Slowe-Burrill House | |
Location | 1256 Kearny Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. |
---|---|
Coordinates | 38°55′51″N76°59′20″W / 38.93083°N 76.98889°W |
Built | 1890 |
Architectural style | Queen Anne |
NRHP reference No. | 100005324 [1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 5, 2020 |
Designated NHL | December 13, 2024 |
The Slowe-Burrill House is a Queen Anne-style house in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Built in 1890, the home was occupied from 1922 to 1937 by Lucy Slowe and Mary Burrill, notable African American educators who are thought by historians to have been a couple. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2024 for its significance to African American and LGBT history.
The house at 1256 Kearney Street NE was built for the original owner James T. Ward, an Irish immigrant, in 1890. It is a two-and-a-half-story structure in Queen Anne style. [2] [3] [4] [5]
Lucy Slowe and Mary Burrill, two African American educators, bought the house together in 1922 after Slowe was appointed Dean of Women at Howard University. [2] [6]
At a time when lesbian relationships were extremely taboo, Slowe and Burrill kept their romantic relationship under wraps professionally, but their close friends treated them as a couple. [6] [5] They frequently used the property's spacious rear yard for social gatherings of African-American women intellectuals. [3] [4]
Howard president Mordecai W. Johnson at one point pressured Slowe to move onto campus, but she fought to remain in the house at 1256 Kearney. [3] The pair lived there together for 15 years until Slowe's death in 1937, after which a mourning Burrill sold the house and moved into an apartment near Howard. [2] [7]
The D.C. Preservation League sought preservation status for the house based on the historical significance of its former occupants. [8] [9] [10] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020, [11] and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2024. [12] [13]
Brookland, also known as Little Rome or Little Vatican, is a neighborhood located in the Northeast (NE) quadrant of Washington, D.C. Bounded by Fort Totten Metro Train tracks NE, and Brookland CUA Metro train tracks, Taylor Street NE, Rhode Island Avenue NE, South Dakota Avenue NE. It is best known for its numerous Catholic institutions, including schools, religious communities, shrines, institutes, and other organizations built and based around the Catholic University of America.
LeDroit Park is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C. located immediately southeast of Howard University. Its borders include Florida Avenue NW, Bryant Street NW, Georgia Avenue NW, and 2nd Street NW .LeDroit Park is known for its history and 19th century protected architecture. The community's diversity entices new residents to the community, as well as its close proximity to the Shaw–Howard University Metro station and many dining options.
Allen University is a private historically black university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. It has more than 600 students and still serves a predominantly Black constituency. The campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Allen University Historic District.
Normal School for Colored Girls was established in Washington, D.C. in 1851 as an institution of learning and training for young African-American women, especially to train teachers.
Beulah Elizabeth Burke (1885–1975), was, along with her sister, Lillie, one of the nine original founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority in 1908, the first sorority founded by African-American women. In her leadership as an educator and civic activist, Burke created important social capital. Her legacy of Alpha Kappa Alpha has continued to contribute to society for over 100 years.
Margaret Flagg Holmes was one of the sixteen founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, at Howard University in Washington, DC. It was the first sorority founded by African-American women.
Lucy Diggs Slowe was an American educator and athlete, and the first Black woman to serve as Dean of Women at any American university. She was a founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the first sorority founded by African-American women.
The General Oliver Otis Howard House, also known as Howard Hall, is a historic house, and the oldest surviving building on the campus of Howard University, in Washington, D.C. Built in 1867, it was the home of General Oliver Otis Howard, the university founder and its third president. The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974. It faces Georgia Avenue NW, just north of Howard Place.
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The Strivers' Section Historic District is a historic district located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Strivers' Section was historically an enclave of upper-middle-class African Americans, often community leaders, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It takes its name from a turn-of-the-20th-century writer who described the district as "the Striver's section, a community of Negro aristocracy." The name echoes that of Strivers' Row in Harlem, a New York City historic neighborhood of black professionals. The district is roughly bounded by Swann Street and the Dupont Circle Historic District on the south, Florida Avenue and the Washington Heights Historic District on the north and west, and the Sixteenth Street Historic District on the east.
Mary P. Burrill was an early 20th-century African-American female playwright of the Harlem Renaissance, who inspired Willis Richardson and other students to write plays. Burrill herself wrote plays about the Black Experience, their literary and cultural activities, and the Black Elite. She featured the kind of central figures as were prominent in the black society of Washington, D.C., and others who contributed to black women's education in early twentieth century.
Brooks Mansion is a Greek Revival plantation house and Category II Landmark owned by the District of Columbia government. It is located at 901 Newton Street, Northeast, Washington, D.C., in the Brookland neighborhood, next to the Brookland–CUA.
M Street High School, also known as Dunbar High School, is a historic former school building located in the Northwest Quadrant of Washington, D.C. It has been listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites since 1978 and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The building escaped demolition with community support and the efforts of preservationists and is now a community center.
The dean of women at a college or university in the United States is the dean with responsibility for student affairs for female students. In early years, the position was also known by other names, including preceptress, lady principal, and adviser of women.
The Brookland Bowling Alleys is an Art Deco-style building in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, D.C., that housed a bowling alley from its construction in 1939 until 1950. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
Hilda Andrea Davis was an American educator, college administrator, and mental health professional.
Joanna Raynor Houston, later Joanna Houston Ransom, was an American English instructor, college administrator, assistant dean of women at Howard University, third Grand Basileus of Zeta Phi Beta, and a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Presidents.
Helen Hale TuckCohron was an American educator, clubwoman, and college dean. She was acting Dean of Women at Howard University from 1919 to 1922, and an active clubwoman in Harlem in the 1930s and 1940s.
Anne Pruitt-Logan was an educator and college administrator known for her work providing access to education for historically underserved populations. She was the first black woman to hold the position of president at the American College Personnel Association and the first Black woman to serve as a full professor at Ohio State University.
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