Race & Place Workshop
HISTORIC SITES

 



Decatur House
Decatur House, a National Trust Historic Site on Lafayette Square

 

 

 

 

 

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

 

LeDroit Park
The LeDroit Park neighborhood

Howard University
Howard University

Mary McLeod Bethune Council House
Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site
Race and Place
educators will visit an extraordinary group of historic sites, many of which are “off the beaten track” of landmarks visited during a typical trip to Washington, DC. The Stephen Decatur House Museum, a National Trust Historic Site and a National Historic Landmark, will serve as the workshop headquarters. Educators will examine the architecture of the two historic structures that make up the Decatur House museum complex today—one of the oldest residences in the city, designed by Architect of the Capitol Benjamin Henry Latrobe in 1819, and a rare example of urban slave quarters constructed in 1836—as they study the institution of slavery in an urban context. By examining the rich cultural landscape of Lafayette Square, also known as President’s Park and also designated a National Historic Landmark; they will gain a further understanding of the operation of the institution of slavery within sight of the White House. Furthermore, Decatur House will be a fantastic base of operations for the workshop, not only because of its enormous historical significance, but also because participants will be able to interact, on a daily basis, with a vibrant neighborhood unlike any other in the country. Workshop participants may spot celebrities from journalism or politics having lunch in nearby restaurants, observe the daily protests in front of the White House, or explore the Renwick Gallery, which houses the Smithsonian’s amazing collection of American crafts and is located just around the corner. Centrally located in downtown Washington, the Mall, the Capitol, and most museums are just a short subway ride away from Decatur House.

As Congress established the constitutionality of emancipation and debated the civil rights of freed slaves during Reconstruction, Frederick Douglass was one of the few African-Americans with the standing to take part in these conversations. In 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Douglass US Marshal for the District of Columbia, and that same year, he moved into his home, Cedar Hill, in the Anacostia section of the city, becoming the first black family to own a house in what was then a white, wealthy neighborhood. Today, Cedar Hill is operated by the National Park Service as the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, and Race and Place educators will tour the property, furnished with much as it was when Douglass lived there, just after it re-opens to the public following the completion of an extensive restoration project.

By 1900, Washington, DC had the largest population of African Americans of any city in the country. In the era of Segregation, this community supported its own thriving businesses, neighborhoods, educational and cultural institutions, and churches. Race and Place educators will explore city’s LeDroit Park neighborhood, a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places, which became home to some of the most prominent and influential African Americans in the country by the beginning of World War I. LeDroit Park residents included poet Paul Laurence Dunbar; Senator Edward Brooke, the first African American elected to the US Senate by popular vote; and General Benjamin Davis, the first African-American general. They will also visit Howard University, an historically black educational institution with both local and national significance, particularly as a center for legal challenges to segregation.

During the early 20th century, Washington also became home to organizations, such as the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), which campaigned against discrimination and segregation on the national level. Founded in 1935 by educator Mary McLeod Bethune, the NCNW worked to overturn discriminatory poll taxes, promote anti-lynching legislation, and end discrimination in the U.S. armed forces and government housing. Race and Place educators will visit the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site, which functioned as the organization’s headquarters beginning in 1943. In addition to learning about the work of the NCNW, Race and Place educators will also receive pedagogical resources to utilize Mrs. Bethune’s extraordinary personal story—as a African-American woman who was appointed a Special Advisor on Minority Affairs to President Franklin Roosevelt, served as a member of the Committee of Twelve for National Defense, and was elected Vice President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.