WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 16 O Street NW

The Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) was a late 19th century charitable capitalism experiment that ended in the 1950s. This blog started looking at the homes that were supposed to be sold to African American home buyers, after decades of mainly renting to white tenants.

photo of property

Looking at WSIC properties they tend to have a pattern where the properties were sold to a three business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans as the Colonial Investment Co. for $3 million dollars. Those partners sold to African American buyers. There was usually a foreclosure. Then the property wound up in the hands of George Basiliko and or the DC Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA). Then there was the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.

So we’re going to see what happened to 16 O St NW and see if/how it fits the pattern:

  • February 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold half of 16 O St NW to Clifford J. Bagnell.
  • February 1951 Mr. Bagnell borrowed $2,725 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • February 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold the other half of 16 O St NW to Gertrude and James Stancil.
  • February 1951 the Stancils borrowed $3,125 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • June 1956 the Stancils lost their half to foreclosure and the property returned to Evans, Taube and new partner Harry A. Badt via auction.
  • June 1956, as part of a larger property package, Harry Badt and his wife Jennie, transferred their interest in the property to Nathan Levins’ survivors.
  • June 1959 as part of a larger property package, Badt, Evans and Taube, and their wives, along with Nathan Levin’s survivors sell off their interest in 16 O St NW to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • March 1962, widower Clifford J. Bagnell was released from his mortgage debt.
  • July 1971 the Basilikos sold their half of 16 O St NW to the Housing System Development and Construction Corp. as part of a larger property package.

Following Bagnell’s ownership into the 1980s there are some documents about condemnation and they are directed towards Bagnell and James Dale Davidson at an address in College Park, MD. Hunting Mr. Bagnell down I discovered he died May 1, 1963. His niece and sister-in-law were the only ones named as his survivors.

So there was one foreclosure, check. Part was sold to George Basiliko, check and I don’t this the Housing System Dev. and Construction Corp had anything to do with RLA so, that’s a no.