Existing comment:
African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC
Stevens Elementary School
1050 21st Street, NW
Stevens Elementary School was built in 1868 in the then-predominantly African American Foggy Bottom neighborhood. It was one of the city's first public schools for black children, named for Pennsylvania Congressman Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868), an important abolitionist. First elected in 1848, Stevens remained a constant opponent of extending slavery or appeasing the South. Later he claimed the Committee on Reconstruction. Stevens devoted his life to reducing the distinctions between rich and poor, black and white.
In 2008, when Stevens Elementary was scheduled to be closed, it was the city's oldest school in continuous operation. It was listed in the National Register for Historic Places in 2001. |