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Most Endangered Places
2003

Old Engine Company 6
Rutherford B. Hayes School
911-919 New Jersey Ave., SE
Carter G. Woodson House
Woodlawn Cemetery
Martin Luther King, Jr. Pub. Library
Anne Archbold Hall
St. Elizabeths
DC World War I Memorial
Uline Arena/Washington Coliseum
Corcoran Hunting Lodge
Capitol Park
Western Telegraph Company

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Most Endangered Places for 2003

CARTER WOODSON HOUSE

1538 9TH STREET, NW

OWNER: ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE AND HISTORY

HISTORY
In 1915, Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), a Harvard-trained historian and DC Public Schools teacher, founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. In 1922, he moved his operations to 1538 9th Street, NW, living and working in that row house until his death. In the intervening years, Woodson successfully established Black history as an academic discipline and fought to counter the commonly held belief that African Americans had made little or no contribution to the development of the American nation. In 1926, Woodson established Negro History Week (now Black History Month). This row house is where it all began. Although the Association for the Study of African American Life and History still owns the house, it moved out in 1971.

WHAT IS THE THREAT?
Empty for over a decade, the house where the father of African American history worked for 38 years has been left derelict, with homeless people squatting inside, broken windows, and interior damage caused by roof leaks.

DCPL’S RESPONSE
The National Park Service has completed a special resources study to determine alternatives for the possible development of the home as a National Historic Site under NPS stewardship, and DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton has introduced a bill that would authorize NPS to acquire the house. DCPL is working with a number of groups including the National Trust and the building’s owners to help develop long-term solutions for the stabilization and rehabilitation of the important African American heritage site.

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