Black History Permeates Nation's Capital

W A S H I N G T O N, Feb. 17, 2004 -- About 60 percent of Washington, D.C.'s 572,000 residents are black, and their history in the area predates the 1791 creation of the federal district by Congress. That makes the nation's capital rich in black heritage, from the Colonial era to the antebellum and Civil War eras, to contemporary urban life.

"There was always a sizable free black population in theDistrict of Columbia," said James Horton, the Benjamin Bannekerprofessor of American Studies and History at George WashingtonUniversity.

Yet for decades after the capital was established, slave marketsflourished in the area that is today the National Mall,particularly along what is now Independence Avenue.

Slaves and free blacks helped build the White House and U.S.Capitol as both laborers and craftsmen.

Although President George Washington personally took part inplacing the south cornerstone for the future capital at a spotknown as Jones Point, 8 miles north of his Mount Vernon estate, itwas the surveyor Banneker who performed the calculations needed toposition 39 other stones along a route measuring 10 miles on eachside. Banneker was a well-known black inventor, mathematician andastronomer who had been born free.

Slave Houses, Escape Plots

"Washington was dedicated to having high-quality craftsmen andworkmanship," said Stephanie Brown, a Mount Vernon spokeswoman.Many of the 316 slaves living at his estate at the time of hisdeath were trained as coopers, millers, blacksmiths, carpenters andshoemakers and distillers.

Washington housed many slaves in the "House for Families," acommunal quarters. Although the original building burned early inthe 20th century, it has been reconstructed.

Neighborhoods created by and for blacks in the capital,including shops, churches and homes, survive today. Some weresometimes intricately involved in surreptitious escape plots. TheGeorgetown section of Washington had several "safe houses" usedby conductors on the Underground Railroad. "It's really only on the black history tours that slavery isdiscussed in any detail," said LaNelle Daughtry, spokeswoman forthe Guild of Professional Tour Guides of Washington, D.C.

According to Daughtry, a village established for runaway andfreed slaves was located on the grounds of what is now ArlingtonNational Cemetery. It once had a population of 30,000. Section 27of the cemetery contains their graves, and those of the U.S.Colored Troops, the Union Army's official designation for its blackunits during the Civil War.

Homes with Historic Pasts

Anderson Cottage, the summer retreat where President Lincolnspent about 25 percent of his presidency, was declared one ofAmerica's Treasures at Risk in 2000. The 14-room home on thegrounds of the Soldier's Home in Northwest Washington is whereLincoln wrote the final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation in1865.

The home where abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass livedduring the last 18 years of his life is also a national historicalsite. The Victorian mansion sits on an 8-acre site overlooking thecity from one of the highest points in the district east of theAnacostia River. Records indicate that Douglass did much of hiscivil rights work during Reconstruction in the home's smalllibrary.

"In that room, you will find the cane that Mary Todd Lincolngave to Douglass after the death of President Lincoln," said BillClark, a spokesman for the National Park Service.

The Park Service also administers the Mary McLeod BethuneCouncil House, where the National Council of Negro Women wasfounded. Bethune, who founded Florida's Bethune-Cookman College,was a confidante of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The district is also home to the African-American Civil WarMemorial. The 15-foot bronze statue features the images of blacktroops and sailors as well as so-called contraband slaves liberatedby Union forces during the war. Stainless steel plaques areinscribed with the names of 209,145 soldiers and 19,000 sailors whoserved with Union forces.

"Virtually every black family in the United States has a nameon this wall," said Frank Smith, executive director of the AfricanAmerican Civil War Museum. The home of Carter G. Woodson, theeducator considered the "father" of black history month, isundergoing preservation nearby.

African-American Heritage Trail

Cultural Tourism D.C. has worked with the city government, theNational Park Service and others to promote a local African-American Heritage Trail.

"There are more than 60 museums off the National Mall thatpeople seldom find," said Kathryn S. Smith, consulting historianon the project.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark Brown v.the Board of Education decision. The 1954 Supreme Court decisiondeclaring "separate but equal, inherently unequal," cleared theway for integration. During the Civil Rights era and the VietnamWar, the Lincoln Memorial and surrounding National Mall were therallying points for Americans fighting for social justice.

The Lincoln Memorial was the site of opera singer MarianAnderson's Easter concert, after she was barred from performing atDAR Constitution Hall.

"The steps of the Lincoln Memorial were just etched last yearwith the words from Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech,"said Victoria Isley, spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.,Convention and Tourism Council.

Dressed in Sunday Best

At the Smithsonian's Anacostia Museum, the photo-essay"Crowns" includes 30 portrait-quality black-and-white photographsof black women. Although the subjects were homemakers, domestics,and others who did menial jobs, they used their day of worship toadd fashion and flair to their lives.

"Sunday was a day that they could really get dressed up," saidMichael Cunningham, the photographer who produced the work. Five ofthe hats, passed down from one generation to the next, are alsoincluded in the exhibit.

The Recorder of Deeds office features murals that depict eminentblacks including Douglass, Banneker, Revolutionary War patriotCrispus Attucks, North Pole explorer Matthew Henson, and theMassachusetts 54th Regiment, a decorated Union Army unit thatincluded Sgt. William H. Carney, the first black American to earnthe Congressional Medal of Honor. The murals were painted duringthe Great Depression by artists employed in the New Deal's WorksProgress Administration. Since 1881, when Frederick Douglass wasappointed Recorder of Deeds, that position has been held almostexclusively by blacks.

At Lincoln Park, the Freedmen's Memorial Monument to AbrahamLincoln was financed with donations from freed slaves, primarilythose who'd served in the Union Army. It depicts Lincoln cuttingthe chains of slavery, symbolizing his issuance of the EmancipationProclamation. The slave depicted in the work is believed to beAlexander Archer, the last man captured under the Fugitive SlaveAct.

Also at Lincoln Park is the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial, thefirst statue of a black woman erected in a public park in thenation's capital. Dedicated in 1974, it depicts Bethune surroundedby children, symbolizing her role as an educator. If You Go…

BLACK HISTORY IN WASHINGTON, D.C.: Information on black historymonth events and the African American Heritage Trail atwww.culturaltourismdc.org. A brochure about the trail is free atmany sites, or can be ordered for $4.75 from (202) 661-7581. MOUNT VERNON: George Washington's estate in nearby Alexandria,Va., includes the restored "House for Families" communal slavequarters. Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily through February; 9 a.m. to 5p.m. in March and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting April 1. Admission:adults, $11; seniors, $10.50; children, 6 to 11, $5; under 5, free.Call (703) 780-2000 or visit www.mountvernon.org. FREDERICK DOUGLASS HOUSE AND NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE: 1411 W St.,SE. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily; closed for maintenance March 1to 12. Admission: $2. Visit www.nps.gov/frdo or call (202)426-5961. MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE COUNCIL HOUSE: 1318 Vermont Ave., NW. Freeadmission. Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitwww.nps.gov/mamc or phone (202) 673-2402. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION'S ANACOSTIA MUSEUM AND CENTER FORAFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE: 1901 Fort Place, SE. Hours:10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Free admission. Visit www.anacostia.si.eduor call (202) 287-3306. AFRICAN AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM: Museum locatedat 1200 U St., NW; memorial two blocks away intersection of VermontStreet and U Street NW. Hours: Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free admission. Visitwww.afroamcivilwar.org or call (202) 667-2667. LINCOLN PARK: Massachusetts Avenue, NE and East Capitol Street.

DECATUR HOUSE: 748 Jackson Place, NW, one block from the WhiteHouse. Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sunday,noon to 4 p.m. Admission is by donation. This small museum housesone of the last intact slave quarters in downtown Washington. Call(202) 842-0920 or visit www.decaturhouse.org. RECORDER OF DEEDS OFFICE: 515 D St., NW. Hours: Monday toFriday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. WASHINGTON, D.C. CONVENTION AND TOURISM CORP.: Call (202)789-7000 or visit www.washington.org.