Washington Post – Truxton Is In Shaw

120 Florida Ave NW- Newspaper Search

So I’m doing newspaper searches for Washington Sanitary Imp. Co. houses, and I’m doing 1930 Truxton Circle Black Homeowners. Then I thought, why not do a quickie newspaper search just covering the years of the Powell’s ownership, 1921-1971. The Library of Congress has the Evening Star and other DC newspapers that are not the Washington Post, up to 1963. So from 1963 to 1971, I’ll search the Washington Post.

For Sale- Houses– Evening star. [volume], September 28, 1920, Page 24; Evening star. [volume], September 27, 1920, Page 23; FOR SALE TO COLORED– 120 Florida Ave. N.W. Bay window brick; 8 large rooms and bath on two floors; h.w. heat; lot to alley; newly papered and painted. Price only $7,000; terms ran be had. T. B. BROWN CO.

For Sale- Houses– Evening star. [volume], October 03, 1920, Page 19. FOR SALE- TO COLORED FAMILY- 120 Florida Ave. N.W.
Bay-window brick. 8 large rooms and bath on two doors. Hot-water heat and gas. Newly papered and painted. Lot to alley. Room for
garage. Possession in 30 days. The price is right and can sell on terms. T. B. BROWN CO.

Real Estate Transfers– The Washington herald. [volume], August 06, 1921, Page 5. 120 Florida ave nw. sq 551, lot 174- Mary Dewey to Charles S. and Willie N. Powell.

Pedestrian Struck by Automobile Dies– Evening star. [volume], February 20, 1924, Page 7. A motor vehicle driven by Hellia Tennen (Temmon? ) of 120 Florida avenue northwest, came in contact with a barricade on the bridge over Rock Creek at P St.

11 Hurt in Traffic During Week End– Evening star. [volume], September 17, 1928, Page 7. James Patterson, 18 yr old AfAm of 120 Florida ave was injured, but not seriously.

Census Workers Named by Moran– Evening star. [volume], March 20, 1930, Page B-4. Willie N. Powell of 120 FL Ave NW was one of many mail clerks to help with the 1930 census.

Elevator Boy Knifes Employe [sic] of Phone Co– Evening star. [volume], February 06, 1931, Page PAGE B-1. Samuel J. Patterson, 21, of 120 Florida Ave was arrested and charged with assault.

Marriage License Applications– Evening star. [volume], February 08, 1947, Page B-8. Bayles Fox. 30. 120 Florida ave. n.w., and Lottye Gaten. 25, 1919 3rd st. n.w.

Marriage License Applications– Evening star. [volume], February 14, 1951, Page B-14. Hugh Temmon, 28, 120 Florida ave. n.w.,and Flossie Dixon, 21, 1228 Stevens rd. s.e.

Marriage License Applications– Evening star. [volume], June 01, 1951, Page B-12. Jesse Staton. 21. 118 Florida ave. n.w., and Hazel Dixon, 19, 120 Florida ave. n.w.

D. C. Soldier Listed As Captive of Reds More Than 2 Years– Evening star. [volume], February 23, 1953, Page A-4 – Pfc. Jesse L. Staton, was one of 4 soldiers wounded. His wife Mrs. Hazel M. Staton, lived at 120 Florida avenue N.W.

33 District Veterans Reach West Coast– Evening star. [volume], May 14, 1953, Page A-7. Korean war vet Pfc. Jesse L. Staton of 120 Florida avenue N.W. was given leave.

Deaths-Powell, Charles S.– Evening star. [volume], July 30, 1954, Page B-8. On Friday, July 30, 1954. CHARLES S. POWELL of 120 Florida ave. n.w. Notice of funeral later. Arrangements by Frailer Funeral Home, 389 R. I. ave. n.w.

Deaths-Powell, Charles S.– Evening star. [volume], August 03, 1954, Page A-10. On Friday, July 30, 1954, at his residence, 120 Florida ave. n.w. CHARLES S. POWELL, devoted husband of Mrs. Willie N. Powell, brother of Mrs. Georgia A. Patterson, uncle of Edward A. Patterson and Mrs. Dorothy Bank. Many other relatives and friends also survive. After 2 p.m. Tuesday. August 3, friends may call at Frazier’s Funeral Home. 389 Rhode Island ave. n.w. Funeral Wednesday. August 4. at 10:30 a.m. at the Asbury Methodist Church. 11th and K sts. n.w. Interment at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery.

Deaths Reported– Evening star. [volume], August 04, 1954, Page B-14. Charles Powell, 68, 120 Florida ave. n.w.

Crime and Justice: Crime ROBBED STOLEN– The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973); Washington, D.C. [Washington, D.C]. 07 Sep 1970: C3– Richard Andrew Payne was robbed in front of 120 Florida Ave. NW.

Rando Truxton History- Fine Home at Low Rent – WP July 25, 1915

I’m trying to clean up a bunch of papers I have. I hope I can be brave enough to toss them into the recycling bin. One piece of paper is something I got from the Washington Post archives via ProQuest.

Fine Home At Low Rent: Bates Street Buildings Erected for Wage Earners, Are Up to Date: Sanitation Was One of Chief Aims of Washington Company Which Has Erected Them, is an article from July 25, 1915 on page RE5. The short of it is an article about the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) having built homes for unskilled laborers, the workforce housing of 100 years ago.

The paper sells the WSIC as a good investment providing housing $10 for 3 rooms and a bath and $12 a month for 4 rooms and a bath. There are other units to rented at $7.50 and $8.50 a month for two rooms and a bath. These homes are on Bates Street NW.

Because of copyright, I’m not providing a copy here, but you can access the article via the DC Public Library. You will need your DC Library card to use this resource.

Remembering the April 1968 Riots

Though I moved to Shaw in 2000, I have some memories of the neighborhood prior to that because my aunts attend Shiloh Baptist at 9th and P. As a teen and a twenty-something visiting from Florida, I would get dragged to the neighborhood.

The scars from the ’68 riots were unavoidable and looming 20 and 30 years after the fires. The boarded up vacant buildings that outnumbered the occupied spaces was the character of 7th and 9th Street. Depressing, sketchy and dirty were other characteristics of the area before it shifted into full gentrification mode. It has taken 50 years to heal, mostly. There are still vacant buildings and nothingness at the corner of 7th & Q, the Shiloh side of 9th St, and other spots, so not completely.

Ray Milefsky (RIP) before he passed was working on tracing what was damaged on the block where he lived during the riots. I found this and shared it with him.

From what I can tell 0 meant no damage and 3 meant severe damage. Anyway, Ray had a theory that the riots were like a kristallnacht, since a number of white businesses damaged were Jewish owned. So the Jews in Shaw were removed.

Recent events with the Ward 8 councilman making an off hand remark about Jews controlling the weather, is a fair reminder that the African-American/Jewish relationship hasn’t been perfect. There were complaints about these white owned businesses and post riot reports of damaged properties revealed that the business owners weren’t too keen on the neighborhood either. For many the riot was the last straw and for others not being able to get or renew their insurance prevented them from coming back.

The riot transformed the neighborhood. Spots that once held stores or commercial properties later became apartments. There were other transformations, but I’m unsure to whom or what to give credit. The city and urban planners scaled back their grand plans to bulldoze the neighborhood, but earlier efforts by local leaders probably should receive credit for that, but the riot added something to that dynamic. It also weakened the neighborhood leaving it ripe for the redevelopment/ gentrification that came 30 years later after the neighborhood failed to rebuild and recover.

The Washington Post did a great feature this week on the 1968 riot. The graphics are excellent and the stories well written.

Chocolate City- Book Review

So my neighbor has a book group regarding DC history. Because I choose not to read as fast as I did in my grad school days, I participate when I’ve already read (or listened on audiobook) the book. Because this book, Chocolate City by Chris Myers Asch and George Derek Musgrove, was recommended by a co-worker who knew of my interest in DC history and more importantly, because it was in Kindle form I figured I’d read it.

Reading it, and having the text to voice function on the Kindle Fire, I thought I would never get out of the 19th Century. That period may or may not have been the longest (maybe tedious) part of the book but I felt like I was slogging through. The 20th Century zoomed by in comparison. Brett, the organizer of this book group, mentioned he found it too depressing and skipped chapters. I was very tempted to skip chapters.

I didn’t skip chapters and I actually got to the end notes and skimmed that. Why? Because I looked at the end notes constantly while reading the book because I questioned the conclusion or interpretation of an event or idea. Then I got annoyed when the citation (when I finally got past 1900) was the Washington Post, for things where a better primary exists. If historians are doomed to repeat other historians, this book is doomed to regurgitate the Post.

My other problem with the book is language. This book may not age well. The authors are fast and loose with the word ‘conservative’. It is used when ‘segregationist’ or ‘Republican’ would have been more precise. The definition of the word changes depending on the time period and place. There are other words that are trending right now, not used as much but I’m sure will date the book when new phrases or words are created and come into fashion.

So what did I like about the book? Well, it starts with Native Americans and actually goes into the the early settlement history. In the 20th Century, the area of the authors’ strengths, takes on a different narrative a bit. When writing about Marion Barry, he’s less of a personality, as he is in other histories. They don’t exactly ignore his womanizing and substance abuse, but it is not the focus and barely the reason for DC’s woes. The main narrative is racism and the struggle for Black autonomy. Barry’s famous line has less to do with being a horny crackhead and more to do with the Federal government going after Black mayors and elected officials.

I’ve got a lot of notes and highlights, and hopefully before the Wednesday, I can have it synthesized into something where I can add to the small group discussion.

Dream On S Street – In Shaw – Mari in the Citi

I listen to a fair number of audiobooks because there are duties at work that do not always require my brain to be engaged for the task. On call, but not always engaged (ex. photocopying or scanning).
Recently I listened to two books that I highly recommend should be heard close together. Maybe not back to back as I listened to a sci-fi teen in danger book that was the last in the Divergent series in between the two. The first book is the updated Dream City: Race, Power and the Decline of Washington, DC, updated as the previous version leaves off somewhere in the early 90s. This updated edition goes up to Mayor Gray, but the bulk of it focuses on the Barry era. Marion Barry the activist, Barry the Mayor, Barry the crackhead, and Barry, Mayor for Life. It’s not about Barry, but the corrupt city he cultivated, a city that started off promising after Home Rule (1973) but rotted under the cult of personality for someone who was not a servant leader. I didn’t care much for Barry before this book, I disliked him more after learning of the alleged sexual assault in the book.
S Street Rising, is DC from the point of view of a crackhead crack reporter. Well former crack addict, now recovered and healing reporter for the Washington Post. I really enjoyed this book, I completely recommend it for any resident of the 400-800 block of S Street NW and anyone who walks or bikes through that area, as I do. The book begins around 1989 when the author Ruben Castaneda arrives from the west coast to DC. I didn’t arrive in the DC metro area as a resident (frequent visitor to family who lived in DC & MD) until 1995, and Shaw until 1999/2000, so I could see easily in my mind’s eye the Shaw Castaneda was describing. The book gave me a better appreciation for the New Communities Church on S Street, from which one of the best DC non-profits, Manna Inc, sprang. Still not a fan of ONE DC, which may have sprung from Manna, it’s like ANSWER, but a bit more housing focused. I’m not a fan of ANSWER either, but I digress.

S Street Rising also looks at the city and Barry. But this book helped show that Barry’s interest in drugs and women had a negative impact on the governance of the city. Barry threw Justice under the bus and ran her over good in the appointment of Larry Soulsby, who removed an effective person in Homicide in order to protect a Barry crony. Also Barry was too preoccupied with his passions to govern the city, leaving the governing to his handlers.
S Street, and Shaw for that matter is a different place than it was in the late 60s, or the 70s, or the 80s, or the 90s. I love learning about it’s past, but I just don’t want to live in the past. Too many drug dealers and shootings.

Dear Washington Post- Stop killing yourself

Last night I got a phone call from someone trying to get me to subscribe to your new “Capital Business” publication, most likely because I am a regular weekly & weekend subscriber. I told the woman on the other end no and explained why and mentioned that I have pondered canceling my regular subscription all together.

The “Capital Business” publication lacks what I liked about your old business section, before you gutted it. I want to look at a list of stocks. I want to see what are their dividends if any, and their P/E ratios. I can’t get that in your daily minuscule section of business in the A section of the paper, and it doesn’t appear in “Capital Business” either. I don’t buy what I don’t want.

This call happened while ‘the Help’ was over for dinner. He’s got a few friends in the newspaper/ broadcasting paid-journalism field. He told me of a conversation he’s had with these friends, and how they mentioned your editorial staff is paying more attention to the online side than to the print side, which might explain the typos and other errors. And there was something about your copywriters, can’t remember what, but there is something wrong there. Those friends were frightened about the path your paper seems to be taking. “Frightened” was the word they used and they have been inside. The quality of the paper has gone downhill really fast in the 15 years I’ve been reading it. It may have started with the buy-outs.

As I’ve said, I pondered canceling my weekday subscription. Want to know what’s keeping me, so far? Comics, metro, and food. In that order. Sometimes the theater listings. If the Washington Times ever vamped up and expanded their comics you’d be in trouble. I also value the Post as fish wrap. It’s handing for wetness in the basement, wrapping packages, soaking up bacon grease or other fried foods, paint projects, washing windows, weed-block, and a variety of projects around the house. For that I could use any newspaper, except the City Paper for the food things, that paper seems unclean.

Maybe your business model or some consultant has told you that the Internets is where it’s at. Ok. I hope that’s bringing in money and justifying your $490 a share price. Maybe you don’t need paper subscribers, with our need for deliverymen who knock over our pots and break our plants.