BGuthrie Photos: Natl Archives -- Panel -- African American Life in Washington, DC, Before Emancipation

Natl Archives -- Panel -- African American Life in Washington, DC, Before Emancipation:

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Description of Pictures: African American Life in Washington, DC, Before Emancipation:
As Washington became the focus of abolitionism before the Civil War, antislavery activists argued that the sight of slavery and slave dealers in the nation’s capital disgraced the nation and its ideals. A panel will explore life before the 1862 Compensated Emancipation Act and discuss the “Slavery and Freedom” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). Moderated by John W. Franklin of the NMAAHC, panelists include Mark Auslander, Central Washington University; Maurice Jackson, Georgetown University; and NMAAHC curators Nancy Bercaw and Mary Elliott. Presented in partnership with NMAAHC, the DC Commission of African American Affairs, and the DC Commission on Emancipation.
Agenda:
* Welcoming Remarks: The Honorable David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States
* Cheryl M. Christmas, Project Director, Foster Grandparent Program, United Planning Organization, who described her guest Virginia McLaurin, the 107-year-old who danced with President Obama a few months before
* Lauren Vaughn, Secretary of the District of Columbia
Panel (left to right):
* Mark Auslander
* Mary Elliott
* Maurice Jackson
* Nancy Bercaw
* John W. Franklin (moderator)

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1]

") are described as follows:

AALIF1_160413_001.JPG: ???, ???, Jason Winston
AALIF1_160413_008.JPG: In February, 2016, this woman, Virginia McLaurin, became famous when the 106 year old was recorded dancing with joy upon meeting the Obamas. Shortly after her appearance here at the National Archives, it was found that she couldn't get a photo ID due to registration requirements in DC -- something that will plague a lot of other folks in states where Republican legislatures have ordered stricter voter ID laws in the face of an almost non-existent voter fraud problem. The move is largely seen as an attempt by Republicans to block Democratic voters from the polls. Virginia McLaurin From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Virginia McLaurin (born March 12, 1909) is an American centenarian and resident of Washington, D.C. Virginia McLaurin was born in South Carolina in 1909, when segregation was common in many states and women did not have the right to vote. It was also the year that the African American civil rights organization NAACP was formed. She came to Washington D.C. as part of the Great Migration. Her husband died in 1941 whilst serving in World War II. She volunteers forty hours a week as a Senior Corps volunteer with the UPO foster grandparents program at the Roots Public Charter School. In her lifetime she remembers the introduction of electricity, the early Model T Fords being driven on the road, and was living in Washington D.C. when Martin Luther King was assassinated. McLaurin (center) with Barack and Michelle Obama, February 2016 In 2013, McLaurin received a volunteer community service award from Mayor Vincent C. Gray in recognition of her voluntary work. In 2014, thanks to a campaign by the Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC), a TV crew publicized the fact that her apartment was infested with bedbugs. A local pest control company got rid of the infestation and gave her a free bed. Her landlord also arranged for her apartment to be redecorated. She gained national attention after a visit to the White House on 18 February 2016 to celebrate Black History Month, after which a video of her dancing with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama went viral on social media. She celebrated her 107th birthday with the Harlem Globetrotters. At the beginning of April 2016, thanks to many donations from the general public, McLaurin moved into her new apartment close to her church and the school where she is a volunteer.
AALIF1_160413_021.JPG: David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States
AALIF1_160413_052.JPG: Cheryl M. Christmas
AALIF1_160413_132.JPG: Lauren Vaughn, Secretary of the District of Columbia
AALIF1_160413_224.JPG: (left to right) Mark Auslander, Mary Elliott, Maurice Jackson, Nancy Bercaw, and John W. Franklin
AALIF1_160413_235.JPG: John W. Franklin
AALIF1_160413_245.JPG: Maurice Jackson
AALIF1_160413_247.JPG: Mary Elliott
AALIF1_160413_269.JPG: Mark Auslander
AALIF1_160413_277.JPG: Nancy Bercaw
AALIF2_160413_186.JPG: Mark Auslander, Mary Elliott, Maurice Jackson, Nancy Bercaw, and John W. Franklin
AALIF2_160413_190.JPG: ???, ???, Virginia McLaurin, Tom Nastick

AALIF3_160413_047.JPG:

	1800	1810	1820	1830	1840	1850	1860	1870
Total DC Population	14,093	24,023	33,039	39,834	43,712	51,587	75,080	131,700
Free Blacks	783	2,549	4,048	6,152	8,461	10,059	11,131	43,422
Slaves	3,244	5,505	6,277	6,119	4,694	3,687	3,185	0
Total Black Population	4,027	8,054	10,325	12,271	13,155	13,746	14,316	43,422

AALIF3_160413_063.JPG: Black codes were first passed in DC in 1808. They were reissued in 1848 in reaction to the PEARL ship rebellion.
AALIF3_160413_067.JPG: The American Anti-Slavery Society in 1830 described Washington DC as the residence of over 7,000 slaves and "Home of the Oppressed"
AALIF3_160413_077.JPG: Slave Coffle passing the US Capitol Building in 1815
AALIF3_160413_081.JPG: The Places * Enslaved people by law and custom were expected to live on the premises of their owners or the persons to whom they were hired. * Often accommodated in apartments back of the main house, separated by a black court yard. * The complex was enclosed and referred to as 'the area.' * Commercial establishments often housed enslaved people on the premises.
AALIF3_160413_096.JPG: African Descent in Washington DC * From the beginning, always at least 20% of the population, according to Letitia W. Brown * Some antebellum residence patterns resemble conditions in Southern urban settlements, but others are unique to DC * Black people lived in Georgetown and Alexandria from earliest days, and anticipation of expanded economic opportunity drew from surrounding countryside * By 1824, greatest concentration in the 24 blocks of 4th St. between the Navy Yard and East Capitol -- Black property owners in 17 blocks. * By 1835, African descent people -- and property owners -- throughout the District.
AALIF3_160413_104.JPG: The Free Black Community Increased attention (restrictions) as enslaved population declined. * 1808 black codes set curfews and raised occupational barriers. * Little employment other than domestic service: *** Free men working as house servants rare *** Enslaved men enter domestic service 1806 free people began to acquire property in various parts of the District. * Moses Liverpool received deed from William Prout for a lot in Southeast, one block from the Navy Yard. By 1807, he, George Bell, and Nicholas Franklin built a schoolhouse for Black children and hired a white teacher to run it. (All three worked at the Navy Yard.) * Shortly after she was freed by George Beall in 1807, Lethe Hill brought [sic] a lot from Thomas B. Beall in Beall's Addition. (Home valued at $1000 in 1819.) * 6th and 35th Sts -- Yarrow Mamout.
AALIF3_160413_126.JPG: Dublin Core Slave marriage, 1795 Record of the marriage of a slave woman named Phillis in the Georgetown College chapel. Trinity Church, Georgetown, DC. Record of Marriages and Baptisms 1795 to 1805.
AALIF3_160413_139.JPG: Georgetown: * The Georgetown area was also home to many places that housed slaves. Beattie's Auction block was located on Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown, and an office near 3200 O Street. * Eight) 3041 Volta Place: The house at which still exists today, had two cottages that served as slave quarters. * Nine) McCandless' Tavern located near the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, frequented by two prominent Georgetown traders, John W. Smith, EP Legg * Ten) Suter's Tavern: The Georgetown tavern, operated by John Suter, who was a leader of "Board of Trade, Chamber of Commerce, Civic Centere [sic], Town Hall, Banquet Hall and even occasionally the Court House." Mr. Suter also kept six of his slaves there. * Eleven) McCandless' Tavern: Located near the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, this tavern was frequented by two prominent Georgetown traders, John W. Smith, EP Legg. * Twelve) Beall Street Tavern and Stables: Located in Georgetown (unsure of the exact location) * The Holt house was built between 1805 and 1827, and is now owned by the National Zoo. It was once used as an office and a medical research building, but how it is unoccupied and in disrepair. Although historians are unsure about the rumored slave quarters in the bottom of the house, and the existence of a black cemetery on the property. Some activist, like Adams Morgan advisory commissioner Todd Mosley, believe that the Zoo should carry 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue or Center Market: out of "historical review" on the property before developing the land further. But Georgetown Remembered.
AALIF3_160413_157.JPG: The Talking Society: * Group run by John F. Cook, educating slaves and free blacks alike. * Met at 14th and H Sts next to Reverend Cook's church. * Arthur Bowen attended this school. * "We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us. Too long has the public been deceived by misrepresentations, in things which concern us dearly..." Freedom's Journal, inaugural issue, 1827.
AALIF3_160413_163.JPG: Arthur Bowen, 1835: * One of five slaves (two women, two men, and a boy) that were in Mrs. Thornton's household. * Arthur was waiter, footman, houseboy, and generally under direction of women. * Subordinate male in the household. * Known for his inability to get along with female domestics, white or black. *** Hired out by Mrs. Thornton at one point, but quickly fired because he fought constantly with female servants. * Arthur arrives in bedroom of Mrs. Thornton with an axe. *** "Probably drunk" (J. Morley) *** Mother Maria was in the room, "seized and got him out" while Mrs. Thornton sounded the alarm to neighbors. *** Yelled, "I've got as much right to freedom as you." (four witnesses) Snow Riots
AALIF3_160413_174.JPG: Black Soldiers During the Civil War
AALIF3_160413_187.JPG: DC Emancipation Day Nine months before President Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation, he signed into law the DC Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862, which ended slavery in the nation's capital. More than 3,100 slaves were freed immediately, and "loyal Unionist" masters were compensated up to $300 per freed slave (roughly $6,000 in today's currency). April 16 is now an official holiday in the District of Columbia, and residents continue to celebrate downtown "Emancipation Day" with festivals and parades.

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Featured Folk: Some of the people here can also be seen on other pages on this site.
- Ferriero, David appears on:
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  - 2023_DC_Shogan_230911 Natl Archives -- Swearing-in Ceremony of Archivist Colleen Shogan
  - 2016_DC_4th_ArchivesB_160704 DC -- 4th of July @ National Archives -- Breakfast (2016)
  - 2022_DC_Archives_SportsO_220912 DC -- Natl Archives -- Pre-Opening Reception for "All American: The Power of Sports"
  - 2021_DC_Gun_Violence_Mem DC -- Exhibit: Giffords Gun Violence Memorial @ Mall
  - 2021_DC_Botanic DC -- U.S. Botanic Garden
  - 2020_DC_Mitchell_200218 Natl Archives -- Jerry Mitchell ("Race Against Time")
  - 2020_DC_Cave_200205 Natl Archives -- Academy Award Documentary Feature Nominee: "The Cave" (w/member reception)
  - 2019_DC_Rubenstein_191216 Natl Archives -- David Rubenstein ("The American Story: Conversations with Master Historians") w/Taylor Branch, H.W. Brands, and Jay Winik
  - 2019_DC_Leadership_191030 Natl Archives -- Panel -- Women in Leadership: Women on the U.S. Congress w/Shelley Moore Capito, Brenda Lawrence, Tammy Baldwin and Brooke Baldwin
  - ...More (List all 160 pages with this person)...
- Franklin, John W. appears on:
  - 2017_DC_AAAM_Reception_170801 Association of African American Museum Annual Conference Welcoming Reception
  - 2016_DC_DCHist_P01_161104 43rd Annual Conference on DC Historical Studies -- Panel 01: Once Upon a Time in D.C.: Stories Hiding in the Stacks
  - 2015_DC_SI_Secretary_151019 Smithsonian Installation of David J. Skorton as 13th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution @ Arts and Industries Bldg
  - 2013_DC_100Yrs_130411 Natl Archives -- Panel -- One Hundred Years: From the Emancipation Proclamation to the March on Washington
  - 2012_DC_Emancipation_NA_120418 Natl Archives -- Panel -- DC Emancipation: The Struggle for Freedom, Liberty, Justice and Equality
  - 2010_DC_NAJHF_100218 Natl Archives -- Evelyn Higginbotham ("From Slavery to Freedom" and the Legacy of John Hope Franklin)
  - 2009_DC_Gregory_090702 Smithsonian Folklife Festival (2009) -- Dick Gregory
  - 2007_DC_NAUB_070917 Natl Archives -- Michael Klarman ("Unfinished Business") w/John Hope Franklin
  - 2007_DC_JHFranklin_070415 Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission -- Conversation with John Hope Franklin
  - 2007_DC_NAFree_070412 Natl Archives -- Panel -- Slavery and Freedom in Washington, D.C.: Show Me the Evidence!
  - ...More (List all 11 pages with this person)...
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