E.B. Henderson, seen here with students in 1947, forced Uline Arena to desegregate a year later.
Stonecarvers working on the Library of Congress, 1894.
H Street’s theaters and nightclubs were an excep- tion, thoug h. e Atlas movie house opened in 1938 for whites only. African Americans traveled elsewhere for movies until the Plymouth opened in 1943 a few doors from the Atla s. e popular Club Kavakos served only whites, and until 1948 Uline Arena admitted black audiences only for certain events. Finally, in 1953 the Supreme Court out- lawed segregation in DC’s public accommodations. One consequence of the decision, and the end of legal school segregation the following year, was an increase in racial change . i s s hi h ad started in the 1940s as the children of H Street’s European immigrants reached adulthood and moved on. Churches found new congregations, and the city switched public schools into the “colored division” to accommodate the increasing black population. By the end of the 1950s, with “whit e ig ht” in full gear, Greater H Street was almost completely Afri- can America n. e business community continued to cater to its neighbors and to commuters. en in April 1968 the assassination of the Rever- end Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., provoked civil dis- turbances across the city. More than 100 H Street businesses were destroyed completely, and others
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