City Within a City

— Greater U Street Heritage Trail —

To the north and east of the U Street corridor rises the tower of Founders Library at Howard University - an institution created in 1867 that has trained and inspired generations of African American leaders and has been a lodestar for its own community.

The highest value was placed on educational achievement in this historic neighborhood. Divisions 10 through 13 of the DC Public Schools, the "colored schools" as they were known in pre-1954 segregated segregated Washington, were considered the best in the nation. Teachers were looked up to as community leaders, mentors, and role models.

The former Grimke Elementary School, the Colonial Revival structure just south of U Street on Vermont Avenue, was part of this system. It was named for Achibald Grimke, born to a [Black] slave mother and a [free] white father, who became a prominent Washington lawyer and civil rights leader. Garnet-Patterson Junior High School, still a center of community activity, is located today on Vermont Avenue between U and V Streets. All of the city's high schools for African Americans were located in this vicinity.

Among the achievers in this community was Lillian Evans Tibbs, known professionally as Madame Evanti -the first internationally known African American opera singer. She lived in the house at 1910 Vermont Avenue. The grand space at Tenth and U Streets was a gathering place for the community with Sunday concerts held in a bandstand where the African American Civil War Memorial is now located.

This sign is dedicated to the late Princess M. Bowman, a professional harpist who created the first African American trail from Howard University through this neighborhood in the 1980s.

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

Evans-Tibbs House
African American Civil War Memorial
Sailors / With Freedom Came the Greater YOU
Pioneers / With Freedom Came Their Community
Frelinghuysen University/Jesse Lawson and Rosetta C. Lawson
Cavalry / With Freedom Came Their Schools
Musicians / With Freedom Came Their Businesses
Artillery / With Freedom Came Their Cultural Icons
Infantry / With Freedom Came Their Churches
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia

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