia Douglas Johnson Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1461 S Street, NW —

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

75► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — Industrial Bank of Washington — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 2000 11th Street, NW —

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

76► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — John Wesley Cromwell Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1439 Swann Street, NW —

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

77► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — Lincoln Theatre and Lincoln Colonnade — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1215 U Street, NW —

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

78► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — Louise Burrell Miller Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1204 T Street, NW —

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

79► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — Mary Ann Shadd Cary Residence — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1421 W Street, NW —

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 . . . — — Map (db m61813) HM

80► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1000 U Street, NW —

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

81► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — Scurlock Studio Site — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 900 U Street, NW —

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

82► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1425 V Street, NW —

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

83► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — Washington Afro-American Newspaper Office Building — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 1800 11th Street, NW —

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

84► District of Columbia (Washington), U Street Corridor — Washington Conservatory of Music and School of Expression/Harriet Gibbs-Marscall/Mary P. Burrill — African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC — 902 T Street, NW —

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

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