Front of marker:
Temple of Learning and Talent
The imposing classic revival building on the hill is the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, formerly Western High School. It was completed in 1898 as a "temple of learning" and was among the first public senior high schools in Washington.
Western was a distinguished public college preparatory school that enrolled more than 2,000 students in 1935. As with all DC public schools, Western was integrated in 1954. Among its notable attendees are Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (author of The Yearling), Thomas Hart Benton (artist), Mildred Fish-Harnack (executed as a spy by Hitler in 1943), Margaret Gorman Cahill (first Miss America), David Schott and Edward White (astronauts), Gloria Steinem (feminist leader), Austin Kiplinger (publisher), Glen Woodmansee (Jimmy Dorsey's trombonist), and David A. Clarke (DC City Council Chair).
In 1974, Western became the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Named in honor of native Washingtonian Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, it offers pre-professional training in dance, theater, music, literary media, museum studies and visual arts, as well as a full college preparatory curriculum to the city's most artistically talented students. Ellington's successful graduates include comedian Dave Chappelle,
R&B singer Tony Terry, opera mezzo soprano Denyce Graves, indie rock musician Mary Timony, and jazz trumpeter Wallace Roney.
Duke Ellington High School for the Arts was designated a DC Landmark in 2002.
Back of marker:
Restoration of Georgetown's Call Boxes
Georgetown's Call Box restoration project is part of a city-wide effort to rescue the District's abandoned fire and police call boxes. Known as Art on Call, the project has identified more that 800 boxes for restoration. Neighborhood by neighborhood, they are being put to new use as permanent displays of local art, history and culture. The Georgetown project highlights the anecdotal history of Georgetown and its unique heritage as a thriving colonial port town that predated the District of Columbia.
Police alarm boxes such as this one (originally painted blue) were established for police use starting in the 1880s. An officer on foot - as most were in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - used the box to check in regularly with his precinct or to call for backup if needed. The police boxes were locked, opened by a big brass key that officers carried. Inside was a telephone that automatically dialed the precinct's number. Checking in regularly was a way to make sure the patrolman was doing his job, and also a way to make sure he was safe. Use of
the call box system began to decline in the 1960s with the advent of two-way car radios and walkie talkies. The phones were finally disconnected in the 1970s and replaced with today's 911 emergency system.
Art on Call is a program of Cultural Tourism DC
with support from
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, DC Creates Public Art Program
District Department of Transportation
Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development
Citizens Association of Georgetown
Long & Foster, Georgetown
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