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.
Thank You For Your Service Kid- Armstrong High School 1942
Month: May 2023
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.
WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 201 P 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.
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.
Let’s see what happens with 201 P St NW:
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 201 P St NW to Catherine Estep Ferguson.
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Mrs. Ferguson borrowed $3,425 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 201 P St NW to Paul L. and his wife Johnnie C. Wright.
- December 1950 the Wrights borrowed $3,375 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- December 1965 the Wrights were released from their debts and obligations and owned their half free and clear.
- November 1966 Ms. Ferguson’s mortgage was cleared.
- December 1966 the Wrights financed a new boiler with Washington Gas, a debt that was due to mature in 1970.
This transaction went as well as it could. No foreclosures. For some reason there was a Basiliko document but I could not link a deed to him for this property. So I ignored it. And if no Basiliko, there is no DC RLA or any other DC government scheme to rehabilitate the property.
In 2012, the property was united under one owner. According to that document the Wrights and Ms. Ferguson were all dead and their estates sold their halves. Paul Wright died 1952. Johnnie Mae Wright died in March 2005, Herbert Champion and Dorothy Simpson Dickerson represented her estate. Catherine Estep Ferguson, later Catherine Olivia Milner died January 26, 2005. Her estate was represented by son Michael James Milner and companion, Paul Woods.
Sometimes due to a bad read by the OCR or fat fingers the wrong document shows up out of no where. There was a 1953 document I ignored because neither party was on the deed. The borrowers borrowed 804.86 for work done by the Consolidated Engr. & Distr. Co, Inc. at 201A P Street NW. So this and the Basiliko document are the two that made no sense in the history of this house.
WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 18 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.
Currently, 18 O Street NW has been divided into condos and there isn’t a convenient DCRA photo from 2004 to look at. But thankfully the lot next door, currently lot 237, for 16 O St NW. From the 1909 map it appears 18 O Street NW is on lot 181. I am guessing 18 O may have also been lot 236.
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.
Let’s see what happens with 18 O St NW:
- February 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 18 O St NW to Almetha S. and Joseph Miller.
- February 1951 the Millers borrowed $3,125 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- March 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 18 O St NW to Bessie O. and Leroy Howard.
- March 1951 the Howards borrowed $3,125 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- June 1956 the Howards lost their half to foreclosure. The property returned to Evans, Taube, and new partner Harry Badt via an auction.
- May 1957 the Millers sold their half to Badt, Evans, and Taube.
- June 1956 (recorded August 1958) as part of a larger property package, the Badts (Harry A. and wife Jennie) transfer/sell their interest in 18 O St NW to Nathan Levin’s survivors.
- March 1959 the Millers were released from their mortgage obligations.
- March 1959 as part of a larger property package, Badt, Evans, Taube, their wives and Levin’s survivors sold 18 O St NW to Sophia and George Basiliko.
- July 1971 the Basilikos sold the whole of 18 O St NW to the Housing System Dev. and Construction Corporation.
I don’t know what connection, if any the Housing System Dev. and Construction Corp had to DC’s RLA. What I can see in the record is that the property somehow still required Basiliko’s involvement and they were condemned at a point. So whatever supposed construction that was supposed to take place, probably didn’t.
Okay let’s get out the bingo card. Halves of one property sold to two separate households, check. The sole lenders were Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman, check. Foreclosure, check. Sold to George Basiliko, check. Sold to DC RLA? Nope.
WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 60 Bates 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.
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.
Let’s see what happens with 60 Bates St NW:
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 60 Bates St NW to Beatrice S. and John C. Cooper.
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) the Coopers borrowed $2,525 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- January 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 60 Bates St NW to Lewis C. Pate.
- Jan 1951 Pate borrowed $3,875 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- April 1954 Pate sold his half back to Evans, Levin, and Taube.
- June 1954 Pate was released from his mortgage.
- September 1954 the Coopers lost their half to foreclosure. The property returned to Evans, Levin and Taube via an auction.
- March 1959, as part of a larger package, new partner Harry A. Badt, Evans, Taube, their wives, and the survivors of Nathan Levin sold 60 Bates Street NW to Sophia and George Basiliko.
It appears that between 1972-1980 the DC Redevelopment Land Agency gains control of 60 Bates Street. The document showing the transfer from Basiliko to DC RLA is somewhere but does not appear for this property.
So lets check our WSIC sell off bingo card. Half of the property sold to two different households, check. Same lender for all borrowers, check. Foreclosure, check. Sold to Basiliko, check. Sold to DC RLA, I can’t find the paperwork, but check.
That DC Redlining Map
People in academia tend to like to tell research adventure stories. The problem with archives and libraries and other places digitizing everything is taking the romance out of these tales. No need to get a grant, rent a crappy motel room during the middle of summer, nah. Tippy-tip tap, an email here, a subscription to a certain website and there’s your document. Of course, not everything has been digitized. And because of that, a person could still have a research adventure.
My research adventure takes place at the National Archives in College Park, MD. Those who know me are probably rolling their eyes, but bear with me. So my goal was to find the lost redlining map of Washington DC. I can call it lost, ’cause it was a b!tch to find. For one, the Mapping Inequality site showing off redlining maps doesn’t have Washington, DC. The DC Policy Center and Mapping Segregation had a map on their sites that approximated or was very similar to a DC version of the redlining map.
The DC Policy Center just said it came from the National Archives. Ok. NARA has a bunch of stuff and it’s catalog can be a PITA when you’re trying to actually find something. Clicking source just brought a person to the Mapping Segregation site. Digging into the resources there would send you back to the DC Policy Center and round and round I went. I eventually found the citation at the end of http://mappingsegregationdc.org/assets/residential-sub-areas-for-website-rev.pdf. It narrowed it down to the record group (RG) and the box, but not the entry. More poking around and it was entry A1-6.
I got the box. I was in the research room scanning area. I was at a desk next to a dear friend who is a professional researcher showing me the ropes and I managed to scrounge up an SD card for the camera. But the monitor was acting funny. And the SD card was ‘corrupt’. I managed to fit just 2 images on the card before giving up. And below was what I was able to capture.
Source: Map 11. Housing Market Analysis Washington DC. Records Relating to Housing Market Analyses, 1940–1942. National Archives, College Park, MD RG 31, entry A1 6, (NAID 122213881)
A description of the letter based residential sub-areas.
WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 231 P 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.
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.
Let’s see what happens with 231 P St NW:
- January 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold 231 P St NW to James R. Veney.
- January 1951 Veney borrowed $6,750 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- February 1954 Veney lost his home to foreclosure. The property returned to Evans, Levin and Taube via an auction.
- March 1954 Evans, Levin and Taube sold half of 231 P St NW to Howard L. Norris.
- March 1954 Norris borrowed $4,152.26 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- August 1954 Evans, Levin and Taube transferred the other half 231 P St NW to Lillian M. McGowan and she transferred it back to them in the next document.
- November 1961, as part of a larger property package, new partner Harry A. Badt, Evans, and Taube, and their wives, and the survivors of Nathan Levin sold their half of 231 P to Sophia and George Basiliko.
After that things get messy. I don’t like to look at these records past the 1980s and 1990s because that brings me ever closer to bumping into people I might have known. And it is just weird.
Basiliko, in the form of George Basiliko with wife Sophia, and George Basiliko Inc., had a couple of real estate documents between 1962 and 1978. December 1978 George Basiliko Inc sold his half of 231 P St NW to Lewis L. Washington.
June 1980 Norris added Patricia Butler to the deed. Propertyquest has Patricia Butler is the current owner….. Okay. I didn’t see when/how it came under one owner.
So let’s check our WSIC bingo card. Sale of half of the property, eventually, check. Foreclosure, check. Sale to Basiliko, check. Sale to DC Redevelopment Land Agency, nope.
Comparative White DC Home Owner- Capitol Hill- John Fitzpatrick- 501 3rd St SE
I haven’t done this in a while.
So just to get an idea to see if what I am seeing with the Black Homeowners of Truxton Circle is normal, or not, I am comparing them with white home owners. I am looking at blocks that were over 90% white in 1950 but also in the same “red lined” zone, which was F1.
The story starts in 1924 when John and his wife Mae Fitzpatrick purchased 501 3rd St SE from John J. and May Shaughnessy. As part of the purchased the Fitzpatricks borrowed the equivalent of $5000 from the American Building Association. They also borrowed $2,000 from trustees Charles H. Kindle and Guy M. Neely at 6% interest. The $2,000 loan was paid off in 1927. In 1931 the Fitzpatricks borrowed a small amount of money ($184.00) and paid it off in 1933. The Fitzpatricks were free and clear of their 1924 American Building Assoc. loan in 1946. They sold their home in 1952.
So who was John Fitzpatrick? He was at the same address for the 1930-1950 censuses, so I can find the right John Fitzpatrick out of all the other John Fitzpatricks. Let’s start in 1922 when John Fitzpatrick married Irish born Mae/May Quade/Quaid at St. Peter’s Church. Two years later the newlyweds purchased 501 3rd St SE.
On the 1930 census New York born Irish-American John was a 48 year old US government auditor. He lived with his wife Mae, and their children John, Helen and William. The next census, 1940, John (58 y.o) was a government “general clerk” and Mae was Mary. The last census, 1950, two of the, then adult, children lived with John and Mary, John D. and William L. John Daniel Fitzpatrick married a Ms. Evelyn Elaine White in April of 1951. They moved out and went to live at 2115 Suitland Terrace SE.
Because John Fitzpatrick is such a common name, my research ends here.
Comparing the white Fitzpatricks with the Black Truxton Circle home owners, only one TC person also had an American Building loan. William Bowman of 20A N St NW refinanced with the American Building Association.
WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 203 P 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.
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.
Let’s see what happens with 203 P St NW:
- January 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 203 P NW to Jane and Morris Guy.
- January 1951 those Guys borrowed $3,400 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 203 P St NW to widow Irma T. Walker.
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Walker borrowed $3,250 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- December 1956 (recorded in 1958) Mrs. Walker lost her half to foreclosure. The property returned to the Colonial Investment Co. partners, Evans, Taube and new partner Harry A. Badt, via an auction.
- December 1956 (recorded July 1958), as part of a larger property package, the Badts transfer/sell their interest in 203 P St NW to Nathan Levin’s survivors.
- June 1959, as part of a larger property package, Badt, Evans, Taube, their wives and Levin’s survivors sold half of 203 P St NW to Sophia and George Basiliko.
- November 1966, the Guys were released from their mortgage.
- January 1976 Morris Guy removed Jane Guy’s name off of their half of the property.
- October 1977, Shirley Guy James, administrator of Morris Leroy Guy’s will, transferred the property into her name.
- December 1978, George Basiliko sold his half to Lewis L. Washington.
I will leave it in the 1970s. Let’s check our WSIC checklist. Half of the building sold to two separate households, check. Foreclosure, check. Half or all of the property sold to George Basiliko, check. Sold to DC RLA or any associated private partners, nope.
WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 205 P 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.
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.
Let’s see what happens with 205 P St NW:
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 205 P NW to Rosa and Frederick Matthews.
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) the Matthews borrowed $3,250 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- January 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 205 P St NW to Fannie B. Tolbert.
- Jan 1951 Tolbert borrowed $3,250 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- April 1954 Tolbert (she was separated in 1951 and married in 1954) sold her half to John H. Russell.
- April 1954 Russell borrowed $1,461.97 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- May 1956 Tolbert was foreclosed upon. Via an auction, the property returned to the ownership of the Colonial Investment Co partners, Evans, Taube and new partner Harry A. Badt.
- May 1956, as part of a larger property package, the Badts transferred all or some of the ownership of their interest in the property to Nathan Levin’s survivors.
- November 1961, as part of a larger property package, Badt, Evans and Taube, their wives, and Levin’s survivors sell half of 205 P St NW to Sophia and George Basiliko.
- January 1962 the Matthews were released from their mortgage owning their half free and clear.
- May 1977 the Matthews sold their half to George Basiliko Inc.
I have no idea what was going on in the 1980s. On the surface it looks like George Basiliko sold/transferred the property to different people who then got foreclosed upon and he wound up getting the property back. Idk. I’m not looking all that closely. By the time the property came under one owner I gather the chance to dump it on DC RLA for a pretty penny passed. Checking our WSIC bingo card we have selling two halves, check. A foreclosure, check. Selling to George Basiliko, check. But no sale to DC RLA or any of its associated private partners.