The Charles Sumner School was built in 1872 and was named in honor of Senator Charles Sumner, an influential political figure who fought for the abolition of slavery and who supported equal political and economic rights for former slaves. The school was one of the most significant educational facilities to be built for the area’s African American community during the era of Reconstruction. The school now holds the harles Sumner Museum and Archives which preserve and share the history of the school and the larger history of educational achievement for African Americans following the Civil War. The building also houses the District of Columbia Public School Archives.
Although women were never officially employed as nurses during the American Civil War, roughly 4,000 worked as volunteers on both sides--both Union and Confederate. Of this number, nearly one-fifth were Catholic nuns who took on the role of battlefield nurse. The Nuns of the Battlefield memorial in Washington D.C. was constructed in 1924 to honor the role of these women in caring for the wounded of America's bloodiest conflict at a time when medicine was often brutal, misinformed, and unsanitary. Conceived and executed by Irish sculptor Jerome Connor, the monument is significant for being only one of two in the area to honor women for their roles in battle.
The Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, also commonly known as St. Matthew's Cathedral, is located in Downtown Washington, D.C. It is the seat of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. This church is notable as the site of several historic funeral Masses, including that of President John F. Kennedy. In 1974, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places at St. Matthew's Cathedral and Rectory.
The Elliott Coues House, located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., served as the home of the notable 19th Century ornithologist Elliott Coues from 1887 until his death in 1899. Coues is most remembered for his contribution to the knowledge base regarding North American bird life and classification. In addition to his numerous publications, Coues helped to found the American Ornithologists' Union in 1883. Though the house's architecture is not notable, Coues' former residence was added to the National Register of Historic Places and listed as a National Historical Landmark in 1975 because of its connection to the ornithologist.
This Washington, D.C. pocket park commemorates singer-songwriter and politician, Sonny Bono (1935-1998). In the 1960s and 1970s, he was part of the husband-and-wife pop duo, Sonny & Cher. Best remembered for their 1965 number-one hit “I Got You Babe,” the couple hosted a popular variety show on CBS from 1971 to 1974. After his show with and marriage to Cher ended, Bono more or less stepped away from the entertainment business, eventually turning to politics. In 1988, as a Republican, he successfully ran to become mayor of Palm Springs, California. Six years later, Bono won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing California’s Forty-Fourth Congressional District. He was reelected in 1996. Two years later, Bono died in a tragic skiing accident. Shocked and saddened by the death of his close friend, Washington, D.C. developer Geary Simon decided to create a park in Bono’s honor. Utilizing the city’s Adopt-A-Park program, he adopted an 800-square-foot traffic triangle at the intersection of O Street, New Hampshire Avenue, and Twentieth Street. The small plot of land near Dupont Circle was overgrown with weeds, sprinkled with litter, and infested with rats. Over the course of several months, Simon spent almost $50,000 of his own money to renovate the space. He installed a sprinkler system, stone benches, lighting, Kentucky bluegrass, and a tree from Bono’s congressional district. On the ground at the entrance to the pocket park, Simon placed a bronze circular dedicatory plaque, underneath which he buried a time capsule containing various items related to the entertainer-turned-politician. The park opened to visitors in 1998, the same year as Bono’s death.
This fountain commemorates U.S. Navy rear admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont. The nephew of famous industrialist E.I. du Pont, he commanded the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. In November 1861, Du Pont led a successful joint operation that captured Port Royal Sound in South Carolina, providing the Union with its first major naval victory of the conflict. Two years later, however, his fleet of nine ironclads suffered the worst naval defeat of the war while attempting to take Charleston. Following the engagement, Du Pont agreed to be relieved of command. In 1882, Congress commissioned a bronze statue of Du Pont and appropriated $20,500 for the project. Designed by sculptor Launt Thompson, it was dedicated at the center of the newly renamed Du Pont Circle (previously known as Pacific Circle) on December 20, 1884. Within a few decades, however, the pedestal began to settle unevenly, causing the statue to lean considerably to one side. In response, the Du Pont family, who were never fans of the statue, asked Congress to have it replaced. Congress agreed on one condition: that the Du Ponts foot the bill for the replacement. After acquiring authorization and accepting responsibility for funding, the family hired architect Henry Bacon and sculptor Daniel Chester French to design an ornamental fountain. At the time, the two were collaborating on the Lincoln Memorial. Dedicated on May 17, 1921, the white marble fountain consists of two concentric circular basins connected by a tall cylindrical pedestal adorned with high reliefs of three allegorical figures representing the sea, wind, and stars. The old bronze statue of Du Pont now resides in Rockford Park in Wilmington, Delaware.
Dupont Underground is a former underground streetcar station that has now been converted into an art installation. The tunnels and station were constructed over 2 years, opening in 1949. The tunnels operated for 11 years before being shut down due to the city-wide conversion from streetcars to buses. Since then, the venue has served multiple unsuccessful businesses, although it appears the most recent art installation appears to fare better than its predescors.
Elinor "Nellie" Medill Patterson, the wife of Chicago Tribune editor Robert Patterson, built this elegant mansion in 1903 as a second home for the family, although its primary purpose was to entertain guests. It is one of two mansions still standing on Dupont Circle (the other is the Wadsworth House) and is a fine example of Neoclassical architecture with Italianate decorative elements. The Patterson's daughter, Eleanor "Cissy" Patterson, became one of the first women in the country to run a major newspaper when she established the Washington-Times Herald in 1939. The Patterson Mansion is also notable for being briefly the home of President Coolidge and his wife, Grace, in 1927 when the White House was undergoing renovations. Another notable guest was aviator Charles Lindbergh, who stayed at the mansion for two nights in June of that year. Today the mansion is an apartment building and event venue called the Oakwood Suites & Studios Dupont Circle.
The Sulgrave Club is a private women's social club, similar to New York's Colony Club. It is headquartered in a Beaux-Arts mansion designed by George Cary near Embassy Row in Washington, DC. It has also been known as the Wadsworth House. The National Register of Historic Places recognized the building in 1972.
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The German Historical Institue, located near Dupont Circle, is an archive that is dedicated to promoting research in German/European and Jewish history, History of the Americas and transatlantic history, and global and transregional history. The institute is the largest institute for historical research in the US not affiliated with a university. The building it occupies, named the Second Blair House, was constructed in 1911.
The Belmont mansion built in 1909 by famous French architect Eugene Sanson for Perry and Jessie Belmont, is now known as the International Headquarters for the Order of the Eastern Star. The Order of the Eastern Star (also known as OES) is a philanthropic international organization to give a part of their time to many projects that benefit mankind and that also holds its members to a very high standard much like the Freemasons. This mansion was previously used by the Belmonts to host parties and special events, and at one point in time hosted the Prince of Wales, until its closing in 1925. When it was purchased by the General Grand Chapter in 1935 it was purchased for 1.5% of the original construction price and is not used not only as the headquarters but as the home of the Right Worthy Grand Secretary and their family.
The National Museum of American Jewish Military History was built to educate the public about the Jewish Americans who served in the US military and fought against anti-Semitism. The extensive collection of artifacts in this museum, spanning from 1654 to the present, helps tell the dynamic story of Jews in American military service, extending as far back as the Revolutionary War. While there is focus on fighting anti-Semitism in a variety of ways, including World War II, the museum also makes sure to acknowledge that Jews served in the US military because they believed doing so helped restore and maintain peace and freedom in the United States.
The Fraser Mansion is a historic building located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC. Built originally as a home in 1890, the Fraser Mansion has gone through a highly varied number of uses over the years, including being a boarding house, a restaurant, and home to portions of the Church of Scientology. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in August of 1975 as the Golden Parrot Restaurant. Today, Fraser Mansion is currently owned by the Church of Scientology, and it serves as their office of National Affairs.
The collection opened to the public in 1921 and is located in Washington’s Dupont Circle neighborhood. Paintings by Renoir and Rothko, Bonnard and O'Keeffe, van Gogh and Diebenkorn are among the many stunning impressionist and modern works that fill the museum. Its distinctive building combines extensive new galleries with the former home of its founder, Duncan Phillips. The collection continues to develop with selective new acquisitions, many by contemporary artists. The museum is part of the Massachusetts Avenue Historic District.
The Cosmos Club is a private club located in Washington, DC. Founded in 1876, the Cosmos Club states that it is dedicated to the intellectual advancement of science, literature, and art among its active members. Through the years since it was established, the Cosmos Club has held numerous high-profile denizens of Washington, DC, and continues to do so today. The club’s current clubhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 3rd, 1973.
This memorial commemorates lawyer, social activist, and leader of the Indian independence movement, Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948). A practitioner of nonviolent civil disobedience, he protested the injustices suffered by Indians under the British Raj during the early twentieth century. At the time, Gandhi also worked assiduously to promote peace and understanding between Hindus and Muslims in India. While on his way to a prayer meeting in New Delhi in 1948, he was assassinated by a Hindu extremist. In 1997, India marked the fiftieth anniversary of its gaining independence from Great Britain. On the heels of the celebration, the Indian embassy and Indian-Americans living across the United States lobbied to have a memorial to Gandhi erected on federal land in Washington, D.C. Their efforts paid off in October 1998 when Congress passed the necessary legislation. Soon after, President Clinton signed the bill into law. Dedicated in September 2000 on a triangular traffic island across from the Indian embassy, the memorial consists of a larger-than-life-sized bronze statue of Gandhi on a roughly-hewn pedestal of Indian ruby red granite. Designed by Indian sculptor Gautam Pal, the nearly nine-foot-tall statue depicts leader of the Indian independence movement walking with a staff. A gift to the United States from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the memorial sits on a small circular plaza within the traffic island. Paved with grey granite, the plaza features a five-foot-long bench and three informational panels, all made of Indian ruby red granite. In attendance at the memorial’s unveiling ceremony was President Clinton and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who at the time was on a state visit to the United States.
Built between 1902 and 1905, the Anderson House is a mansion constructed for American diplomat Larz Anderson and author Isabel Weld Perkins Anderson. It is located along Embassy Row in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. After the death of Larz Anderson, the house was bequeathed to Society of the Cincinnati, an organization established in 1783 for veterans of the Continental Army and their descendants, of which Larz Anderson was an active member. Today, the Society maintains its headquarters at the Anderson House, along with an extensive research library and a museum related to the home and its history. The Anderson House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1996.
The Embassy Gulf Service Station was designed in 1936 by Gulf Oil Corporation architect P.L.R. Hogner. It is notable as an example of 1930s gas station architecture and symbolizes the rise of automobile culture in the United States. Because of its location next to a National Park Service jurisdiction, the Commission on Fine Arts, the Park Service, and the National Capital Park and Planning Commission all reviewed the design of the building. Located near Dupont Circle, the Embassy Gulf Service Station gets its name from the nearby area, known as Embassy Row. The station framed itself as a public service, with its classical architecture emphasizing its connection to civic life.
This memorial in Sheridan Circle commemorates U.S. Army general, Philip Henry Sheridan (1831-1888). A graduate of West Point and career military officer, he is best remembered for his destructive 1864 campaign in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia during the Civil War. Four years after Sheridan’s death, the Society of the Army of the Cumberland commissioned sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward to complete an equestrian statue of the general by 1898. When the deadline arrived, Ward had only minimal progress to show. Frustrated by Ward’s glacial pace, the Union veterans’ organization canceled the contract in 1905. The artist later sued, but lost. Two years after cancelling its contract with Ward, the society commissioned sculptor Gutzon Borglum to complete the project. Dedicated on November 25, 1908, the bronze sculpture stands on a small rectangular granite base and depicts Sheridan atop his loyal steed, Rienzi, rallying his troops at the Battle of Cedar Creek. The statue and its base rest on a large rectangular plaza, which features two sets of steps leading up the sculpture and two sets of bronze lion heads on each side that spout water into basins below. In attendance at the unveiling ceremony, among others, were President Theodore Roosevelt, Sheridan’s wife and son, and innumerable Civil War veterans.
The Joseph Beale House is a historic house designed by architect Glenn Brown. Built in 1909, the Beale House was built for Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Beale, with an emphasis on design and entertaining guests. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in May of 1973.
The President Woodrow Wilson House was the abode that President and Mrs. Edith Wilson called home after his retirement from office in 1921. Wilson was the only president to remain in Washington D.C. after his term until Barack Obama in 2017. While Wilson lived at the house only three years until his passing in 1924, Mrs. Wilson kept residence there until her death in 1961. She donated the entire site and its contents to the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a memorial to her late husband, the 28th President of the United States. The house, built in 1915, was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark due to its association with the Wilsons.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This two-mile walk travels northwest monuments near DuPont Circle, and includes stops at several of the District's lesser-known but historically significant buildings, museums, and monuments. The tour begins at the Nuns of the Battlefield Memorial and includes stops at the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, the Phillips Collection, and the former home of President Woodrow Wilson.
