Lift Every Voice

— Georgia Ave./Pleasant Plains Heritage Trail —

The House at 3017 Sherman Avenue once was a boardinghouse for Howard University students. In 1923 a determined and talented young woman from the tiny town of Eatonville, Florida, lived here while earning an Associates Degree at Howard. In a short time she would win international acclaim as novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston.

Hungry for culture, Hurston devoured Howard's opportunities. She performed in campus theater, played violin, joined Zeta Phi Bet sorority, and co-founded the student newspaper, which she named The Hill Top. She published her first story in The Sylus, Howard's literary magazine. She attended renowned poet Georgia Douglas Johnson's literary salon, meeting the best-known black writers of the time. To support herself, Hurston waited tables at the exclusive, all-white Cosmos Club and cleaned houses. New York's black literary leaders discovered Hurston, who soon left for Harlem. There she helped spur the New Negro Renaissance, a period of intense cultural productivity and racial uplift. She went on to study ethnography under Franz Boaz at Columbia University and later collected folklore, returning occasionally to DC for professional meetings. In1943 Howard honored her with a distinguished alumna award.

"What do you think I was doing in Washington all that time if not getting cultured.. Treat me refined" — Zora Neale Hurston to Langston Hughes, 1931.

As you turn right on Kenyon Street ahead, you will pass Chavez-Bruce Preparatory Public Charter School. Built as the Blanche K. Bruce Elementary School, it opened for "colored" students in 1898. Monroe Elementary, at Georgia and Columbia, served white children from 1889 until 1931.Four decades later Bruce and Monroe merged in a new Building at Georgia and Irving.

Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.

Show me all markers in:  Washington, DC  |  20001  |  District Of Columbia  |  United States of America

Urban Oasis
Girard Street Elites Historical
2728 Sherman Ave. N.W.
Nob Hill
From Beer Garden to Park View
Along the "Nile Valley" Historical
"The Divine Nine Help Shape Black American History"
Charles R. Drew and Lenore Robbins Drew
Merriweather Home for Children
Beyond the Basics Historical

• GPX
• KML
• LOC

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.