Introduction
Residents of the Greater Deanwood area of far Northeast Washington are proud of their history. It’s an American story, forged by a white society that for decades didn’t question its practices of racial separation and by an African American society that refused to accept the judgments of outsiders. In the 1800s Washington’s powerful white devel- opers favored areas northwest of the Anacostia. Land east of the river, relatively far from the White House, held little interest. Smaller investors and individuals found a foothold here, and while Greater Deanwood remained semi-rural into the 1940s, it still offered modest opportunity. Racial restrictions were not applied to its housing, and African American families found the area welcom- ing, affordable, and convenient. Left to their own resources, residents often built their own homes and created communities where self-reliance became the byword. The seeds of Greater Deanwood were sown a few years after the Civil War, when the Southern Maryland Railroad built a station near the site of today’s Minnesota Avenue Metro station. With individuals found a foothold here, and while Greater Deanwood remained semi-rural into the 1940s, it still offered modest opportunity. Racial restrictions were not applied to its housing, and African American families found the area welcom- ing, affordable, and convenient. Left to their own resources, residents often built their own homes and created communities where self-reliance became the byword. The seeds of Greater Deanwood were sown a few years after the Civil War, when the Southern Maryland Railroad built a station near the site of today’s Minnesota Avenue Metro station. With new transportation to jobs downtown and at the Residents of Greater Deanwood in far Northeast Washington are proud of their history. It’s an American story, forged by a white society that for decades didn’t question its practices of racial separation and by an African American society that refused to accept the judgments of outsiders. In the 1800s Washington’s powerful white devel- opers favored areas northwest of the Anacostia. Land east of the river, relatively far from the White House, held little interest. Smaller investors and
National Training School Founder Nannie Helen Burroughs, left, and the Ladies Auxiliary, around 1915.
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