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 were the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.
Let’s see what happens with 216 Q St NW:
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 216 Q NW to Flora M. and James L. Fisher.
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) the Fishers borrowed $3,275 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 1951) Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 216 Q St NW to Catherine R. West.
- Dec 1951 Mrs. West borrowed $3,125 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- February 1962 the Fishers were released from their mortgage and owned their half free and clear.
- August 1962 Ms. West was released from her mortgage.
- July 1967, for some reason, E. M. Bros (an early lender) lost their interest, along with Evans, Levin and Taube to foreclosure and via an auction whatever part of the property they owned transferred to Ms. West. She then borrowed $1,200 from trustees Levin & Weightman.
Nothing more happens until the 1980s when Ms. West sells. I don’t know what happened to the Fishers and their half. For this house they kind of disappear after their release.
I looked up Mrs. Fisher, February 1962 she bought 5154 South Dakota Ave NE with Jeanna LaVerne Farr. Looking up James L. Fisher, he was involved in more real estate ventures than I care to count, but appears 216 Q was the start of his (and maybe his wife’s) property empire.
I am not sure about the July 1967 incident and what that was all about.
What I can say was this seemed to have worked out for the parties involved.