Pan American Union Building

Pan American Union Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Organization of American States headquarters building, with the Statue of Isabella I in front (2015)
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Location	17th Street NW between C Street and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.
Coordinates	38°53′34″N77°02′25″W / 38.89288°N 77.04026°W / 38.89288; -77.04026
Built	1908–1910
Architect	Paul P. Cret and Albert Kelsey
NRHP reference No.	69000298, 10000625
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 4, 1969
Designated NHL	January 13, 2021

The Pan American Union Building is the headquarters for the Organization of American States. It is located at 17th Street Northwest, between C Street and Constitution Avenue, in Northwest, Washington, D.C. ^[1]

History

The cornerstone was laid on May 11, 1908, by Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu Root, and Andrew Carnegie on the former site of the Van Ness Mansion. ^[2] The building was dedicated on April 26, 1910. ^[3]

It was designed in the style of a Greek temple, with large exterior stairways leading to palatial bronze gates. The building's roof is covered with Ludowici tiles in a blend of reds. ^[4]

In 1919, the initial meeting of the International Labour Organization was held in the building. ^[5]

Between 1921 and 1922, the building was used for committee and subcommittee hearings throughout the Washington Naval Conference while closely guarded by marines with fixed bayonets. ^[6]

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2021, for its architecture and its role in international diplomacy.

References

1. Pan American Union Building at archINFORM
2. "Hall of Americas for Arms Meeting" (PDF). The New York Times. August 27, 1921.
3. "Building Stones of Our Nation's Capital: Walking Tour Stops 1-6".
4. "The renovation of the House of the Americas". Americas. Vol. 46, no. 1. 1994.
5. "International labor conference - First annual meeting" (PDF). October 29, 1919. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 12, 2014.
6. Wright, Quincy (1922). "The Washington Conference" . The American Political Science Review. 16 (2): 285–297. doi:10.2307/1943964. JSTOR   1943964. S2CID   147404493.

External links

• Media related to Pan American Union Building at Wikimedia Commons
• "-- holding: Pan-American Union Building, Washington, D.C. -- Philadelphia Architects and Buildings". www.philadelphiabuildings.org. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
• "Pan-American Union Building". Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
• "[Plan for front of Pan American Union Building, Washington, D.C.]". www.loc.gov. Retrieved March 18, 2025.