Category: History

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 211 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.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 were the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.

Let’s see what happens with 211 P St NW:

  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 211 P NW to Leon Carter and Jordan Lewis.
  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Carter and Lewis borrowed $3,250 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • February 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 211 P St NW to Alfred and Josephine Sherman.
  • February 1951 the Shermans borrowed $3,400 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • May 1951 Carter and Jordan sold their half to Jordan Massie.
  • July 1952 Carter and Jordan and logically Massie, lost their half to foreclosure. The property returned to Evans, Levin, and Taube via an auction.
  • August 1952 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the foreclosed half of 211 P St NW to Dealman G. and Mildred Lee.
  • August 1952 the Lees borrowed $3,999.54 from Weightman and Levin.
  • June 1953 the Shermans sold their half back to Evans, Levin and Taube.
  • August 1953 Evans, Levin and Taube resold half of 211 P St NW to Leon and Rachel H. Gaither.
  • August 1953 the Gaithers borrowed $4,060.15 from Weightman and Levin (released June 1954).
  • November 1955 the Gaithers lost their home to foreclosure and property returned to Evans, Levin, and Taube via an auction.
  • April 1961 the Lees sold their half to Evans, Taube, and the Levin survivors.
  • November 1961 Evans, Taube, the Levin survivors, and the Badts, as part of a larger property package, sold 211 P St NW to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • Sometime between 1971 and 1980 the Basilikos, as part of a larger package probably, sold the property to the DC Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA).
  • June 1980 as part of a larger property package, the RLA sold the property to the BSA Limited Partnership.

This followed the unfortunate WSIC story where half of the property was sold to several families and there were a couple of foreclosures. It eventually fell into the hands of George Basiliko and the DC RLA.

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 209 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.

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.

Let’s see what happens with 209 P St NW:

  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 209 P St NW to Happer and Levie Herring.
  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) the Herrings 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 209 P St NW to Frances H. Bullock and Rhayford Meyer.
  • Jan 1951 Bullock and Meyer borrowed $3,400 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • October 1955 Happer and Leuie Herring sold their half back to Evans, Levin and Taube.
  • September 1959 Bullock and Meyer lost their half to foreclosure. New partner Harry A. Badt, Evans, and Taube regained the property via an auction.
  • September 1959 Harry and his wife Jennie Badt transferred/sold their interest in the property to the survivors of Nathan Levin as part of a larger property package.
  • November 1961, as part of a large property package, Badt, Evans, Taube, the Levin survivors and their spouses sold their interest in 209 P St NW to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • May 1962 the Herrings were released from their mortgage.
  • Between 1971 and 1978 Basiliko sold/transferred the property to the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA).
  • August 1978 the RLA sold/transferred the property to the Bates Street Associates Inc. as part of a larger property package.

Let’s get out the WSIC 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? Check. Then sold to a private partner, check.

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 213 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.photo of property

Let’s see what happens with 213 P St NW:

  • January 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold all of 213 P St NW to Silas Brown.
  • January 1951 Brown borrowed $6,000 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • June 1952 Silas and his wife Viola Cecilia Brown sold the other half of 213 P St NW to Charles Williams.
  • June 1952 Williams borrowed $994.43 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • June 1952 the Browns sold the other half of 213 P St NW to Luella Leach.
  • June 1952 Ms. Leach borrowed $1,544.43 from a different set of trustees, Carl D. Coleman and Walter Washington. I wonder if it was THE Walter Washington, former mayor of DC.

Now for some reason that is a mystery to me there is a June 1959 document (#1959024641) selling half of 213 P St to Sophia and George Basiliko by Evans, Taube, new partner Harry A. Badt, their wives and the survivors of Nathan Levin, as part of a large property deal.

  • December 1961 Silas Brown legally lost his portion of the property to foreclosure and via an auction it fell into the hands of Evans, Taube and Nathan Levin’s survivors.
  • December 1961 Evans, Taube, their wives and the Levin survivors sold half of 213 P to Charles Williams. I’m not sure why this is necessary, because he already owned it.
  • December 1961 (same day) Evans, Taube, their wives and the Levin survivors sold the other half of 213 P St NW to Sophia and George Basiliko. Which they did before in 1959.
  • June 1964, Charles Williams sold his half to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • Sometime between 1973 and 1979 George Basiliko sold the property to the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA).
  • August 1979-ish DC RLA sold the property to Bates Street Associates Inc.

There is so much messed up with this property and the documents that don’t make sense, I will just stop here and not make any conclusions.

Comparative White DC Home Owner- Georgetown- Charles A. Pendry- 3253 P St NW

Although the African American home owners of Truxton Circle are my focus, I am looking at a few other blocks in Washington, DC to compare them to. So I looked at the census for blocks in the city that were in the F1 or red-lined category, but happened to be 90%-100% white. I included Georgetown, and this is the story of one household.photo of property

I’m not sure why document # 192910230142 didn’t show up to document Charles A. and his wife Mabel V. Pendry’s purchase of 3253 P St NW from Emma and Henry Frain on September 17, 1929. They bought it and borrowed $2,700 from trustees Arthur G. Bishop and Arthur J. Bridgett. Then in 1933 the sold it back to Emma Frain. The end.

In the 1930 census Charles Augustus Pendry was a New York born engineer who worked for the federal government. He was previously married to an Ida Pendry who he divorced in 1924 after 31.5 years of marriage. But as we see above, by 1929 Pendry was married again to wife #2 Mabel Victorine. In the  1930 census, he was 59 years old, she 48. They lived with two lodgers Alexander P. Korman (20 yo) and Clarence Sterner (40 yo). He had no children.

By the 1940 census the couple had moved to G-d’s waiting room, aka Florida. They were renting, living as retirees in Tampa. Mabel died in 1949 and Charles passed in 1954.

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 221 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.

221 P St NW. Taken 2004

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 221 P St NW:

  • January 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 221 P NW to Lent L. Hunter.
  • January 1951 Lent Hunter borrowed $3,250 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • June 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 221 P St NW to Catherine B. and Orville L. Jackson.
  • June 1951 the Jacksons borrowed $3,400 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • September 1955 Mr. Hunter lost his half to foreclosure. Evans, Levin and Taube regained the property via an auction.
  • June 1959 new partner Harry A. Badt, his wife, Taube. Evans, their wives, and Nathan Levin’s survivors sold their half of the property to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • February 1964, the Jacksons borrowed $3,415 from United Mortgage Company Inc.
  • November 1966, the Jacksons were released from their June 1951 mortgage.
  • January 1975, George Basiliko sold the other half of the property to the Jacksons, thus bringing the property under the ownership of one household.

I’m going to end it there. Despite being sold as two halves, a foreclosure, and being sold to George Basiliko, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson managed to get the whole house. As far as I can tell the house remained in the Jackson family until 2001.

Comparative White DC Home Owner- Capitol Hill- Rufus Goodnough- 502 2nd Ave SE

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.

photo of property

I got Rufus Goodnough’s name from the 1930 census. However looking at the Recorder of Deeds documents, Mr. Goodnough became a homeowner through Mrs. Goodnough.

In 1923, Edna Grace Lamborne, a single woman, bought 502 Second Street SE from Alva M. and Lessie E. Templeton. She borrowed what appears to be $6,000 from trustees George P. Newton and M. James Wright (released 1929). December 29, 1925 she borrowed $600 under her married name Edna Grace Goodnough from trustees William E. Davis and William A. Kingsbury (released 1927). Rufus, her husband does not appear on the loan document. July 21, 1927 once again, in her name only, she borrowed another $600 from trustees Irvin Abrams and JL Krupsaw (released 1929). February 7, 1929, solely in her name, she borrowed $6,400 from the American Building Association. She continued to borrow in her name only up until 1943. October 1946, she and several of her neighbors signed a racial covenant (document #1946048071). And once again, Rufus’ name appears nowhere on the document.

On March 6, 1947 she died at Emergency Hospital. She left behind her husband Rufus and a 20 year old son, Adrien B.  Rufus only appears on a May 1950 loan document noting his death on June 27, 1949, leaving Adrien Barrett Goodnough as the sole heir borrowing $5,800 from the Perpetual Building Association (released 1951). Adrien borrowed money a few more times before selling the family home September 13, 1951 to Irene Cline.

So was Rufus Goodnough? Who was Edna Grace Lamborne Goodnough, the actual homeowner?

Edna Grace Lamborne was born around 1891 in Washington, DC to Minnie Zeisler and Milton Lamborne. Her father died in 1901 and her mother kept lodgers. In 1907 she was attending a business high school in the District, possibly Franklin. She kept a low profile.

Rufus Anson Goodnough was born July 18, 1890 in Ruston, LA. When he was 10 he helped support his widowed mother on the farm. His mother remarried before she died in 1913. We see him again in the 1930 census in Washington, DC working as a carpenter supporting Edna and their three year old son Adrien, born a year after the death of their 1st son, Anson. During the 1940 census, he added his 70 year old mother in law Minnie to the household.

I am curious as to how Edna Lamborne managed to purchase a house. I see she was lent money to do so, but what made her a good credit risk? Yes, I acknowledge she co-signed segregation, but I’m more interested in how she managed to pay off the loan and why someone would lend to a woman (who as far as I know) with no known job.

Once again- The historical boundaries of Shaw

This is a repost. But the topic is always something that applies.

Okay so there is a write up in the Washington Post about Shaw. I’m debating about giving Alex Padro a hard time about the east boundary being New Jersey Avenue. Their graphic has Shaw’s western boundary at 13th St NW and the southern part just eats up Mt. Vernon . The boundaries of Shaw keep changing with each article so, there is that. This is a Real Estate article, and they quote Padro and Ibrahim Mumin, so I’m not going to nit pick much, except for this point.

Anyway, here’s a map

map of Shaw and CHand this gem

Commercial Building Map
Map of Shaw for 1970 Commercial Buildings

and this…

Proposed subway line through 1968 Shaw

Armstrong Became A Functional School Again

Earlier I looked at Langston which, as far I know, is still a husk of a building. Langston was a school where African American children learned and played. But despite being on the Register of Historic Places, it is still a decaying structure. Armstrong was also on the Register and it was delivered back to the land of the living and in the 2023-2024 school year be a place where African American children learn and play.

Armstrong Manual Training School. Under renovation. Taken October 14, 2007

The school underwent renovation in 2007 to turn it into a charter school. The man heading up the effort was Kent Amos, who is still alive. He was operating a profitable looking non-profit and was able to funnel about $24 million dollars into turning a decaying building to transform it into a functioning school.

Armstrong Technical High School Ruins
Armstrong HS, view from P and 1st St NW taken 6/26/2007

In 2009 neighbors complained that the CAPCS charter school was renting out the building to the Metropolitan Baptist Church and turning the field on 1st Street NW into a parking lot.  Yes, that parking lot got sneaked on.

View of Armstrong Parking Lot from Dunbar High School window. Taken April 2018.

There were problems with the CAPCS school and it’s founder. In 2015 Jennie Niles, the Deputy Mayor for Education issued a letter saying:

Dear CAPCS Parents and Guardians,

This morning, the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board (PCSB), an independent board, voted to revoke the charter for Community Academy Public Charter School (CAPCS). While the vote will undoubtedly cause angst for the 1,600 CAPCS students and their families, the District of Columbia is ready to make sure that the needs of the students are met for the 2015-16 school year.

At the request of Mayor Bowser, I developed a plan in collaboration with Friendship Public Charter Schools, DC Bilingual Public Charter School, and the Chancellor of DC Public Schools to provide as much continuity as possible for CAPCS students and families.

Armstrong Campus (1400 First Street, NW): Friendship Public Charter School will assume operations beginning next school year (2015-16) for all 523 students……

After that Armstrong has been operating as a regular old charter school. I’m happy it is a building that is being used and maintained.

Armstrong Technical High School, March 1942. Photo by Marjorie Collins.

 

This Was Once A Functional School- Langston School

Among the Library of Congress photographs were photographs of the John Mercer Langston School, which sits on the unit block of P St NW in Truxton Circle. I discovered photographs of the Langston School among the several photographs that photojournalist Marjory Collins took in March 1942. However, like the Slater School, it was not labeled. Thank goodness these schools are located so close to each other that this slice of Truxton Circle history has been captured.

Langston School taken March 1942

Collins, it seems was aiming to focus on the woman in the hat, not so much the school building.

[Untitled photo, possibly related to: Washington, D.C. Schoolteacher] Library of Congress
It was part of a series of photos of a school teacher. As the teacher seemed to live in a whole other part of town a goes unnamed, just like the school, I’m not particularly interested in following her story.

Langston Elementary was a functional school. It had students and teachers and staff. But now it is just an empty historic building:

Abandoned Langston School on P St NW.

The images below are from 2007. The building has been better secured in the past 16 years.

Western side of the Langston School on P St NW.
Langston School taken May 30, 2007
Rear of Langston? May 30, 2007
Broken Windows, Langston School. Taken May 30, 2007

Slater School 1942

I happened to have found this photograph in the Library of Congress’ collection. It was listed as a Negro elementary school. When I took a closer look I saw the name of the school on the building.

Slater-Negro-School
Slater School. Kids playing on P St NW. 1942.

I am amazed seeing children playing on P Street as if it was an extension of the playground. P Street actually doesn’t look that wide in this photo. Things were different in 1942, when this was taken by Marjory Collins the Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information photographer who took the photograph.

I found a similar view from 2008.

Unit block of P Street NW taken January 8, 2008

The school was in poor shape then.

Slater School on the unit block of P St NW ca. 2008