It was an ugly building.
It looked like a prison.
I’m glad it is gone.
Memory Lane: Dunbar
Tag: schools
Piecing Together Lost Truxton Circle or What the what am I looking at? Pt 4
This is more of a continuation of part 3.
We are looking north from the Dunbar High School field. We see the bleachers. We do not see Armstrong in the background which means we see more buildings that no longer exist on the 200 block of O St NW.
Below, more of the same.
Swinging to the other end of the bleachers looking along O Street, we see another part of the field with female Dunbar students.
Here we clearly see Armstrong High School in the background.
Piecing Together Lost Truxton Circle or What the what am I looking at? Pt 2
Continuing on from Part 1….
Look at this photo taken in 1942.
Now same day in March 1942, same event.
Behind them appears to be the National Homeopathic Hospital. Below is a photo of the hospital from 1910.
You can see the front of the hospital in the top photograph. In the second photo you can see part of the old Dunbar High School building. Despite it being an event for Armstrong High School boys, it appears they are on Dunbar’s campus.
Below is an aerial photo from 1951 or 1952 taken by the US Geological Survey. Keeping in mind where the two tallish buildings of the hospital sat, and the corner of old Dunbar, you can see where the boys were parading.
Piecing Together Lost Truxton Circle or What the what am I looking at? Pt 1
I’ve been looking at the Library of Congress’ photo collection online for Truxton Circle related images. I found a slew of Armstrong High School photos, and some Dunbar High School images, some of them outside. Looking at them I noticed buildings in the background that no longer exist and tried to figure out where the photos were looking.
The LC photos were from March 1942. Below is an aerial photo from 1951 or 1952 taken by the US Geological Survey.
Armstrong as a building still exists.
Dunbar exists, but not the original building. The 3rd building for Dunbar High School exists on that block.
The Homeopathic Hospital no longer exists either.
A lot of buildings shown in the above aerial photo no longer exist. Currently there are no buildings on the east side and southwest side of Armstrong, as there were in the 1951 photo. Dunbar now takes up the whole block but in 1951 had structures on its western side. The Homeopathic Hospital got absorbed by the New York Avenue playground.
In later posts I will compare the 1942 photos to the 1951 aerial photo and try to match up the buildings or structures.
Armstrong and Maybe the Homeopathic Hospital
This is a 1942 photo of the military unit for Armstrong High School. I think, and I could be wrong, they are on the Dunbar High School’s field. From this view there are two tall buildings in the background. Those buildings do not exist in current day Truxton Circle. I think they are part of the Homeopathic Hospital.
Look Ma No Safety Goggles- Armstrong High School 1942
African American students at Armstrong Technical High School in Washington, DC use a jigsaw in 1942.
Thank You For Your Service Kid- Armstrong High School 1942
Happy Memorial Day to all who have served. Be ye ROTC, whatever this was, or any of the branches of our military. Thank you for your service.
Armstrong High School March 1942
Let’s take a break from the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company houses and look at some old photos of Truxton Circle schools.
Below is Armstrong Technical High School in March 1942.
If I were to guess this is probably the P Street side of the school. Free free to argue with me in the comments.
Duke Ellington, for whom a bunch of buildings around DC are named, attended Armstrong to study art and design.
Currently, Armstrong is the location of one of the Friendship Charter Schools for Pre-K and elementary aged children.
Back to School, for what?
If you look at data for Black children’s literacy rates in America, it is just so depressing. The shut down of schools during Covid didn’t help. There is lots of blame to go around. Parents, community, culture, education fads, and the kids themselves play a part.
So take your anti-depression meds and lets look at Shaw education as school gets back in session.
Back in the Winter of 2019-2020 I looked at all the Shaw schools I could get data on. To be fair, I’ll stick to the 2018-2019 PARCC data, because in 2020 everything went to Hell in a hand basket. Even if there is 2019-2020 data, it would be worse.
| Black students | PARCC Test | Meets/Exceeds | Below Adv & Failing |
| Dunbar | ELA 2018-19 | 16.50% | 83.50% |
| Dunbar | Math 2018-19 | 0.50% | 99.50% |
| Dunbar | Males ELA | 13.40% | 86.60% |
| Dunbar | Males Math | 0.90% | 99.10% |
| Cleveland E | ELA 2018-19 | 20.30% | 79.70% |
| Cleveland E | Math 2018-19 | 20.30% | 79.70% |
| Cleveland E | Males ELA | 10.80% | 89.20% |
| Cleveland E | Males Math | 24.30% | 75.70% |
| St. Augustine** | ELA 2017-2018 | 49% | 51% |
| St. Augustine** | Math 2017-2018 | 51% | 49% |
| Friendship PCS- Armstrong Elementary | ELA 2018-19 | 9.20% | 90.80% |
| Friendship PCS- Armstrong Elementary | Math 2018-19 | 22.90% | 77.10% |
| Friendship PCS- Armstrong Elementary | Males ELA | 7.30% | 92.70% |
| Friendship PCS- Armstrong Elementary | Males Math | 18.20% | 81.80% |
| Center City PCS – Shaw | ELA 2018-19 | 26.50% | 73.50% |
| Center City PCS – Shaw | Math 2018-19 | 28.90% | 71.10% |
| Center City PCS – Shaw | Males ELA | 13.60% | 86.40% |
| Center City PCS – Shaw | Males Math | 31.80% | 68.20% |
| KIPP- LEAD (1-4) | ELA 2018-19 | 39.70% | 60.30% |
| KIPP- LEAD (1-4) | Math 2018-19 | 68.60% | 31.40% |
| KIPP- LEAD (1-4) | Males ELA | 30.00% | 70.00% |
| KIPP- LEAD (1-4) | Males Math | 62.20% | 37.80% |
| KIPP- WILL (5-8) | ELA 2018-19 | 36.40% | 63.60% |
| KIPP- WILL (5-8) | Math 2018-19 | 32.10% | 67.90% |
| KIPP- WILL (5-8) | Males ELA | 29.30% | 70.70% |
| KIPP- WILL (5-8) | Males Math | 28.70% | 71.30% |
| Garrison ES | ELA 2018-19 | 37.50% | 62.50% |
| Garrison ES | Math 2018-19 | 27.50% | 72.50% |
| Garrison ES | Males ELA | 45.50% | 54.50% |
| Garrison ES | Males Math | 36.40% | 63.60% |
| Meridian | ELA 2018-19 | 16.80% | 83.20% |
| Meridian | Math 2018-19 | 14.20% | 85.80% |
| Meridian | Males ELA | 14.70% | 85.30% |
| Meridian | Males Math | 14.70% | 85.30% |
| Mundo Verde | ELA 2018-19 | 22.00% | 78.00% |
| Mundo Verde | Math 2018-19 | 22.00% | 78.00% |
| Mundo Verde | Males ELA | 20.00% | 80.00% |
| Mundo Verde | Males Math | 25.00% | 75.00% |
| Seaton ES | ELA 2018-19 | 35.00% | 65.00% |
| Seaton ES | Math 2018-19 | 37.50% | 62.50% |
| Seaton ES | Males ELA | 31.60% | 68.40% |
| Seaton ES | Males Math | 26.30% | 73.70% |
**St. Augustine is a predominately African American school and does not break down data by race.
I am left asking myself what percentage of Black students who are below reading level or does not meet expectations in math acceptable? It sure as heck isn’t 99% or 80% as it is at Dunbar.
Rando Alley not in Shaw- More of O’Brien Court NW/ Stevens School Garden
I’m just throwing this out there. It was in a collection of things I had from the National Archives, Still Picture Division. Why I have these, I don’t know.
I previously posted about O’Brien Ct. Here is another page about O’Brien Ct but regarding the Stevens School Garden Project. Look kids, school gardens are nothing new. The Stevens School was a school for Black children at the time, which was 1936. Now, it is a Pre-K school.