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Historic Soldiers’ Home Photo Showing $5,000 Prize Bull

April 19, 2013

Here’s another great photo I’ve found of the old Soldiers’ Home’s Dairy from September 1922. The photograph is from Harris and Ewing and I’ll include the caption that accompanied the photo below the image.

Soldiers Home dairy

The photo above shows Secretary of Agriculture Wallace with Inspector General Helmick of the U.S. Army inspecting the model dairy at the U.S. Soldiers’ Home. The picture shows the party viewing the new $5,000 price bull born in Norwalk, Iowa, twenty miles form the Secretary’s home. Secretary Wallace is the third figure from the left and General Tusker Bliss, superintendent of the home is shown with the light trousers.

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Categories: Armed Forces Retirement Home, History
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In 1922, the Sale of the 3650 Block of Georgia Avenue was Big News

April 11, 2013
(From the Washington Post, July 30, 1922)

(From the Washington Post, July 30, 1922)

Here’s a nice tidbit I stumbled upon recently while searching for something else … a real estate news article concerning the sale of the entire commercial block on the east side of Georgia Avenue between Quebec Place and Rock Creek Church Road. According to the article, the sale of this block, a mere two years after it was built, to a Connecticut-based investor was evidence that outlying business property was attracting more and more attention. The property sold for $150,000.

News of the sale was certainly greeted with optimism. The article  goes on to say … “No property in outlying business sections has come to the front more rapidly than on Georgia Avenue. Many extensive improvements are being planned for this locality which promise to make it in the near future as important a business center as Fourteenth street and Park Road.”

According to the Bureau or Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator, the 1922 price would be comparable to $2,072,910.71 today. Below is the strip of property today.

3650 block of Georgia Avenue today.

3650 block of Georgia Avenue today.

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Categories: Commerce and Businesses, History, Real Estate
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Historic Photographs Show Residents Registering for World War I at Park View School

April 5, 2013
From the Terence Vincent Powderly photographic print collection (The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives).

From the Terence Vincent Powderly photographic print collection (The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives).

Recently, I learned about a great collection of historic photographs housed at Catholic University — The Terence Vincent Powderly collection. It has many great images of the Petworth/Park View/Soldiers’ Home area from the late 1910′s. In perusing the collection, I found three from June 5, 1917, that document war registration at the Park View School at the start of World War I. Thus far, these are the only photographs I am aware of that show this event as it occurred in residential Washington.

According to Wikipedia, The Selective Service Act or Selective Draft Act authorized the federal government to raise a national army for the American entry into World War I through conscription. It was envisioned in December 1916 and brought to President Woodrow Wilson’s attention shortly after the break in relations with Germany in February 1917.

At the time of World War I, the U.S. Army was small compared with the mobilized armies of the European powers. As late as 1914, the federal army was under 100,000, while the National Guard (the organized militias of the states) numbered around 115,000. The National Defense Act of 1916 authorized the growth of the army to 165,000 and the National Guard to 450,000 by 1921, but by 1917 the federal army had only expanded to around 121,000, with the National Guard numbering 181,000.

From the Terence Vincent Powderly photographic print collection (The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives).

From the Terence Vincent Powderly photographic print collection (The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives).

To accomplish war registration in the District of Columbia, the city was divided into 41 districts. Using the eleven existing police precincts, each was further subdivided with a registration station in each district (see map below). Forty schools and one factory were selected as registration stations — with Park View School servicing Precinct No. 10E. It is this station that Powderly photographed on registration day.

By all accounts, registration day occurred in an orderly and patriotic fashion in Washington. Dozens of community celebrations were held during the day by the various citizens’ association of the District, which reached a climax at the large celebration at the Sylvan Theater in the Monument grounds in the afternoon.

By the end of the day, it was reported that 32,327 District men had enrolled as liable to conscription for war service. Additionally, the District carried off the honor of being the first territorial unit in the country to report its registration returns to the War Department … and along with Delaware and Vermont, the among the first to have completed and filed official war registration reports by June 7, 1917.

Districts and Stations for Registration on June 5

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Categories: Community Involvement, Historic Landmarks, History
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Local History: Washington Home of Terence Vincent Powderly

March 8, 2013
OWDERLY, TERENCE VINCENT. U.S. COMMDR. GEN. IMMIGRATION, 1915

Powderly in 1915, as Chief Information Officer for the U.S. Bureau of Immigration (Library of Congress)

I recently learned that the house located at 503 Rock Creek Church Road has an interesting history. Today it is the location of the Catholic Worker- Dorothy Day House, but at the beginning of the Twentieth Century it was the home of Terence Vincent Powderly (1849-1924).

Powderly led the Knights of Labor at the peak of its power as Grand Master Workman (1879-1893), and later held important posts with the Bureau of Immigration (1897-1921).

503 Rock Creek Church Road today. It was the home of

503 Rock Creek Church Road today. It was the Washington home of Terence V. Powderly until his death in 1924.

The Knights of Labor was a labor union whose goal was to organize all workers, skilled and unskilled, into one large union united for workers’ rights and economic and social reform. The Knights also helped to organize unions for women and African American workers.

Powderly was a favorite of Republican President William McKinley, who sought a pro-labor image, and appointed him U.S. Commissioner General of Immigration from 1897 to 1902. He then served as Chief Information Officer for the U.S. Bureau of Immigration from 1907 to 1921.

Following Powderly’s appointment as commissioner general he moved to Washington, DC and live at the house on Rock Creek Church Road. He died on June 24, 1924 and is buried at Rock Creek Cemetery.

Additional information on Powderly can be found on Wikipedia and the Terence V. Powderly House Web site.

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Historical Profile: Charles H. Wesley (1891-1987)

February 22, 2013

Charles h. Wesley

A while ago I learned that notable African American scholar Charles H. Wesley once live in our area. In tracking down his residential addresses, I was able to determine that he lived at 731 Fairmont Street, NW, between 1919 and 1947 (perhaps as early as 1915), and later lived at 1824 9th Street, NW, between 1965 and 1967 and later still at 1824 Taylor Street, NW, from 1969-1973.

According to the resources I consulted, Wesley was an outstanding scholar, historian, author and educator. Wesley was a graduate of Fisk University and the Yale University graduate school. From 1914 to 1937, he served as an AME Church minister and elder. In 1918 Wesley became pastor at Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, DC.

In 1916 he began a long association with Carter G. Woodson’s Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, serving as president from 1950 to 1965, and as executive director until 1972. In 1923, he was elected President, Graduate Chapter, Mu Lambda and organized the Beta-Mu Lambda Corporation.

In 1925, Wesley earned a doctorate from Harvard, only the third awarded by Harvard to an African American. During the course of his other achievements, Wesley served on the Howard University faculty from 1913 to 1942. In 1928, Wesley had received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Wilberforce University. In 1930, having been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, Wesley went to England to study emancipation in the British Empire.

Wesley subsequently wrote “The History of Alpha Phi Alpha” in 1953. Dr. Wesley was the author of hundreds of articles and 12 books on black history, ranging from studies on black labor in the United States to a biography of Richard Allen, the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. His works include “Negro Labor in the United States, 1850-1925″ (1927), “Collapse of the Confederacy” (1937) and his last book, “The History of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs: A Legacy of Service” (1984). (more…)

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Presidents’ Day Profile: Rutherford B. Hayes

February 18, 2013
19th President Rutherford B. Hayes (Image from Library of Congress).

19th President Rutherford B. Hayes (Image from Library of Congress).

Today is Presidents’ Day. While Presidents Lincoln and Washington immediately come to mind,we’ve had 43 people hold the office of President to date and many of them are not as well know.

In the spirit of the day, I decided to post a brief profile of Rutherford B. Hayes due to his connection with the Soldiers’ Home. Two of the buildings at the Armed Forced Retirement Home, Quarters 1 and the Lincoln Retreat, served as the summer White House for several U.S. Presidents — Chester Arthur, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Buchanan, and most notably, Abraham Lincoln.

Below is the introductory profile summary of Hayes from Wikipedia, where you can read the full profile.

Rutherford Birchard Hayes (October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was the 19th President of the United States (1877–1881). As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States’ entry into the Second Industrial Revolution. Hayes was a reformer who began the efforts that led to civil service reform and attempted, unsuccessfully, to reconcile the divisions that had led to the American Civil War fifteen years earlier.

Born in Delaware, Ohio, Hayes practiced law in Lower Sandusky (now Fremont) and was city solicitor of Cincinnati from 1858 to 1861. When the Civil War began, Hayes left a successful political career to join the Union Army. Wounded five times, most seriously at the Battle of South Mountain, he earned a reputation for bravery in combat and was promoted to the rank of major general. After the war, he served in the U.S. Congress from 1865 to 1867 as a Republican. Hayes left Congress to run for Governor of Ohio and was elected to two consecutive terms, serving from 1868 to 1872. After his second term had ended, he resumed the practice of law for a time, but returned to politics in 1876 to serve a third term as governor.

In 1876, Hayes was elected president in one of the most contentious and hotly disputed elections in American history. Although he lost the popular vote to Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, Hayes won the presidency by the narrowest of margins after a Congressional commission awarded him twenty disputed electoral votes. The result was the Compromise of 1877, in which the Democrats acquiesced to Hayes’s election and Hayes accepted the end of military occupation of the South.

Hayes believed in meritocratic government, equal treatment without regard to race, and improvement through education. He ordered federal troops to quell the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and ordered them out of Southern capitals as Reconstruction ended. He implemented modest civil service reforms that laid the groundwork for further reform in the 1880s and 1890s. Hayes kept his pledge not to run for re-election. He retired to his home in Ohio and became an advocate of social and educational reform.

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Local History: Dr. Henry R. Peters and Professional Pharmacy

February 14, 2013
Henry R. Peters ca. 1963.

Henry R. Peters ca. 1963.

While 2917 Georgia Avenue, NW, has had a difficult time in supporting an active business in recent years, it is part of an interesting history through its connection to pharmacist Dr. Henry R. Peters and his Professional Pharmacy.

Henry R. Peters (1916-1999) was the first African American appointed to the Washington Pharmacy Board, the first African American to be nominated to the American Pharmaceutical Association, and the first Bureau Chief of the Bureau of Pharmacies of the District of Columbia. The property he is most closely association with is 2917 Georgia Avenue, the location of Professional Pharmacy, which he owned and operated from 1948 to 1970. Known residences of Peters include 2737 6th St, NE, from 1951 to 1960, and 4214 Argyle Terrace, NW, from 1960 to 1965.

Dr. Peters was born in East Falmouth, Mass. He graduated from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Sciences in Boston. During World War II, he was a pharmacist in the Merchant Marine.

In 1946, Dr. Peters moved to Washington. He taught at the Howard University College of Pharmacy from 1946 through 1948. He resigned in 1948 to found his own business. Along with Dr. Herman Morton, he opened Professional Pharmacy at 2917 Georgia Avenue, at the intersection of Hobart Street, and became the sole owner two years later. Peters continued to operate the business with his wife, Theresa Eric Peters.

2917 Georgia Avenue today, once the location of Professional Pharmacy.

2917 Georgia Avenue today, once the location of Professional Pharmacy.

In addition to operating the pharmacy, Peters was active in civic and social affairs. At the 1958 annual National Pharmaceutical Association convention, Peters was elected as 2nd Vice President. The following year, he delivered the principal address at the annual dinner of the District Whole Sale-Lowry Company. In this capacity, Peters was the first African American to speak before representatives of the drug industry.

In June 1960, the District Commissioners named Peters to the District Board of Pharmacy to replace Irving Sacks who was removed as a result of his efforts to enlist pharmacists in the AFL-CIO Retail Clerks International Association. This made Peters the first African American member of the five-member Board. The role of the D.C. Pharmacy Board was to determine standards, administer examinations for licenses, promote legislation, and regulate the profession of Pharmacy in Washington.

In 1962, when he was elected President of the Pharmacy Board, Dr. Peters was still the sole African American in the United States to hold a position on a pharmaceutical board. While on the Board, he engaged in championing a thorough revision of the 1906 pharmacy laws, still in force in the District of Columbia. He urgently recommended more stringent controls and severe penalties for violations and was especially concerned about legislation to curb unethical practices among some pharmacists involving counterfeit drugs, mail order prescriptions, and abuse of physician samples. His goal was to make it almost impossible for a person to obtain drugs and medicines unless they were intended for legitimate medical uses. (more…)

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Minnesota Senator Magnus Johnson, Secretary of Agriculture Wallace, and a Milking Contest at the Soldiers’ Home

February 8, 2013
Senator Johnson (left) meeting Secretary Wallace (center) during Johnson's October 3, 1923, visit.

Senator Johnson (left) meeting Secretary Wallace (center) during Johnson’s October 3, 1923, visit.

Here’s an interesting historic tidbit that I happened upon recently. This should interest anyone who likes cows, politics, or the Old Soldiers’ Home.  It involves Magnus Johnson – an American farmer and politician who served in the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives – and Secretary of Agriculture Wallace.

Johnson was elected on the Farmer-Labor ticket to fill the seat opened because of the death of Minnesota Senator Knute Nelson. Johnson served in the Senate from July 16, 1923, to March 4, 1925, in the 68th congress. He lost his bid for reelection in 1924. He was later elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served March 4, 1933, to January 3, 1935, in the 73rd congress, winning one of the general ticket seats.

Though elected in July, Johnson doesn’t appear to have arrived in Washington until October 1923, and then for a visit to inspect his office, collect his check for his pay as Senator, and glance at the White House and Capital before he was off again. By late November he was back to settle in and get down to work.

Secretary Wallace (left) and Senator Johnson (right) milking while Maj. Gen. Bliss (center) observes.

Secretary Wallace (left) and Senator Johnson (right) milking while Maj. Gen. Bliss (center) observes.

As a farmer by occupation, Johnson was keenly interested in agricultural issues and seems to have had a great deal of pride in his farming background. While making the rounds and being introduced to his colleagues in the Senate on November 23, Johnson also found time to challenge Secretary of Agriculture Wallace to a milking contest to determine the championship of the District of Columbia.

The milking contest was eventually set for Saturday, December 29, 1923, to be held at the model dairy farm at Beltsville, Md. It was stated that the event would be “dry hand and pail between the knees, with no handicapping.” The one who first milked out clean one of the five-gallon thoroughbreds at the government farm would be declared the winner. Senator Johnson was defeated. He said he was given a dry cow.

Johnson (left) and Wallace (right) presenting their milk buckets to Maj. Gen. Bliss (center), who is looking at this watch.

Johnson (left) and Wallace (right) presenting their milk buckets to Maj. Gen. Bliss (center), who is looking at his watch.

This led to a rematch held at the Old Soldiers’ Home dairy on December 31, 1923. The event was staged as much for area photographers who failed to witness the first contest as it was to give Johnson another opportunity to out milk Wallace. This time, the contest ended in a tie. With Major General Tasker H. Bliss as judge, the contestants milked for 10 minutes and each had a total of 6 ½ inches of milk in a three-gallon pail at the end of the period. Still not one to be defeated, upon the tie Johnson stated that he was out of practice and wanted to meet Secretary Wallace in a woodcutting contest to decide which of them was the best farmer.

While I have not yet tracked down a report of the wood cutting contest, Johnson did select Senator Lynn Frazier of North Dakota to be his sawing partner for the event. The photos included in this post — from the Library of Congress — were taken during the milking  contest at the Soldiers’ Home.

Maj. Gen. Tasker H. Bliss (second from right) measuring milk with Johnson (third from left) and Wallace (left) looking on.

Maj. Gen. Tasker H. Bliss (second from right) measuring milk with Johnson (third from left) and Wallace (left) looking on.

References:

“Johnson Meets Old Guard Chiefs: Lodge is ‘Nice Man’.” The Washington Post, Nov. 24, 1923; pg. 5

“Johnson—Wallace Milking Tilt a Tie.” The Washington Post, Jan. 1, 1924; pg. 2.

“Magnus Johnson of Minnesota.” The Washington Post, Oct. 3, 1923; pg. 6.

[Photograph: Secretary of Agriculture Wallace … ] The Washington Post, Jan. 1, 1924; pg. 16.

Categories: Armed Forces Retirement Home, Government, History
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1929 Photo of the Soldiers’ Home’s Grant Building

February 1, 2013

I recently was lucky enough to find the photograph below of the Soldiers’ Home’s Grant building. The photo had a date of 1929 written on the back of it but it could have been taken a few years earlier. The Grant Building was constructed in 1911 as a barracks, mess hall, and recreation center.

SCAN0038

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Park Road Church’s Role in the Birth of Head Start

January 24, 2013
In 1965, the small church at 625 Park Road was the home of Trinity A.M.E. Zion chuch, and one of the locations of UPO's pilot head start program.

In 1965, the small church at 625 Park Road was the home of Trinity A.M.E. Zion chuch, and one of the locations of UPO’s pilot head start program.

Head Start began as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society campaign. Its justification came from the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, whose staff advanced the concept of investment in education during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. The Office of Economic Opportunity’s Community Action Program launched Project Head Start as an eight-week summer program in 1965. The program was led by Dr. Robert Cooke, a pediatrician at John Hopkins University, and Dr. Edward Zigler, a professor of psychology and director of the Child Study Center at Yale University. Together, they created a comprehensive child development program to help communities meet the needs of disadvantaged preschool children. The following year it was authorized by Congress as a year–round program. In 1968, Head Start began funding a program that would eventually be called Sesame Street, operated by the Carnegie Corporation Preschool Television project.

However, Head Start did not begin fully developed in the summer of 1965. The United Planning Organization (UPO) – the designated community action agency for Washington, D.C.established on December 10, 1962 to plan, coordinate, and implement human services programs for low-income residents in the Nation’s Capital – played a significant role in the development of the Head Start Program.  In September 1964, District School Superintendent Carl F. Hansen announcement his support of UPO’s “completely experimental” model school system for the Cardozo area.” The first year of the model system focused primarily on program development along with a few programs, such as preschool centers for 3 and 4-year-olds. By January 1965, UPO gave $565,178 to the District public schools to operate five preschool centers. The Cardozo High School area was chosen because it had the widest possible cross-section of poverty problems in the District of Columbia at that time. (more…)

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