Culture and Commerce 1300 BLOCK H STREET NE
WHEN THE ATLAS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER opened in 200 5, it gave hope to an area still recovering from the destruction following the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968. But when K-B’s Atlas movie hous e fir st opened in 1938, this was a bustling commercial strip. Th e Atlas originally admitted whites only. African American movie-goers traveled elsewhere until 1943, when the Plymout h Th eater opened in an old auto showroom at 136 5 H. Th en in 1953 the Supreme Court outlawed segregation in DC’s public accommodations. But H Street’s shops, run by families of many nationalities, had always served all. Most owners, like Meyer Greenbaum of Greenbaum’s Bakery, 1361 H Street, lived above or behind the stores and worked long hours. Carroll Barber Shop opened next to Greenbaum’s in 1931 as one of H Street’s fir st African American businesses. A few years later Meyer “Mike” Kanter opened I.C. Furniture at 1353 H, selling inexpensive goods. Kanter’s son Ted later opene d Th eodore’s in upper Georgetown. Beginning in 1951 Jake Napier ran Ultra-Modern Barbershop at 1338 for nearly 50 years, hiring and training local young men. In the mid-1970s, Marcus Gr iffi th made and sold his patented hair care products at Hairlox, 1315 H Street. Despite entrepreneurs’ post-rio ts eff orts, progress was slow . Th en in 2002, in cooperation with H Street Community Development Corporation and the Linden Neighborhood Association, the nonpro fi t Atlas Performing Arts Center began renovations and H Street began its latest revival. Between 1981 and 2009, t he northeast corner of 13th and H Streets hosted the Robert L. Christian Library, honoring the former teacher who founded the Northeast Neighborhood House.
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