Along the “Nile Valley” georgia avenue and girard street nw
with its afro-centric shops and connec- tions to Howard University, this stretch of Georgia Avenue has been called the “Nile Valley.” Blue Nile Botanicals opened first at 2826 Georgia in 1977. Hodari Ali, a former editor of Howard’s stu- dent newspaper, followed with Pyramid Books at 2849 Georgia, where businessman Kenny Gilmore remembered finding “the whole 360 degrees of black life.” Filmmaker and Howard Professor Haile Gerima opened Sankofa café/bookstore at 2714 Georgia in 1999. Long before the bookstores arrived, the Cardozo Sisters operated a hair salon across the street in Howard Manor. Founded in Elizabeth Cardozo Barker’s upstairs apartment, the salon set a refined tone. Its uniformed staff were prohibited from “speaking loudly, gossiping, or calling customers by their first names.” The three daughters of DC edu- cator Francis Lewis Cardozo, Jr., trained dozens of hairdressers. Barker, a member of the city’s Board of Cosmetology, fought successfully to desegregate the profession. Ernest Myers began cutting hair at the Eagle Barber Shop, 2800 Georgia, in 1947 and eventually bought the business. In order to attract mothers and their young sons, Myers recalled, he played only Christian radio music before 2 pm. Some high-powered clients, including Howard University presidents, first came to Myers as students. Deas Delicatessen opened in 1961 at 2901 Georgia, one block north, offering Howard students a three- meal-a-day plan, and serving such celebrities as comedian/activist Dick Gregory and the Urban League’s Vernon Jordan. discover more: DC native Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington lived with his wife Edna and their son Mercer at 2728 Sherman Avenue from about 1919 to 1921.
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting