Continuing to recognize Black History Month, let’s take a look at the father of Black History, Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s home and office at 1538 9th St NW.
According to the DC Recorder of Deeds database on September 6, 1922, a single man, Carter G. Woodson purchased 1538 9th St NW (Sq. 365, lot C) purchased his home from Dr. Ida J. Heiberger, a white female physician. She attended Howard University for a hot minute in 1881. According to her Wikipedia page she graduated from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, in 1885.
To finance his purchase, he borrowed $3750 from trustees Julius I. Peyser and Theodore D. Peyser. Julius was the president of Security Savings and Commercial Bank and lawyer with Peyser, Edelin and Peyer. Theodore was his brother and the other Peyser in the law firm. They both were white.
October 7, 1927 he was released from the Peyser mortgage.
December 1954 the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, the organization Woodson founded, borrowed $10,000 from Perpetual Building Association. The document noted Woodson’s death and that the Association was the corporate heir.
He died in 1950. He did not seem to leave the property to his sisters or brother. His will appears to have gone through probate in December 1958 in West Virginia. But I couldn’t find the actual will for details.
Despite being dead he was responsible for a tax lien, well him and the Associated Publishers, Inc in 1983. Then later in the 1980s the Association got in trouble with the IRS and there were many IRS tax liens.