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 71 Bates St NW:
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 26, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 71 Bates St NW to widow Mattie N. Jackson.
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 26, 1951) Mrs. Jackson borrowed $2,525 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 26, 1951) Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 71 Bates St NW to Beatrice E. and Lester Johnson.
- Dec 1950 the Johnsons borrowed $2,525 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- May 1953 Mrs. Jackson sold her unit back to Evans, Levin and Taube. She was released from her mortgage June 1954 and May 1962.
- August 1953 Evans, Levin and Taube resold the unit to Hattie W. and Herman Young.
- August 1953 the Youngs borrowed $3,306.18 from trustees Levin and Weightman.
- August 1958 the Youngs lost their half to foreclosure and the unit was repossessed by Evans, Taube and new partner (after the death of Nathan Levin) Harry A. Badt through an auction.
- August 1958 Harry and wife Jennie Badt sold/transferred their interest in the property to the survivors of Nathan Levin.
- December 1959, for some reason, slum landlord George Basiliko and wife Sophia took out a loan with the Perpetual Building Association using several properties on Square 615 as collateral. This included 71 Bates, which they did not own, yet.
- November 1961, as part of a large property package (doc #1962000415), Badt, Evans, Taube, Nathan Levin’s survivors and their spouses sold the whole of 71 Bates to Sophia and George Basiliko.
- October 1969 the Johnsons were released from their mortgage.
- June 1975 Lester and Beatrice Johnson sold/transferred their half to Eveldeen and Alvin L. Johnson.
- December 1977 Eveldeen and Alvin resold/transferred the property back to the widow Beatrice Johnson.
- November 1977 George Basiliko sold his half to Eveldeen and Alvin L. Johnson.
- November 1977 Alvin and Beatrice Johnson borrowed $6,400 from trustees Leonard C. Collins and John M. Swagart in order to pay off George Basiliko Inc for the purchase.
This was a good one where one set of buyers were able to avoid foreclosure and later bring the property under one family, assuming the Johnsons were all related. But there were parts that fit the pattern with two foreclosures and selling to George Basiliko.