<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=06OEsz_1H0OfdhO00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=06OEsz_1H0OfdhO00" width="960" height="1280" ><figcaption>Price describes the New Mount Calvary Baptist Church, designed and built by Howard Dilworth Wilson, George Alonzo Ferguson and Roscoe Ingersoll Vaughn in 1923. Photo: Matthew McClure</figcaption></figure>Downtown DC consistently gets the credit for historically significant architecture. Visitors to our fair city (and even some locals) will immediately think of Cluss, Latrobe, Mills and Hoban, the Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument and the Capitol when asked about famous American architects and their work in DC. <img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0wELVm_1H0OfdhO00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0wELVm_1H0OfdhO00" width="400" height="509" >Luckily, there are passionate and knowledgeable historic preservation specialists like Imania Price at DC’s Historic Preservation Office who are calling attention to other parts of the city where Black architects have given us shining examples of architecture that’s stood the test of time. Price partnered with the DC Preservation League (a 55-year-old nonprofit organization that organizes and advocates for the preservation and protection of local architectural and cultural history) back in February to present a webinar exploring the proliferation of significant Black Modernist architecture along a one-mile stretch of the Benning Road NE corridor. The webinar was so well received that Price and the League followed it up with a physical walking tour of the sites in late September.“We’ve been talking a lot more about Modernism as these buildings come of age and pass the 50-year mark,” said Price. “A lot of these buildings are now older, so what history does that tell us? Ward 7 is overflowing with all these stories. Our office is really supporting the movement towards highlighting them.”DC’s Black residents had been building communities for themselves in the largely rural northeast of the city for decades prior to the 20th century, but it was a combination of a burgeoning Black middle class, better educational opportunities and acres of as yet undeveloped land east of the Anacostia River that led to neighborhoods like Benning Heights, Deanwood, Capital View, Marshall Heights and Benning Road being the epicenters of an early to mid-20th century building boom led by a cohort of acclaimed Black architects.The walking tour featured more than 15 architectural locations located along Benning Road NE between the Benning Road Metro Station and the Minnesota Ave Metro Station. Below are a few highlights that not only exemplify Black Modernist architectural excellence in DC but also symbolize the foundations of a community that’s as resilient today as it was when the cornerstones of these structures were first laid.<h2>Walking Tour Highlights</h2>New Mount Calvary Baptist Church4270 Benning Rd NEArchitects: Howard Dilworth Wilson (1876-1972), George Alonzo Ferguson (1895-1979) Roscoe Ingersoll Vaughn (1884-1971)Date of construction: 1923Currently the site of the New Mount Calvary Baptist Church, this church exhibits features associated with the Gothic Revival style of architecture: an asymmetrical layout, steep roofs and vaulted windows and doorways. Woodson – who played a prominent role in his community as the first president of the Northeast Boundary Civic Association – handled engineering while Vaughn and Ferguson were tasked with specs and design respectively. “H.D. Woodson is really popular,” Price explained. “He’s also known for some of the Union Station designs and his civic mindedness. Woodson, Ferguson and Vaughn went into partnership and their firm built this church.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=21Zltp_1H0OfdhO00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=21Zltp_1H0OfdhO00" width="768" height="1024" ><figcaption>Imania Price in front of an apartment building on Benning Road NE built and designed by Cyril Bow and Oliver Cassell in 1941. Photo: Matthew McClure</figcaption></figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3V5kTR_1H0OfdhO00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3V5kTR_1H0OfdhO00" width="901" height="1203" >Apartment Building4236 Benning Rd NEArchitect: Cyril Bow (1899-1963), Oliver Cassell (1904-1979), Date of construction: 1941This apartment building, with its beautifully detailed brickwork and welcoming façade embellished with glass bricks, sits alongside a newer development that’s taken inspiration from its historical neighbor in its design, materials and proportions. On the opposite side of Benning Road NE, brick rowhomes previously available only to white residents illustrates the complex nature of the early roots of this neighborhood. Price explained that Cassell came from a large family of architects and was a classmate of Cyril Bow at Cornell University. Cassell is perhaps most famous for designing and constructing 11 buildings on the Howard University campus. Bow, said Price, was Cassell’s chief draftsman. “Before technology, there were a bunch of men sitting there and drafting plans. That was Cyril Bow. He started a firm with Oliver Cassell as the builder and himself as the architect.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0uqkop_1H0OfdhO00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0uqkop_1H0OfdhO00" width="1500" height="2000" ><figcaption>The imposing concrete façade of the Stewart Funeral Home, built in 1964 and designed by Donald H. Roberts. Photo: Matthew McClure</figcaption></figure>Stewart Funeral Home4001 Benning Rd NEArchitect: Donald H. Roberts (1954-2010)Date of construction: 1964Everyone knows The Stewart Funeral Home. It’s been owned and operated by the same family for over 100 years and was founded by John Thomas Stewart Sr on H Street in 1900. The structure is a fine example of how Modernist architects adapted concrete into multiple forms and shapes to suit both functional and decorative needs. What appears to be painted white brick is in fact molded concrete. Strong vertical lines and arches complete the Modernist aesthetic. Roberts was a professor at Howard University’s School of Architecture and a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. He was also a talented watercolor artist. Tudor Revival House3930 Benning Rd NEArchitect: Gustavus Nigel Bull (1886-1958)Date of construction: 1941In the early to mid-20th century, DC’s burgeoning Black middle class needed homes to live in and Gustavus “Gus” Nigel Bull built many of them, including eight houses in Eastland Gardens and several in Deanwood. An immigrant from Sierra Leone, Bull was a self-taught architect and builder who wasn’t educated beyond the eighth grade. This Bull house has seen better days but remains a familiar landmark across from the Dorothy I. Height Public Library. An archway detail above the front door, clinker bricks (fired at a high temperature and named after the sound they make when knocked together), steep slate roofs and a prominent and centrally placed chimney are hallmarks of the Tudor Revival style of domestic architecture that was popular from the 1920s through the 1940s.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=45gTTZ_1H0OfdhO00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=45gTTZ_1H0OfdhO00" width="1500" height="1002" ><figcaption>The imposing concrete façade of the Stewart Funeral Home, built in 1964 and designed by Donald H. Roberts. Photo: Matthew McClure</figcaption></figure>Think a structure in your community deserves historic designation? Apply through the DC Office of Planning www.planning.dc.gov/historicpreservation. Follow Imania Price on Instagram @homegirlhistorian</div></body>

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Downtown DC consistently gets the credit for historically significant architecture. Visitors to our fair city (and even some locals) will immediately think of Cluss, Latrobe, Mills and Hoban, the Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument and the Capitol when asked about famous American architects and their work in DC. Luckily, there are...

Black Modernist Architecture in DC

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Downtown DC consistently gets the credit for historically significant architecture. Visitors to our fair city (and even some locals) will immediately think

Black Modernist Architecture in DC

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