St.Dominic’s: Community Anchor
. , established , anchors the city’s only Dominican parish. It is the city’s sixth-oldest Catholic chu rch. St. Dominic’s survived two disasters—a fire in and,thanks to friends in Congress,the threat of urban renewal in the s — to prevail as a spiritual and community center.In the s it ministered to farmers, slaves, free blacks,and Irish,German,and Italian immi- grants as well as native-born government workers and members of Congress.Since urban renewal,it has served its newest neighbors.This Gothic style structure was dedicated in . Nearly everyone from the humble to the famous has sought spiritual comfort at St.Dominic’s,from newly freed slaves during the Civil War to former Speaker of the House Thomas P.“Tip”O’Neill. President Lyndon B.Johnson often came for late- night private prayers during escalations of the Vietnam War.Actress Helen Hayes,born and raised in Southwest,sang in the church choir.And Washington Senators star pitcherWalter Johnson headlined the church’s annual parade in . Neighbors of all faiths have appreciated St. Dominic’s.“The whole neighborhood would go to [its] carnival with its bright lights,”recalled Larry Rosen who grew up on ½ Street.The priests and nuns of St.Dominic’s school taught hundreds of area children from u n til , wh en the rectory, convent,and school were all demolished for the Southeast-Sout hwest Freeway. The bl ock of Seventh Street was designated for a new school, but because the new Southwest had fewer children, the parish asked to use the site instead for low- income housing. After years of litigation, developers completed Capital Squ a re townhouses, which sold at market rates in .
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