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African American Life and Labor in the White House Neighborhood
St. John’s Church on Lafayette Square, 16th and H Streets NW, Washington, D.C.
Address: 1525 H Street NW | Nearby parking garages: 1610 I Street NW, 1625 I Street NW, 818 Connecticut Avenue, NW Nearest Metro stops: Farragut West and McPherson Square on the Blue/Orange line, and Farragut North on the Red line
February 27, 2012, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. • Free and open to the public • Registration required
Program
| 10:00 | Lonnie G. Bunch, III, Founding Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution Introductory Remarks |
|---|---|
| 10:15 | Spencer Crew, Robinson Professor of American, African American and Public History, George Mason University Keynote Address |
| 10:45 | Katherine Malone-France National Trust for Historic Preservation Reading the Slave Quarters at Decatur House as a Primary Source |
| 11:30 | Alexandra Lane White House Historical Association Hoteliers and Slave Traders: A Tale of Two Gadsbys |
| noon | *Elizabeth Dowling Taylor Independent Scholar and Lecturer Paul Jennings, James & Dolley Madison, and the President’s Square |
| 12:30 | Lunch on your own |
| 2:00 | Donet D. Graves, Esq. Partner in Charge—Cleveland, Buckley King LPA Lafayette, We are Here! The Rise of a Family of Free Blacks in President’s Park |
| 2:30 | Shelley Stokes-Hammond Howard University Libraries The DePriests of 419 U Street and the Not-So-Secret Tea at the White House |
| 3:15 | Personal Histories: A Discussion Marya McQuirter, Moderator The George Washington University Philip DePriest DePriest Family Descendant Donet D. Graves Wormley Family Descendant Stephen Hammond Syphax Family Descendant Angela Hayes-Toliver Jennings Family Descendant |
* Ms. Taylor will be signing copies of her new book, A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons.
White House Staff, 1877. Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. Learn more about African Americans and the White House ››
In 2010, the White House Historical Association assumed management of the historic Decatur House on Lafayette Square. Plans call for the property to be reestablished as the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History at Decatur House. Renovations of the property are ongoing, with a proposed opening in 2013. The new Center will encompass not only programs and research on the history of the President’s House, but extend its reach to historic Lafayette Square.
The property at H Street and Jackson Place includes a two-story structure that was built as a work and living space for enslaved African Americans. Over the course of the building’s life, it also housed free African American and white servants that supported the various owners of the house until the 1950s. The association is conducting new research, and is interested in promoting work by scholars outside the organization, on themes that enhance understanding of the community in the President’s neighborhood.
St. John’s Church is well known for opening its doors to the local community. This is evidenced early on by the 19th-century St. John’s register noting numerous baptisms and marriages of African Americans, free and enslaved. We are grateful to our friends at St. John’s for sharing their beautiful and historic space with us.
Left to right: An 1859 painting by Eastman Johnson depicting urban slavery, New York Historical Society; Portrait of James Wormley, Historical Society of Washington, D.C.; 1937 photo of the Decatur House historic slave quarters building, Library of Congress; Jessie DePriest on the day of the ‘White House Tea Incident’ June 12, 1929, courtesy of Barbara DePriest. Learn more about African Americans and the White House ››