Instructions and Information
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Decatur House, a National Trust Historic Site, located on Lafayette Square in Washington, DC.
Credit: Carol Highsmith
Hello, I'm Cynthia Malinick, Director of Decatur House Museum. Welcome to Lafayette Square and to the Half Had Not Been Told to Me audio tour. This project would not have been possible without the support of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Please bear in mind that any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this tour do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
We are also deeply indebted to The Honorable Adrian M. Fenty, Mayor of the District of Columbia, who recorded the tour introduction and to the tour narrator, The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. Secretary West has deep personal and professional connections to Lafayette Square and, as you will see, his narration truly brings the history of this unique landscape to life.
We chose to make this a cell phone audio tour because Guide by Cell technology makes it both fun and easy to learn about what interests you about the rich African American history of Lafayette Square. You can listen to all of the tour stops as they are listed on your map or pick a few and listen to them in any order you choose. Use your tour map to select a stop that you want to hear, then input that stop number, followed by the pound sign into your phone. You can begin listening to another stop at any point—just enter the stop number you want to hear, followed by the pound sign. One of my favorite things to do is sit on a bench facing the site where the Belasco Theater once stood and listen to the beautiful voice of opera star and DC native Madame Lillian Evanti.
Please remember that this audio tour is available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I hope you will bring your family, friends, or colleagues back to enjoy the experience or listen to the tour stops again from your home or work phone. I also hope that you will take time to visit Decatur House Museum where you can take a tour of one of the oldest residences in the city, see our permanent exhibit on urban slavery or one of our changing exhibitions, and visit our wonderful museum shop. To hear more about upcoming Decatur House events—like our acclaimed Jazz on Jackson Place concert series—press 121, followed by the pound sign.
Thank you for taking part in this tour.
Listen to:
Information from Cynthia Malinick, Director of Decatur House Museum
Call 1 (202) 595-1859, than 101#. (Quicktime Version)
Related Images:
The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr.
The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. narrates the Lafayette Square cell phone tour.
