Truxton Is In Shaw – Page 60

So we got our DC School Lottery Results

First off, we’d pretty much given up on caring that much. The daycare that Destructo is one of those few child development centers that offers free Pre-K 3 and 4. I was angling for something a bit fancier but due to Destructo’s not being fully potty trained, put a monkeywrench in the ranking order. So maybe next year. Also we’re eying an exodus from this lovely city for career reasons in the near future, so there’s that too.

Anyway, here is what we got in the email today.

Yes, I knew we had a snowball’s chance in the hottest part of Hell of getting into Mundo Verde. If we got in or if his waitlist number (not shown) wasn’t 3 digits, I’d be fast tracking that potty training. For reasons, too gross to put here, I believe he has more control over his body than he’s letting on. Same thing for Yu Ying, which is also a three digit waitlist number.

If I could have found something about proximity as a preference for Cleveland Elementary, I would have. Cleveland is closer to our home than our in-boundary school Seaton. But I didn’t see anything about proximity, so apparently that wasn’t a factor…. maybe. Our waitlist number for both Cleveland slots is thirty-something.

I love the fact that DC has school choice. I didn’t have to choose a school based on an address. When I bought my house, almost 20 years ago, I was a single childless woman, so what school boundary I was in was immaterial. Looking at where we’d move to in the land of Maryland drivers, yeah, elementary school boundaries are a concern. It also helps that Seaton is our in-boundary school, which isn’t that bad, and there are a couple of good charters in walking distance.

Looking at our top 5 which actually is a top 4, you can guess what we found important. Language. What do Cleveland Elementary (DCPS), Yu Ying PCS, and Mundo Verde PCS have in common? Dual language programs. Destructo is getting a bit of that at his daycare, ad hoc, but I don’t think Tagalog is a language he can take with him past Pre-K 4.

I appreciate an article written in the Post profiling 8 families and what went into their lottery choices. I get that people want to have families choose in-boundary or neighborhood schools over charters and out of boundary DCPS schools. But the reality is some schools suck. And I have a good memory of what DC schools were like in the 1990s and early 00s, and schools have improved, but they aren’t equal to all students. We and other parents, make decisions based on what we think is best for our family or our individual kids. We only have one, but I know kids, even in the same family are different. And the school that worked for kid #1 may not work for kid #2. Same for the neighborhood school that may work for kids 1-11, but not kid #12, #32, #57 or #71- 102. And programs take time to develop and by the time it’s ready for the kids it was promised to, those individual kids have moved on.

Anyway, I hope your waitlist number was low, or you got into the school of your choice, and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Red Hen- A take out food review

So we wanted to help an area restaurant because the global pandemic has hit DC and all the restaurants have pretty much shut down in some way. Many have reopened but with a limited or different menu. I love food and I love fancy pants dining, but I have a 2 year old which means a sitter, so we pass. But as I mentioned in my last post, this disaster has presented an opportunity to dine from some very fine restaurants with the 2 year old.

Tonight, we tried out Bloomingdale’s Red Hen. In 2017 and 2020 it was named as a Bib Gourmand restaurant in the Michelin guide.

Looking at this I’m admitting I tipped poorly, but I was aiming for a round number. I sent the spouse out to get the food and he came back with some switchels I did not order, I should have tipped more. (See note below).

Anyway, Red Hen’s regular menu and their take out menu are pretty close. I found their drink menu, entertaining. The house cocktails were either a kit or a batch. Their bottles of wine range from $45 to $145. Not sure what the $20 corkage is.

I had the Italian Chicory Salad and the Roasted Spaghetti Squash. My spouse had the Chicken Liver toast and the Radiatori. Our 2 year old had bits of our meals. The food came in paper take out containers. I do realize a lot of what makes some fancy schmancy places special is presentation and well, it’s the end times, whaddya want? They looked very nice in their packages. At first, the 2 year old loudly refused samples of what we were having. But as soon as he saw us eating, he wanted some. He took about 1/2 of my spaghetti squash dish, and ate most of it. He had a few bites of Daddy’s toast…. nope, he did not want any butter or chicken liver. It was the fancy hard bread. He had a few slices of Wonderbread level soft bread from the Inshaw kitchen. He also had Daddy’s pasta, but by the time he got around to getting a second bite, Daddy was done eating.

I have no star rating. It was good. We enjoyed it. It probably would have been better if my spouse left the house earlier to pick it up ad if we ate immediately after he got home with the food but the 2 year old delayed things. So some of the cheese had solidified in the pasta dish, but not to the point it was less than tasty. It was quite tasty. It is better when it comes fresh from the chef’s kitchen. So my advice is walk faster and eat sooner.

NOTE (edited 3/23/2020): I noticed the charge on our account for this was higher than $70. My beloved spouse gave an extra $30 tip. So now I don’t feel bad about the tip anymore.

Support Local Restaurants or an opportunity to eat well at home

Note- This was typed up 3/17/2020. Everything subject to change with the rules of how governments and businesses respond to COVID-19.

So we are to hunker down in the house, but every so often you need to get out. Why not support some local TC businesses and still enjoy the goodness that is them?

ANXO at 3rd & Florida NW in Truxton Circle will be selling ciders and wines to-go. Their Instagram page has more info. Also you can support them by buying gift cards, so you can enjoy them when things are back to normal.

Republic Cantina on the other end of the TC on N St. NW is also doing take out. They are offering their cafe and dinner menu items for take out.

Am I missing any other Truxton Circle biz in the TC?

Over in Bloomingdale:

So Red Hen, you know Michelin mentioned them… finally you can get take out at this usually fine dine in restaurant. I’m licking my lips looking at their dinner menu. They are also selling gift cards for when happier days come around.

Tiber Creek, not mentioned by a fab French tire company, via their Instagram (I am not signed up for the instas, I’m old and I’m annoyed I have to go to Instagram to find things out because info is not on your main web page or Twitter) will be doing take-out.

Bacio Pizza– Take out only (stupid Instagram info).

Michelin level restaurants make you food-

Seeing the opportunity that Red Hen presented, a normally sit down restaurant I can’t go to because I’d need a sitter because the 2 year old has terrible table manners, is now offering take out food. So that got me wondering what other places of that high caliber, that require a sitter, are providing provisions? So I took a look at the Michelin Guide for DC and saw these. If it ain’t mentioned, they either are closed or haven’t mentioned anything.

Kinship– at 1015 7th St NW, the website says tomorrow (3/18/2020) they will be doing to go service. So watch that space.

The Dabney– They have take out, 3 courses for $45. From their site “Orders will be taken by phone from 11am – 2pm daily by phone only for that evening’s menu; there are limited number of dinners available. We are unable to modify the set menu, and payment will be processed upon order. In addition, a concise selection of wines by the bottle are available for purchase. ”

I have no idea what Jose Andres is doing in his awesomeness, but I doubt the community kitchen offerings at minibar is going to be as amazeballs as normal minibar.

Masseria– They will bring food to you. You just have to order before 3pm, delivery between 4-6pm.

Gravitas– They plan to offer pickup and delivery options.

Rose’s Luxury– They already have the Rose’s at Home service, which is currently offering drop off and Pick Up service. And there is the take away menu. The Pineapples and Pearls site will point you to this service.

Maydan– They have to go but I have no idea what is available.(instagram info)

Komi and Little Serow– Get carry out at Little Serow and Komi plans to implement Happy Gyro later this week.

Little Pearl– See Rose’s Luxury and their evening takeout menu.

Sushi Taro– (g*d**m Instagram). Pick up menu from 12-8pm, $30. See the stupid instagram page for options.

Truxton Circle Population 1880-2010

So I was cleaning up and found this and decided to post this helpful table.

Truxton Circle Population 1880-2010
Year	Total	Black	White	Other/Asian	Note
1880	1511	678	832	0
1900	4723	2438	2281	4
1910	6801	2232	4565	4
1920	7234	3008	4221	6	4-Chinese 1- Japanese 1- White/Chinese
1930	6175	4455	1712	6	All Chinese
1940	8244	6519	1718	4	Note: 3 Japanese 1 Chinese Total also 8244
1950	7720	6186	1511	23
1960	6789	6716	58	15
1970	5830	5768	21	41	2 yrs post riot
1980	3349	3249	61	39
1990	3623	3347	189	87
2000	2997	2713	103	181
2010	3028	1964	816	248

Source: US Census

Shaw School Review: Friendship PCS- Armstrong Elementary

Friendship PCS- Armstrong Elementary
1400 1st St. NW or 111 O St NW

Type of school: Public Charter
Grades: PK3-5 (Note: Middle School for 2020 grades 4-8)
Before & After School care: Yes. Contact school. Prob. $70 a week for before and after care.
Enrollment: 417 (2019-20)
—PreK3: 55; PreK4: 72; K: 63; 1st: 40; 2nd: 65; 3rd: 38; 4th: 37; 5th: 47
PCS LEA 1 Programmatic Capacity: 900; Unfilled seats 499 (2018-19)
Cost Per Pupil- No figures found. Apparently those numbers will be available later in 2020 or 2021.

Attracts Students From These DCPS schools (2017-18), 10 students or more

Name of School	# of Students
Thomas Elementary School	17
Truesdell Education Campus	10
Walker-Jones Education Campus	88
Browne Education Campus	23
Langley Elementary School	15
Seaton Elementary School	36
Cleveland Elementary School	13

Physical activity: Grades K-5: 65.00 Minutes/week

PARCC Scores 2018-19, % meeting & exceeding expectations
	Black	White	Hispanic	Pac. Is/Native Am.
ELA 2018-19	9.2%	n<10	n<10	n<10
Math 2018-19	22.9%	n<10	n<10	n<10
Males ELA	7.3%	n<10	n<10	n<10
Males Math	18.2%	n<10	n<10	n<10

Mari’s 2 cents–

I chose the picture of Armstrong before it was renovated. Friendship is the second charter school to take over the building. I almost feel that I should have a photo of the Langston school to show the importance of charters on the neighborhood. However, Langston is so far long gone no charter, no matter how well funded, isn’t going to touch it, unless the neighboring Slater building comes with.

I should write about the program. As the mom of a toddler, I should point out this is one of the few (the only I found) charters that seems forgiving when it comes to potty training. KIPP and Mundo Verde demand that students be potty trained.

They will have an open house on March 11, 2020 9:00am-10:00am and March 25, 2020 5:00pm-6:00pm.

Sources:
https://www.myschooldc.org/schools/profile/150
https://www.dcschoolreportcard.org/schools/120-0269
Copy of EdScape_Chapter 3 Facilities_Facility Enrollment and Utilization_6
2018-19 School Year Annual Enrollment Audit Report Supplemental Tables
Detailed 2018-19, 2017-18, 2016-17 PARCC And MSAA Performance

InShaw Blog Update-2003-2010 catalog added

I started this blog on Blogger and then due to some changes regarding URLs I moved to Moveable Type and then my host no longer supported that and so I’m using WordPress. I thought I added the Blogger posts but discovered the only posts that migrated over were from an announcement page I had. I have the main Blogger posts at dcinshaw.blogspot.com, but I have finally imported those posts, images and comments to this blog. Now there are over 2,500 posts here.

Sadly the Moveable Type (2010-2013) posts are still in limbo. Right now I can’t seem to locate those files. I’m sure they are on an external drive somewhere.

Black Homeowners of 3rd Street – 1940 No covenants

It has been a while since I looked at the Black Homeowners of Truxton Circle. I stopped because I got stuck on a mystery and I’m just going to have to let it go. I will never know who the mystery man was and that’s okay. I’m going back to the Black homeowners because of on-line conversations with Richard Layman and things I’ve been reading about redlining and restrictive covenants.

In my own research, I have not seen any restrictive covenants. I believe it is a thing that would be found outside of the L’Enfant planned city and in Washington County, those areas north of Florida Avenue. Mt. Pleasant, Trinidad, and Bloomingdale are the creations of developers who could put in those restrictions. So if you lived in Old City, the likelihood that your fee simple house (apt buildings could be a different thing) had a racial restriction would be low.

When looking at the property records, I have tried to make heads or tails out of them, but they are beyond me for now. I’ll see person X seem to transfer to person Y , then years later Z shows up with X. With E.L. Haynes who owned my house and several other properties in Truxton Circle and DC, she was able to borrow money for her rental properties. The financial details are in her papers at Catholic U’s archive and not so much with the Recorder of Deeds. Anywho, Black people managed to borrow money from somewhere to purchase real estate. Banks practicing redlining weren’t the only game in town.

Below is a table with data from the 1940 census, I’ve had to cut a lot out so it could fit, but know they are all for 3rd Street, they are all owners and African American.

House #	Surname	First name	Age	Marital Status	School	Occupation	Industry	Income
1311	King	Cornelius	59	M	H-4	Casterman	US Printing Office	$1,859
1335	Brown	Hillary I	40	M	7	Janitor	Apt house	$936
1337	Turner	Anna	37	M	H-1	Waitress	Tea room	$320
1413	Taylor	Emma	46	M	H-3			$-
1415	Mudd	Harry	60	M	8	Machinists helper	Railroad Terminal	$1,900
1429	Aiken	James W	48	M	H-4	Waiter	Hotel	$520
1430	Neal	Victoria V	69	W	H-4			$-
1431	Anderson	Ada	79	W	6			$-
1538	Fitch	Lula	45	M	H-2
1542	Green	William M	40	M	H-1	Laborer	Gov’t Printing Office	$1,320
1544	Williams	Augustus A	56	M	C-5	Dentist	Private Practice	$2,000
1546	Brooks	Walter A	54	M	C-3
1548	Chisley	Sadee	62	W	6
1550	Blackwell	James	45	M	0	Cement Finisher	Cement Contractor	$960
1554	Taylor	Walter J	65	M	8
1617	Contee	Grant	63	M	0	Preacher	Ministry	$-
1626	Cobbs	Ferrel	45	M	H-1	Messenger	Interior Dept	$1,260
1628	Coleman	Edward	60	M	8	Messenger	Veterans’ Bureau	$1,500
1629	Jenkyns	Jerome S	61	M	C-8	Machinist	U.S. Government	$2,245
1630	Marsell	William	50	M	8	Custodian	Bureau – Standards	$1,140
1649	Heywood	Spencer	50	M	C-1	Barber	Barber Shop	$900
1634	Ford	Laura	54	S	4			$-

I highlighted 1649 3rd Street, because that was my hang up, but I’m letting go, letting go. Instead I need to figure out how to make a decent table. This doesn’t seem like a long list, but remember in urban areas, more people are renters.

The owners on 3rd Street NW are varied. There are government workers, widow women, skilled labor and an educated professional. The youngest is Anna Turner, a 37 year old waitress at 1337 3rd St NW. She lived with her son and a female lodger, a teacher, the eldest a 79 year old widow Ada Anderson.

At the DC Archives- Shaw School Urban Renewal

It has been a long while since I checked in on the DC Archives. I have opinions, but as I get older I know I should keep them to myself, for professional reasons, as my day job is in the field. What I will say is that I find it frustrating that there isn’t more available to the public on-line, the long promised new building has yet to be built, there are records that logically should be open that aren’t, and DC government agencies seem to be unclear as to where their records are.

Okay, now that’s off my chest.

I checked in on the DC Archives on-line to see if there was any improvement since the last time I went looking for something. The answer was yes, there was some improvement. One of my biggest complaints was that they didn’t have a decent catalog. You see many small archives are at universities and colleges, so their stuff sometimes sit on school library website, and librarians are super duper stars at getting information to the public. State archives vary. Some states are better than others, but there is usually a catalog. There are companies out there, go to an ALA conference, or even SAA and you will find companies that have catalogs with public sides, so the public can see what the heck you have. But if you’re too cheap/wary for that, there is always throwing PDFs of finding aids on your website.

One of those fine PDFs is for the Shaw School Urban Renewal District Case Files, 1967-1968. I have heard tale of this survey. What would be interesting is to see what buildings were found to be derelict in the 1968 survey that still stands today and has been renovated and if any had been demolished. What I find most useful is the list, on the last page, of all the squares in the Shaw neighborhood.

Truxton Black History Link- Dunbar Cadet Corps

Right now the Library of Congress website is being very uncooperative. They have photographs of Dunbar High School girl cadets from the 1940s. So instead I’m going to link to someone else’s old blog post about the boys’ cadet corps circa 1950-1960.

It’s a pretty good post with photos from the Dunbar High School year book describing what the cadet corps did and their history. The author, Marion Woodfork Simmons, said that the cadet corps was the precursor to the JROTC. My niece is in the JROTC at our (I & her mom – my sister- went there too) Florida high school. She’s interested in the Navy. Anwho, it seems Dunbar still has an JROTC program.

It’s Black History Month- Blame Shaw’s Own Carter G. Woodson

Carter G. Woodson statue at night — Memorial for Dr. Carter G. Woodson at 9th and RI Ave NW.

It’s February so that means it’s Black History Month. And eventually somebody says something about February being the shortest month of the year and African Americans getting short shrift. Which is really ignorant because the “Father of Black History” Carter G. Woodson picked a week in February for Black History Week. That week turned into a month and that brings us to where we are. He could have picked another week in another month, but he didn’t. Please shaddap about February.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson (PhD, Harvard, 1912) noticed there was a lack of history documenting and telling the story of Black Americans in America. So he saw a problem and then fixed it. Quoting the NPS biography of Dr. Woodson, “The public knew very little about the role of African Americans in American history, and schools were not including African American history in their curriculum. He worked tirelessly throughout his life to remedy this problem, becoming nationally recognized as “the Father of Black History.” ”

Dr. Woodson lived and worked at 1538 9th Street NW, which is in Shaw. This would explain the statue, if you missed it, at 9th and Rhode Island Avenue NW. And the National Park Service complex at his historic home’s location. And of course, there are programs going on this month to celebrate the man. On February 15th and 29th at 1PM an actor will lead a 3 hour tour (a three hour tour) in the life of Dr. Woodson. The historic house is regularly open 3 days a week, Thursday through Saturday, 9 to 5.