Words and Deeds .
donated funds to build the city’s first public library here on Mount Vernon Square. The Beaux-Arts style Central Library opened in with , books donated by its predecessor,the private Washington City Free Library. Central Library,located in a racially mixed area, welcomed everyone at a time when the city was generally segregated.The widely beloved library hosted public lectures by such speakers as Civil Rights leader Mary Church Terrell.Edith Morganstein,raised nearby in the s,called the “beautiful building with magnolia trees all around” her “second home.” The library’s square was part of Pierre L’Enfant’s plan for Washington, but it remained undevel- oped until ,when Northern Liberty Market opened there.A decade later,the market became notorious.During a citywide election,members of the anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant “Know-Nothing” party attacked opponents as they arrived to vote at the market’s polling station. Mayor William Magruder appealed to President James Buchanan, who dispatched Marines to restore order.When the Know-Nothings refused to disperse,the Marines fired.Six protesters were killed,and were injured. A second notorious incident occurred in , when Territorial Governor Alexander “Boss” Shepherd demolished the deteriorating market at night and without warning,accidentally killing sev- eral market workers who were inside. Nearly a century later,when parts of the city were burned and looted in the wake of Rev.Dr.Martin Luther King,Jr.’s,assassination,this neighborhood was badly damaged.Order was finally restored with the arrival of U.S.Army troops and National Guardsmen.
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