more businesses emerging. in addition, we have a number of african-american religious institutions that spring up around the city, especially as they feel that they're not getting proper treatment by white ministers in other kinds of churches. one of the pet peeves they had during this period is when there would be a baptism and you'd bring your child forward to have it baptized by the priest, the priest refused to handle the child. you'd sprinkle water on him and do all the right things but not hold the child. this was galling to african-americans. they felt this is not the place they wanted to be. this was not the kind of religious institution that would best serve them and their needs and their understanding of what religion should be all about. so as a consequence, you begin to have a number of african-american religious institutions springing up in the city during this time period. the first of these churches to emerge is mt. zion negro church in georgetown founded in 1814. it's followed by israel beth

colored methodist episcopal church located on capitol hill in 1820. and even closer to our location, the most important, probably longest enduring institution was the 15th street presbyterian church founded in 1841. it was the first african-american presbyterian church in the city. it was founded by the educator and pastor john f. hook sr. and its first meetings were in his home located at 14th and 8th street northwest. do you know where that is? where are we now? we're at 16th and 8th street. go down two blocks and you'll know where it was. all these institutions were critical, i think, to the vitality of the african-american community and they provided both religious guidance for the congregants who went there and community service for residents. these churches fulfilled a lot of roles within the community. they're also the locations for schools for black children because many of the schools in

washington, d.c., were closed to them. together, what they represent -- these businesses, these institutions, these schools -- are an intricate infrastructure that's beginning to come together, knitting together the free and enslaved community in washington, d.c. what they're trying to do is provide support for themselves and a way of navigating the challenges of life that the city had offered to those who settled here on the eve of the civil war. just as importantly, though, these structures and community networks continued to play a role even after emancipation, during reconstruction and the years that followed. so what i've talked about so far is sort of that foundation of the african-american community that continues through the 19th century. after 1860, washington's african-american population continues to increase in size dramatically. by 1870, there are more than 43,000 african-american residents of the city, one-third

of the total population. by 1890, this number had grown to 75,000, and they were still one-third of the population. as the city grew, they grew. and eventually by 1900, washington, d.c., had the largest african-american urban community in the nation, the largest african-american urban population in the nation. this population growth also created a much more segregated city in washington, d.c. as african-americans continued to move in and were funneled into certain sections of this city. by the start of the 20th century, washington's african-american community constituted essentially a separate city within the federal government, a secret city, as one author has described it. now, while we know a great deal about the general history of african-americans in this city, i would argue, i would suggest, that we do not know enough about the specific issues unfolding in different portions of the district. those of us that know

washington, d.c., know that this is a city of multiple parts, different experiences, and different communities. georgetown is different from the park, which is different from u street, which is different from northeast, which is different from capitol hill, which is different from the area surrounding the white house. the community in each of these areas have unique characteristics and unique ways of looking at the world. when i first came here years ago -- my wife is a washingtonian -- her mother gave me clues about the city and where to go and where not to go, what to look out for and what not to look out for. it was clear to me then this is a city with great variation to it and a richness to it. but i think those from the outside and that look at the city don't understand. those from outside looking at the city see a federal city and see a sort of singular in its operation. but what is true, in fact, is that this is a city with a lot of different neighborhoods. and each of these neighborhoods have a wonderful, unique

characteristic to them that we should better understand and better study. it's important, i think, that we learn more about the workings of the individual parts of the city. who lives there, the fabric of their existence, the structures they put in place to help them survive are all things we need to know more about. also, what are the strategies they put in place in order to survive, to take care of their family, to have a good life or to have a reasonable life? i think in this process of discovery, we will bring out important stories about institutions and people and activities who molded these communities and helped them to endure through difficult times. i think it also will help us develop a better understanding how they interacted and adjusted over time, that it's not a snapshot that time allows us to understand but it's understanding how things evolve and change over time and how people find strategies as these things change. that is why i think this program

today is so exciting and so very important to have happen. it provides an opportunity for us to learn more about african-americans who lived in this neighborhood, this neighborhood near the white house with its ironies but also with it positives. their story is a microcosm of all our stories, and the more we learn about them the more we learn about ourselves and about the district of columbia. business makes what has been called a nearby history i think so valuable, so useful, and so important. it is the history which is all around us. but we so often overlook and don't think it's important. it's sort of like our parents' lives. we sort of know they're our parents, but we don't realize how important it is the things they are doing until we stop and pause, look at them and examine them. the same thing about our nearby communities. in these communities there's history all around us. we often overlook that history. it's not necessarily a story of the rich and the famous, the president, the white house, but

more so the history about people who quietly go about their lives every day trying to survive. just trying to make it each day, as they say, just trying to get by. but these people are the heart of any community. and it's important that we know more about them, what they are doing, how they are living. this is a wonderful opportunity, i think, which local history studies offer us that allow us to continue to learn, to grow, and perhaps to forge a better future for ourselves and for our communities, a future grounded in research, a future grounded in information, and more importantly a future grounded in understanding. now, i am sure by the end of today we will all know more about this nearby community near the white house and we will be enriched by the stories and the people we learn more about, understanding their struggles

and their triumphs and how this fits into a larger history and understanding of the history of the city of the district of columbia and of the nation. i think that's a very good thing, and i think that's why this meeting today, this conference is going to be a very good thing forhi and for the people who live in and around this neighborhood. i'm looking forward to the speakers. i expect we will learn a great deal and we all will be better off for having been a part of this conference. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, spencer, for laying out the context for the day. that was perfect. i can't help but imagine that oney judge really enjoyed her first new hampshire picnic.

we would like to invite tanya bowers, director for diversity of the national trust for historic preservation, to say a few words about her work and introduce our next speaker. >> good morning, everyone. >> good morning. >> i can't tell you what an honor it is to be up here. once again i am following spencer crew, who over the last three years i had the pleasure of working with when he chaired the diversity committee of the national trust for historic preservation. we are an organization that is all about saving america's diverse historic places and revitalizing communities. and through leadership of people like dr. crew, we have been engaging america's diverse communities and saving the places and sharing the stories

that matter to them. and all this has been with the vision of engaging the field of historic preservation so that it embraces the full range of america's cultural experiences. it is with great pleasure that we have worked through our 29 historic sites on ensuring that the full stories get told in those places. one of our sites in philadelphia is called cliveden on cliveden street, and this was a place for the reasons dr. crew was talking about. people only focused on the battle of germantown, and they didn't look so much at the fact that there was a prime example of urban slavery there. and through our executive director, david young, who just over the weekend, i believe, was with mr. bunch in philadelphia

talking act how museums focus on interpreting african-american history and slavery at their sites. another fabulous example that we have to talk about is also at montpelier, and later today you're going to be hearing more from elizabeth taylor, as she was the leader as director of interpretation in sharing more of the stories of the african-american communities and enslaved peoples who were there. three years ago, i met the person whom i'm introducing, katherine malone-france, right at the slave quarters on the second floor of decatur house. and at the time it wasn't open to the public, never has been. it was a gallery space. previous owners had used it as a residence for their staff. it had also been office space.

and the white house historical society is rising to the cause to conserve these slave quarters. his malone-france has also finished a historic structures report, and this was the first documentary research report on the quarters ever undertaken. she's going to be telling you some more about the highlights of the physical examination and the remaining questions that have to be answered regarding the space which was occupied by various peoples as it's existed over the last 125 years. so i hope you will join me in welcoming her. thank you. [ applause ] >> good morning. can you hear me okay? good morning. all right. well, first, i'd like to

thank -- let me turn on my power. first i'd like to thank the white house historical association for putting together this fantastic event but also for their support of the research and conservation work on the slave quarters at decatur house that i'm going to be discussing with you today. both the white house historical association, which has shared the stewardship of the decatur house property since 2010, and, in particular, neal forsman, john reilly, mike melton, as well as the building's owner, the national trust for historic preservation, and in particular cindy malonek, and gail berry west, who i think is here today also, who served on the boards of both decatur house and the white house historical association, have all made and kept a commitment to sharing the lessons that this building has held for over a century and a half, treating it with care and listening to it as well.

you know, historic buildings i think combine a degree of permanence and stability with the capacity to record and embody change. and it's from this fundamental ability to hold profound lessons intact as the world changes around a building and we impose our will on it that buildings ultimately derive tremendous power as primary sources. the slave quarters at decatur house certainly exhibits these qualities. the fundamental form, the architectural features and finishes, and the uses of this building remained relatively unchanged from at least the 1840s and perhaps earlier until 1965, even as the legal status of its residence, the makeup of the surrounding city and neighborhood, and, indeed, the cultural landscape of the united states changed dramatically. as a rare remaining example of a building where people were enslaved in an urban setting, it

offers important evidence of their living and working conditions. situated less than 150 yards from the white house, this building elegantly conveys the clear and close presence of slavery in the landscape of the american presidency. attached to one of the country's most storied homes, it simultaneously demonstrates the absolute separation and intimate linkage between enslaver and enslaved that was intrinsic to the institution of slavery. the use of this building after emancipation offers vivid testimony about the incremental shift from bondage to paid servitude. and its modification and use by the national trust for historic preservation over the last 50 years illustrates changing attitudes about if and how the stories of slavery and servitude are preserved and told. as we work to understand more

fully the institution of slavery in the united states and its implications, historic buildings and landscapes that were built by, for, or otherwise impacted by enslaved people are a tremendously important resource worthy of preservation and careful study. within this broad architecture of enslavement, buildings like these pictured purpose built to provide living and in some cases working spaces for enslaved people and distinct from the property owner's residence are particularly illuminating. now, to be sure, these were not the only spaces in which enslaved people were forced to live. but such structures were constructed in all the environments where slavery existed. here you see examples moving from rural to urban, left to right, from plantations, small farms and small towns, and in cities. and they reflected the spatial

constraints or lack thereof, construction techniques, and to some degree the architectural styles of the places in which they were built. they also illustrate differing proximities between enslaver and enslaved, and they testify to the active use of architectural hierarchy to reinforce the condition of bondage. and, i would argue, that such buildings are not only significant but also sacred, because they offer some of the only spaces in which people denied their very humanity maintained any semblance of a private life in which they might reassert it. now, no such specific structure was provided for and architect benjamin latrobe, who was the designer of this building and decatur house. there was no provision for the completion of decatur house for any type of structure like this. decatur house was the first private residence constructed on

lafayette square, and it was built for naval hero steven decatur and his wife, susan. but in a letter to steven decatur about the construction of the house in 1817, latrobe did recommend the addition of what he called a servants hall if the property was to be rented. following the death of steven decatur in a duel in 1820, just 14 months after the decaturs moved into the house, his widow, susan decatur, did, indeed, rent the house to a succession of european foreign ministers and american secretaries of secretary of state. in january of 1822, while the property was being rented to the french foreign minister to the united states, a man named thomas herbert presented a bill to susan decatur, and it was for erecting a building joining the house in president's square. now, this is the north side of

the slave quarters today. whether the building constructed by thomas herbert in 1822 is this structure joined to the back of decatur house remains an open question, and it's under active investigation. i'll talk about that a little bit. this is the south elevation of that building, which faces an interior courtyard. well, susan and steven decatur did not register as slave owners in washington, d.c. we know there were enslaved men, women, and children living on the property by the late 1820s in the household of secretary of state henry clay, who was renting the property from susan decatur. a woman named charlotte dupuis, enslaved in the household, sued him for her freedom and that of her children charles and mary ann in 1829. while the case was being decided and the court eventually ruled against her, she remained in the decatur house with its next occupant, then secretary of state martin van buren, as evidenced by this letter.

the 1830 federal census counted four enslaved females and two colored free females in the van buren household, some of all of whom could have been living in the slave quarters. now, in 1837, susan decatur sold the decatur house property to john gatsby, who's pictured here, who was the owner of the nearby national hotel. if the slave quarters that exist today was not constructed during susan decatur's ownership of the property, it was most certainly built during the early years of the gatsby occupancy. in the 1840 census the 11 people enslaved in the gatsby household were the largest population of enslaved people in a lafayette square household. when john gatsby died in 1844, an inventory of his property at decatur house itemized the furnishings of what was called the back building, some of which are listed here. and they offer the first

documentation of some of the uses of the building. as you see here, they include references to items located in a kitchen and in a laundry. the building itself confirms that a kitchen was originally located on the first floor. here's a hearth recently uncovered on the first floor. and you'll note both pictures have a cold joint, the seam between the original firebox and the in fill that decreased the size of its opening. now, not only does the original width of the firebox indicate it was used for cooking, but so does evidence inside the hearth. here on the right you see the remnants -- get my pointer here. here on the right you see the remnants of a flue that would have led to a smaller oven. it is a common condition for a kitchen hearth. you see the bricks blackened with soot. that forms the top of the flu.

and on this white line, that's accumulation of ash about 150 years old. on the left, you see we also found buried in the other side of the chimney here, we found an iron anchor, which would have been what an iron crane was bolted to. the crane would have been used for hanging pots over the fire for cooking. here is an i mage that shows wht it might have looked like. note again, iron crane inside the fireplace, as well as both on the same side here. there's the iron crane, and smaller red oven there. having a kitch especially on the first floor of a slave quarters large enough to serve the entire household was typical of an urban slave quarters near or attached to the property owner's residence. you know, in looking at a

building as a primary source, i'm always interested in the wear patterns. and that's the evidence of how human beings habitually impacted a building and left their marks on it. orlando ridow, a member of a teamworking to study and document this building, has identified these wear patterns. see that slanted pattern? identified those patterns as the marks left by the sharpening of a knife there on the edge of the original firebox. while the people that made these marks are gone, largely unrecorded by documents, the evidence of their labor at an elemental, essential, and timeless task, sharpening of a blade, remains. now, who might have made these marks? it could have been charlotte dupuis or others in the van buren household if this was built in the 1820s, or it could

have been one of the enslaved people listed in the 1844 inventory. here, you see transcription of the final inventory, listing those identified as slaves for life, along with their ages and assessed monetary value. as you see, there are men, women, and children in the king and williams families, and six enslaved people that don't have those surnames. the last two people listed, primus and charles clark are called out working a defined period of time until they will be free. as with the kitchen, looking at the building and inventory together provides a fuller picture of where at least some of the people may have lived. we know that this wall framing uncovered on the second floor of the building is original to its construction. and it defined a narrow hallway with openings into three chambers, two of which you see here. this concurs with the 1844

inventory, which recorded three spaces it called servants' rooms in the back building. two contained multiple bed steds and bedding, another contained only one bed stead, and only one had unspecified number of chairs and bed steads. let's look more closely at the framing of these openings. as you see on the left, they have been modified at some point to increase the height of opening. the original door opening was about 77". door openings in the decatur house ranged from 10 feet to about 7 feet. that's more than half a foot higher than these door openings. the picture on the right is from a slave quarters in charleston, south carolina, and again, gives a sense of how door openings might have looked. such low height openings and simple casings are another typical detail found in slave quarters, and another subtle but

consistent way in which the architecture of the buildings purpose built for enslavement reinforced the condition of bondage at every turn. by looking at the ghost marks, and this is not a super good picture, but that's the ghost mark there. an area of unpainted flooring that indicates where original wall partitions were. we can also determine size of the living spaces on the second floor of the slave quarters. three rooms we are sure were part of the original construction range from 150 square feet to 231 square feet. and remember, the inventory indicates these were spaces where multiple people were sleeping, maybe the entire king or williams family in one room. in contrast, bedrooms on the third floor of the decatur house, in has been ted by one or two people and the property owner ranged from 300 to 430 square feet, almost double the size of living spaces in the

slave quarters. the presence of the hallway along the north side of the building prevented these living spaces from having a window that opened onto h street. but each of them contained a window facing south, overlooking a courtyard. this orientation of living spaces towards the interior of the property and away from the public street is also a feature typical of urban slave quarters. these living spaces on the second floor of slave quarters were also 14 steps, my steps at least, 14 steps from the interior of decatur house. up a short stairway, and through an original window on the rear of the house that had been converted into a door which you see in the image on the left. and the slave quarters was easily seen from entertaining rooms on the second floor of decatur house where some of the most politically charged parties took place over the 19th century. this proximity between

enslaver and enslaved is another characteristic that defined slave slavery. john gatsby was a slave owner. books published in the 1930s and 1950s identify decatur house as a sight where gatsby bought and sold human beings. when you compare the property taken in his death in 1884 with property inventory taken when his wife died in 1858, a group of people were enslaved at decatur house in the 1840s and '50s. stars on the right indicate especially slaved people on the inventories. three children were born into the king family, into bondage,

between 1844 and 1858. while the king family remained relatively intact between the two inventories, only three with the williams name remained in the 1858 inventory. gone were at least three children, with last name williams, under the age of 10 in 1844. the 1858 inventory indicates a third family group, the longs, may have developed out of people enslaved in 1844, and these are identified by the question marks. two men, primus and charles clark, defined as working until free in 1844 were gone by 1858. of the other people listed in 1844, only two remained. steve hammond, a descendant of nancy will speak about her later today. the fact that a relatively consistent group of people were enslaved at decatur house