True Reformer Building
True Reformer Building | |
Greater U Street Historic District[2] (ID93001129) | |
NRHP reference No. | 88003063[1] |
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Added to NRHP | January 9, 1989 |
The True Reformer Building is an historic building constructed for the True Reformers, an African American organization founded by
Building history
It was designed by
The Grand United Order of True Reformers started in 1873 as an African American fraternal association and
During the True Reformer Building's dedication in 1903, the Reverend William Lee Taylor stated that the goal was to "put up a building in Washington that would reflect credit upon the Negro race."[11] It is significant that the building took shape as a result of an African American architect, with African American financing, and built with African American hands. The Reformer Building was the first building in the United States to be designed, financed, built, and owned by the African American community after Reconstruction.
Ownership changes
The Knights of Pythias bought the building in 1917.[12]
From 1937 to 1959, the Boys Club of the Metropolitan Police of the District of Columbia, leased the building; Eleanor Roosevelt rededicated the building.[13]
Other tenants have included: Washington Conservancy, the DC Chapter of the National Negro Business League, the First Separate Battalion. Duke Ellington gave his first performance here.[11]
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The Public Welfare Foundation bought it in 1999. It was renovated from the winter of 2000 until February 2001 according to designs by Sorg & Associates.[14]
Public art
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ Trieschmann, Laura V.; Sellin, Anne; Callcott, Stephen (November 1998), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Greater U Street Historic District (PDF), retrieved March 31, 2015.
- ^ "Grand Fountain of the United Order of True Reformers". www.encyclopediavirginia.org. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
- ^ "A historical landmark, the True Reformers Building! | African American Registry". Archived from the original on 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
- ^ Williams, Michael Paul. "William Washington Browne". Richmond Times Dispatch. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
- ^ a b Watkinson, James D. "William Washington Browne (1849–1897)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
- S2CID 143876320.
- ISBN 978-0815323099. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
- ^ William Patrick Burrell (1909). Twenty-five Years History of the Grand Fountain of the United Order of True Reformers, 1881-1905. Grand Fountain, United Order of True Reformers.
- ^ "Indianapolis Recorder 11 March 1911 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program". newspapers.library.in.gov.
- ^ a b "Duke Ellington's Washington: Virtual Tour of Shaw: Theaters". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
- ^ a b "True Reformer Building, African American Heritage Trail | Cultural Tourism DC". Archived from the original on 2012-05-12. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
- ^ https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/88003063_text
- ^ "Public Welfare Foundation: True Reformer Building". Archived from the original on 2011-11-02. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
- ^ "Duke Ellington Mural | Washington D.C. | Black Travel | Black Heritage Travel". Archived from the original on 2011-12-22. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
- ^ "Duke Ellington Mural | MURAL LOCATOR". murallocator.org. Archived from the original on 2011-11-29.
- ^ "Duke Ellington Still Absent from the True Reformer Building on U Street". Retrieved 4 February 2018.
- ^ https://www.dchistory.org/event/dukeellingtonmural/ [dead link]
- ^ "Duke Ellington is Back on U Street!!".