Existing comment:
Village in the City
Mount Pleasant Heritage Trail
2 Upheaval and Activism
Beginning in the late 1950s, the community leadership of Mount Pleasant changed from the exclusive Citizens Association to an array of new players. Mount Pleasant Neighbors Association was the first alternative group. It presented festivals and grappled with local poverty. The group brought Barney Neighborhood House – a social services agency – here to 3118 16th Street after urban renewal forced it out of Southwest Washington. Neighbors' Consejo another social services agency, succeeded Barney House in 2000.
The efforts of local activists and tenants of the once elegant Kenesaw Apartment House led to a landmark housing law. Facing eviction in the mid-1970s, the tenants decided to buy the run-down building. Their neighbor, DC Councilmember David Clarke, co-sponsored legislation ensuring all tenants the first right to purchase their building when it is offered for sale. Thanks to this 1980 law, renters with limited incomes purchased 3149 Mt. Pleasant Street and 1611 Park Road, among many other buildings.
Also at this time, the Wilson Center, now a charter school where 15th Street meets 16th, became a hub of Latino community activism. The center was named for Woodrow Wilson, who worshipped there when it was Central Presbyterian Church. The Latin American Youth Center, formed by young Latino organizers, moved next door on 15th Street. It services range from education to emergency housing.
As you proceed to Sign 3, don't miss the small wooden house at 3130 16th Street. From 1927 to 1945 this was the home of John Ernest White, chauffeur to Presidents Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. |