When I’m on track to be on time for work (which happens most of the time now that I have cats waking me up in the morning), my walk to work is filled with parents and their kids walking to John Ross Elementary School. Who was John W. Ross? Ghosts of DC did the research…
Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue Northeast was named in 1976 after over 5000 petitioners requested the change from Dean Avenue.[1] Why did she deserve this honor? Because she dedicated her life’s work to the education of African American girls and women.[2] Born in 1883, or maybe 1879 [3], she was the daughter of slaves. She came…
The Francis A. Gregory branch of the DC Public Library is located in Fort Davis. The “A,” if you’re curious, stands for “Anderson.” The library was named for Francis Gregory, who lived in Fort Davis, in 1986, by D.C. Law 6-150. It was an appropriate designation, as Francis Gregory was a president of the Board…
Patricia Roberts Harris is known to (relative) newcomers to DC because a school building is named for her. P.R. Harris Education Center is currently used as a location for the University of the District of Columbia Community College but previously was K-8 public school. It was closed in a round large of school closures in 2008.…
District law requires that full names be used when naming a public space after a person. And we like to name public space after people. So if one pays attention, there is an opportunity to learn about the historical figures that we (or at least I) didn’t learn about in school because they weren’t rich…