Lafayette Square
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An engraving of Washington in 1800. West end of capitol grounds and Pennsylvania Avenue are shown.
Credit: Architect of the Capitol Collection, Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress
Did you know that in 1810 an enslaved woman named Alethia Browning Tanner purchased her freedom with $1400 she had earned selling vegetables in the area that we know today as Lafayette Square?
Through her business in President’s Park, Alethia Tanner also saved enough money to purchase the freedom of other members of her family, including her nephew John F. Cook, Sr. Cook went on to found the 15th Street Presbyterian Church, becoming the first black Presbyterian minister in the city. In 1870, the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth was organized in the basement of this Church, and in 1892, the school moved into a new building at 128 M Street, NW and was renamed the M Street School. Among the many influential graduates of the M Street School was Charles Hamilton Houston, who fought important legal battles against segregation and discrimination in the early 20th century and established the Howard University School of Law as the leader in legal challenges to segregation that ultimately resulted in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. How might the history of the United States have been different without Alethia Tanner?
Listen to:
Lafayette Square Tour Audio
Call 1 (202) 595-1859, then 103#. (Quicktime Version)
Related Subjects:
Enslaved People
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Weddings at St. John's Church | Selected entries from the St. John's Church marriage register. |
| Thomas Greene Bethune [Wiggins], 1849 -1908 | Photograph of blind piano prodigy Thomas Greene Bethune, the first African American artist to perform at the White House. |
| The White House | From slavery to sit-ins.... |
| Tayloe House | Compensated emancipation, only in DC... |
| St. John's Church | Free and enslaved African Americans are married and baptized at the President's parish... |
| President's House Carpenters' Roll from May 1795 | Payment record for carpenters,including five enslaved men, who constructed the President's House. |
| Paul Jennings | Paul Jennings |
| Members of Gadsby's Enslaved Household | A list of their names and ages. |
| Gadsby Slave Quarters at Decatur House ca.1937 | Photograph taken by Volkmar Wentzel in 1937 showing the H Street side of the slave quarters at Decatur House. |
| Frederick Douglass | Revered African American leader. |
| First page of a letter from Henry Clay to his agent in Washington, Philip Fendall, regarding Charlotte Dupuy's petition for freedom | Letter written written by Henry Clay to his agent in Washington, Philip Fendall, regarding Charlotte Dupuy's bid for freedom. |
| Ewell House | Buying, selling, and resisting. |
| Emancipation in the District of Columbia - List of the Petitions Filed | Government document showing claims paid for emancipated slaves to the former owners. |
| Elizabeth Keckly (1818-1907) | Elizabeth Keckly was born into slavery in 1818. She went on to purchase her own freedom and establish a successful dressmaking business. |
| Dolley Madison's House | A former slave shows charity toward an impoverished First Lady. |
| Decatur House Slave Quarters Floor Plans | Floorplans and architectural drawings of the Decatur House slave quarters. |
| Decatur House Slave Quarters | Men, women, and children from two families living together in 900 square feet... |
| Decatur House | Where Charlotte Dupuy takes a brave stand against slavery. |
| Daniel Webster's House | A slave plans a daring escape, but has a change of heart... |
Institutions
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Weddings at St. John's Church | Selected entries from the St. John's Church marriage register. |
| St. John's Church | Free and enslaved African Americans are married and baptized at the President's parish... |
| Freedman's Savings & Trust Co. Bank Book | Scan of the cover, back, and two inside pages of bank book from the Washington Branch of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Co. |
| Freedman's Savings & Trust Co. | $3 Million vanish without a trace... |
| Civil Rights Era at St. John's Church | The Civil Rights Era at St. John's Church from "The Half Had Not Been Told Me: African Americans on Lafayette Square" cell phone tour. |
| "To the Depositors of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Co." | Notice published in the New National Era from Frederick Douglass to depositors of the Freedman's Savings Bank upon the bank's failure. |
| "Monument of a Crime - Department of Justice Deserts a Fateful Building" | Transcription of an 1899 newspaper article about the failure of the Freedman's Bank of the demolition of the building. |
| "Dividends for Freedmen" | Transcription of an 1881 newspaper article detailing settlements to be paid to claimants after the Freedman's Bank failure. |
Civil Rights Leaders
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| The White House | From slavery to sit-ins.... |
| President Lyndon B. Johnson's Daily Diary- Civil Rights Bill Signing | Scans of pages of President Johnson's daily diary from the day of the Civil Rights Bill signing. |
| Civil Rights Leaders Meet with President Kennedy | Photograph of Civil Rights Leaders meeting with President Kennedy in the Oval Office, 1963. |
Related Websites:
A National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary for
