A Fitting Tribute

— Logan Circle Heritage Trail —

After the Civil Disturbances following the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968, 14th Street appeared largely abandoned by day. By night, however, residents witnessed scenes of the "world's oldest profession," Since the 1950s, when prostitution migrated here from downtown DC, men in cars from around the region seeking women caused traffic jams. This trade flourished because prostitutes were often bailed out of jail within hours and returned to the streets. In addition three police districts intersected at 14th and L Streets, so instead of making arrests, officers often simply shooed prostitutes and their customers into someone else's district. "You don't want your crime rate to go up," one officer told a reporter in 1989, "so you make them go somewhere else." On one notable summer night that year, a police sergeant trying to send them "somewhere else" marched 24 women all the way to the 14th Street Bridge. Undaunted, the women returned in cabs.
Area residents finally had had enough. Leading the battle was the Logan Circle Community Association. The association formed shortly after the neighborhood received its 1972 listing on the National Register of Historic Places. To fight prostitution, LCCA members photographed customers, affixed day-glo stickers to their cars,and took brothel owners to court. With homebuyer subsidies and low-interest loans, some LCCA members purchased and rehabilitated houses, including some long used as brothels. With LCCA help, stronger penalties, and the emergence of the Internet as a marketplace, the trade began to subside in the early 1990s.
In addition to its anti-crime work, LCCA helped beautify Logan Circle and worked to expand the historic district.

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