Ghost Dog visits the Duke Ellington Bridge

Ghost Dog went on another walk this past weekend to seek out three more stories for the GoDC community. This time, she passed through Adams Morgan, en route to the Duke Ellington Bridge (formerly known as the Calvert Street Bridge). It was named in honor of Washington’s native son in 1974, after Ellington’s death.

Construction on the bridge began in 1933 to replace the original 1891 streetcar bridge built by the Rock Creek Railway. That old bridge was a steel trestle bridge with a wooden roadway … and most likely a scary experience, riding 750 feet across over 100 feet over Rock Creek.

What’s really amazing is the old bridge was moved 80 feet south to be kept in service while the new bridge was being built. And, the bridge was successfully moved in 48 hours!

original Calvert St. bridge around 1910 (Library of Congress)

Ghost Dog had no problem walking over the current bridge and she (BTW, Ghost Dog is a girl) scouted out some stories. These are the three she came up with.

1. Opening day after $1,175,000: December 19th, 1935

The opening of the bridge in the evening of December 19th, 1935, was a grand affair, attending by over 30,000 people. Below is the Washington Post piece detailing the formal dedication of the bridge.

In and above the valley of Rock Creek, where violet and green and red spotlights played upon the three limestone-faced arches, 30,000 Washingtonians and a United States Senator from Oklahoma last night formally opened the new $1,175,000 Calvert Street Bridge.

Actually, half of it had been open to traffic since October 14.

Two little girls–Geraldine Clark, 4, daughter of the Assistant Engineer Commissioner, serious and soulfully brunette  and tinier, smiling Ann Laser, 6, with a big blue ribbon in her tumbled yellow curls–snipped the white tape that let traffic through for the first time along both lanes.

Then the parade swung across–big black limousines, carrying Commissioners Melvin C. Hazen and Dan I. Sultan and Board o Trade and citizens’ leaders.

Off to Connecticut avenue, the parade blared; then up to Woodley road; and so to Cathedral avenue and down into the valley of Rock Creek.

The reviewing stand was halfway down the valley, and half the parade never got there–three sections, the labor, commercial, and American Legion groups, were disbanded on Woodley road to save reviewing time so that the reviewers might go on father down the valley to speakers’ stand in time for the radio program.

All told, the full parade had 1,413 participants, in 106 automobiles and five floats; it had 10 bands; and it took 35 minutes to pass Eighteenth street and Kalorama road.

…

Commissioner Sultan said:

“It is a monument to the engineering profession, a thing of beauty that should serve for many years to come–I hope for a century.”

Commissioner Hazen said:

“It is a magnificent Christmas gift to the City of Washington.”

Senator Elmer Thomas, of Oklahoma, who guides District appropriations through the upper House, said:

“This is the bridge that gasoline built. It was paid for out of gasoline taxes, most of it, not all of them paid by residents of the District. Pennies for this bridge came from residents of Virginia and Maryland, even of foreign countries. This is one of the wonders of Washington.”

I love that label. One of the wonders of Washington.

There is also another interesting Oklahoma connection in Woodley Park. The Oklahoma State Society used to occupy the Greenberg House at 2301 Calvert St. (currently occupied by Syracuse University’s D.C. program).

Duke Ellington Bridge (Wikipedia)

2. Girl survives 100-foot fall plunge

Barbara Truitt (Washington Post)

Yes, the story is as crazy as it sounds. Below is an article we came across in the Washington Post from May 26, 1953.

An attractive, 19-year-old radio station clerk survived a 100-foot plunge from the Calvert st. bridge yesterday afternoon.

The girl, Barbara Truitt, of 3025 15th st. nw., vaulted over a railing in the middle of the bridge about 1:15 p. m., a witness told police. Physicians said she will live.

Police said when they found her under the bridge, she was moaning: “Let me die. Why didn’t I die. Put me out of my pain.”

Eighth Precinct Pvts. Kenneth E. Tippet and George Meikle, who arrived shortly after the plunge, said the girl’s fall was broken by a thick cluster of tree limbs.

Taken to Emergency Hospital, she was reported to be in “fairly good” condition, though suffering from fractures of all limbs, including a compound fracture of the left left, and possible back injuries. She later was transferred to Gallinger Hospital.

…

Employed at WTOP since last August, Miss Truitt moved to her 15th st. apartment a month ago.

3. Compromise on aesthetics to save lives

Sadly the Duke Ellington Bridge, like all bridges, was a prime location for suicides. The newspaper archives are full of tragic stories of depression and death. In one 10-day span in the 1980s, there were three deaths. Between 1978 and 1985, there were 40.

It was a horrible, growing trend that needed to be addressed. Unfortunately, for some, it meant compromising the aesthetic beauty of this grand triumph of engineering.

Construction on a fence began in 1985, but it was halted midway through completion due to loud protests by Ward 1 residents.

By December of that year, Mayor Marion Barry stepped in to announce that the fence would be completed to prevent any further suicides. Below is the article from the Washington Post, published on December 19th, 1985.

Mayor Marion Barry said yesterday that the city will finish construction of an eight-foot suicide barrier along the Calvert Street bridge that was halted after strong opposition from neighborhood groups and preservationists.

“Life is more important than esthetics,” Barry said.

In the last eight years, 37 persons have jumped off the bridge, known officially as the Duke Ellington Bridge. and a nearby span on Connecticut Avenue.

Opposition to the fence has come from City Council member Frank Smith (D-Ward 1), neighborhood groups and preservationists who have argued that such a barrier would be unsightly and would not stop those determined to jump from the Ellington bridge, the landmark arch over Rock Creek where most of the suicides have occurred.

James Morrison of the Kalorama Citizens Association said his group opposes Barry’s decision.

The mayor said that the fence would be erected on a trial basis and that its effectiveness would be reviewed in one year. A spokesman for the mayor said he believe the fence would be completed only along the Calvert Street bridge and not the Connecticut Avenue span.

aerial view of Duke Ellington Bridge in 1993 (Library of Congress)

The post Ghost Dog Fetches Three Stories About the Duke Ellington Bridge appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

Walter Spangenberg, captain in the Woodrow Wilson High School Cadet Corps at the school’s Regimental Ball during WWII – October 1943 (Shorpy)

This is a far more charming photo of Washington in 1943 than the mock execution being held on the grounds of Woodrow Wilson High School. More than likely, Spangenberg was in the background of that photo, running drills.

After a little Googling, I found Walter Spangenberg had his own biographical page. He learned to fly during his high school years at Wilson High School, heading up to Stevens Airport in Frederick County. After high school, he headed off to Annapolis to spend three years at the Naval Academy.

Walter earned his wings in 1950 and was part of a squadron in 1951 being deployed to the Korean War. He ended up having quite a long and prosperous career as a naval aviator, ultimately leaving for a post-military career in the aerospace industry. Finally, he retired to the Pacific Northwest, where he took part in the activities of the Whidbey Island Navy Flying Club and the Cascade Warbirds Squadron.

During World War II, Walter was a prominent photographic subject at Wilson High School for the Office of War Information. The Library of Congress has more than a few photos of him in their online archives. Check out a few of them below.

Frederick, Maryland. Walter Spangenberg, a student at Woodrow Wilson High School, watches a mechanic repairing a plane at the Stevens Airport (Library of Congress)

Walter Spangenberg, a student at Woodrow Wilson High School, with his nine year-old brother as he works on a model airplane at home (Library of Congress)

Walter Spangenberg acting as usher at a student assembly at Woodrow Wilson High School (Library of Congress)

Walter was a Washington boy, having been born in the District to parents Walter Sr. from New York and Hazel from South Dakota. The 1930 U.S. Census listed the family at 2820 27th St. NW, in a nice Woodley Park row house. Walter Sr. worked as a furniture salesman and the family owned their home, valued at $9,500 (the Census also noted that year that the household had a radio).

Spangenberg family in the 1930 U.S. Census

By the 1940 Census, the family had moved into a new home at 3228 McKinley St. NW, a house they owned and valued at $13,950. This was quite a substantial amount, given that Walter Sr.’s listed income was $1,000 annually as a traveling salesman. Interestingly enough, there is no mention of a little brother in the census, so I’m not sure if the caption in the above photo from the Library of Congress is correct.

Spangenberg family in the 1940 U.S. Census

Related articles

• If Walls Could Talk: Chateau Bonaparte on K Street (ghostsofdc.org)
• Children and a Mock Execution (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar (ghostsofdc.org)
• Three Random Stories About Farragut Square (ghostsofdc.org)

The post Walter Spangenberg of Woodrow Wilson High School Cadet Corps appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

We are a great nation and Americans in the 1880s were proud of their rapidly growing and dominant country. But how can you truly be a great nation without a national zoo to show off all the wonderful creatures that roam your lands, as well as those of foreign lands? Not only that, how will you help preserve the species that were being decimated by the rapid westward expansion and industrial progress?

A group of school children viewing the first bison at the National Zoological Park in 1899. Photograph by Frances Benjamin Johnston (Smithsonian)

The Boston Globe had an article on August 24th, 1888 with a compelling argument supporting the drive for a national zoo. Senator James Beck of Kentucky was sponsoring a bill pushing for this.

This is the only great nation in the world that does not possess such an institution, and of all the nations this is the one that needs it most. In no other country are the native wild animals becoming so rapidly extinct. Only a few years ago the great western plains were black with bison; now that huge animal is a curiosity even to the dwellers on the plains. A thousand other varieties and species are being exterminated with equal rapidity. If the children of the coming generations are to know anything of the kind of animals that once roamed over the United States, except from books, something like what Senator Beck’s bill contemplates must be done at once.

The price of land in Washington, already enormous, is rapidly rising, and for that reason, if no other, delay will be costly. At present land can be had for the purpose at a reasonable price, but every month adds to its value.

At a cost that would be trifling compared with the benefits to be derived, Congress might give the country the largest and most interesting collection of live animals in the world. The primary object of the proposed “Zoo” should be to preserve perfect specimens of American animals, but there is no reason why wild denizens of Asiatic jungles and South American forests should not have a department to themselves.

The “National Zoo” is a good object on which Democrats and Republicans can united for the credit of their common country. Congress ought to give it to us, and any person in private life can help secure the “Zoo” by writing to request his Congressman to vote for Senator Beck’s bill.

We know the ultimate result, but it’s interesting to see the press’ push for grassroots support via writing Congress — a practice that is continued today, multiplied by a factor of at least a thousand with electronic communication.

Two bison in a paddock in the South Yard behind the Smithsonian Institution Building. They were acquired in 1886 by the Department of Living Animals, which eventually became the National Zoological Park. This photograph, taken sometime between 1886 and 1889, predates the founding of the National Zoo (Smithsonian)

The National Zoo was established by an Act of Congress in 1889 and the following year it was subsumed by the Smithsonian. The article below is from May 30th, 1889, discussing the selection of a site for the new zoo.

The commission appointed by Congress for the establishment of a zoological park have decided upon the proposed location, the site selected lying along Rock Creek, just above Woodley Park. The boundary lines of the proposed park have not been finally fixed, but the general location is practically settled. Beginning at the northeast corner of the colored cemetery the line will probably run along the north side of the cemetery, taking in a narrow strip.

Crossing Rock Creek it will take in a portion of the southeast corner of Woodley Park, and will cross the Evans property so as to take between eighty-five and ninety acres of the lower portion of the property. It will probably be extended to the Klingle road at a point about 700 feet west of the Klingle bridge. Thence it will follow the Klingle road across the creek, two-thirds of the way from where it crosses the creek to Pierce’s Mill road. It will run along the south side of the creek through the Walbridge property taking a strip about four hundred feet wide, striking the quarry road on a direct line with the old quarry, and thence diagonally from the quarry across to the starting point at the corner of the cemetery.

The site selected includes between 150 and 160 acres, and comprises one of the most picturesque sections of the Rock Creek valley.

The property is owned principally by Doctor Holt, Pacificus Ord, N. H. Walbridge, and the Evans heirs. There are several parcels in the vicinity of the old abandoned quarry held by various owners. The appropriation to purchase the land does not become available until July 1. A survey has to be made and the work of examining will cause delay.

Senator Stanford has sent to the Smithsonian Institution a young antelope from California to add to the collection for the National Zoo. It was eleven days on the trip, and reached the park sadly banged up, but is recovering, and Captain Weeden, keeper, hopes to be able to save it. Heretofore it has been found impossible to keep antelopes in confinement for any length of time.

Another recent addition to the aviary is a trio of Mexican birds, chachalacas, a sort of pheasant, sent by Capt. Henry Romeyn, of the Fifth Infantry, stationed at Fort Ringgold, Texas. An ant eater from the same contributor, is expected shortly. Arrangements have been made for the reception of two cinnamon bears, donated by a hotel-keeper in Montana, whose generosity was aroused by reading of Buffalo Bill’s gift of three buffalo.

Model of National Zoological Park by Frederick Law Olmsted (National Park Service)

Several months later, another article mentions the final submission of the proposed land acquisition was give to President Cleveland. The article in the Washington Post was printed on November 21st, 1889.

After months of patient labor the commission which was appointed by Congress to select a site for a zoological garden have at length succeded [sic] in securing a site which is in every way desirable, and this morning will submit to the President an official map of the ground, together with a schedule of the prices which is to be paid for the same. The grounds extends on either side of Rock Creek, from the line of the Woodley Lane Bridge to Klingle Road, and embraces in all a little over 166 acres.

The property selected is owned by a number of persons, the principal owner being Miss A. E. J. Evans, from whom ninety-four acres i purchased. Any one who has driven out along the Rock Creek road will at once see the beauties of this section of the District as a sight for a zoological park. The ground is heavily wooded and comprises many picturesque spots. Rock Creek winds through its entire length.

It is understood that the price paid for the larger part of the ground averaged $1,000 per acre, but the commission are unwilling to make the price public until the President has seen and approved the report. Those persons from whom ground has been purchased are:

Former owners of the National Zoo's land (Washington Post)

Oh, by the way, Senator Stanford’s antelope didn’t survive … and there was a pleasant mention of it in the Post on June 19th, 1889.

The antelope recently sent by Senator Stanford as a contribution to the National Zoo is dead. For several days after its arrival here it gained rapidly in strength, and it was hoped that it could be kept alive until removed to more commodious quarters in the Rock Creek Park. A few mornings ago, however, some cur dogs from the neighborhood strayed into the grounds and so harassed the antelope that it dashed its brains out against the side of the enclosure in a vain effort to escape.

This is not the only instance where the Zoo has suffered from the dogs in the neighborhood. A Rocky Mountain goat, which had been tied to a tree on the lawn, was attacked recently by a big Newfoundlad [sic] dog, and in its efforts to escape ran to the end of its rope with such a force that one of its horns was pulled from its socket.

Ouch. That sounds horrible and gruesome. Watch out for the wild dogs loose in Woodley Park.

Alligators in their enclosure in the original Animal House, also known as the Carnivora House, which opened in 1892 and was the first permanent building at the National Zoological Park. The alligators are housed in the "temporary" wooden wing of the structure (Smithsonian)

son ranging at the National Zoological Park soon after completion of the first building, a house for bison and elk. In the background an elk in his yard is visible, c. 1890s (Smithsonian)

Related articles

• Cooling Off in Rock Creek (ghostsofdc.org)
• Woman Fatally Mauled at National Zoo (ghostsofdc.org)
• Reader’s Choice: Why is Syracuse University in Woodley Park? (ghostsofdc.org)
• Fall colors in Rock Creek Park (raoulpop.com)
• Washington’s Circumferential Highway: Fighting Over the Capital Beltway (ghostsofdc.org)
• Suite 870: the Haunted “Ghost Suite” at the Omni Shoreham Hotel (ghostsofdc.org)
• Then and Now: Boulder Bridge, Rock Creek Park . . . and Meet Lansing H. Beach (ghostsofdc.org)

The post Proposed Location for a Zoological Park Along Rock Creek appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

By now, everyone should know this is a blog about local history and stories lost to time. But our reader Suzanne commented on Facebook that we should post a local ghost story. So, I’m happy to oblige for another “Reader’s Choice.”

Omni Shoreham Hotel (Wikipedia)

There are a number of well-known ghost stories in D.C., many of them centered around the Capitol Building, the White House, or Lafayette Square. I wanted to do something a little less known to locals and tourists alike — and possibly a place where the latter would sleep during their visit.

This is a story Henry L. Doherty, a financial backer of the Shoreham Hotel and former resident of Suite 870.

Henry L. Doherty

Doherty was a wealthy capitalist who had invested in a minority ownership stake of the new Shoreham Hotel at the edge of Rock Creek Park. He was also the founder of Cities Service, a utilities and energy company that eventually became CITGO.

Shortly after the Shoreham Hotel opened, Doherty, his wife Grace and her daughter Helen Lee (Henry was the stepfather), took up residence in and eighth floor apartment. It was a glorious 4,000 square foot penthouse with views over Rock Creek Park and a clear line of sight to Arlington.

Also living with the Doherty family was Juliette Brown, their maid. Late one night, at approximately 4 a.m., Ms. Brown woke up feeling severely ill. She stumbled to the telephone to call for help. Abruptly, she collapsed and died.

Later that year, the Doherty’s hosted a dazzling social function at the Mayflower Hotel for their daughter’s debutante ball. On December 26th, 1930, over 1,000 people were in attendance and Mr. Doherty hired a special train dedicated to transporting guests from New York. The event was the talk of the town, though not all positive, given the opulence and timing during the Great Depression; the Washington Post reported the event costing upwards of $50,000.

In the vortex of the most stupendous holiday party of many a Washington season, Mrs. Henry L. Doherty, of New York, took time last night to do a bit of debunking on the subject of her debutante daughter, Helen Lee Eames Doherty.

To be mother of one whose debut had doubled and trebled in the making, assuming the proportions of a record-smashing event, apparently had been somewhat disconcerting to Mrs. Doherty, despite an ever-evident sense of humor.

She expressed surprise at the tremendous stir caused by Helen Lee’s night-after-Christmas ball in the Mayflwoer Hotel, at which she made her bow to society.

Mr. Doherty passed away in 1939 from failing health and Mrs. Doherty continued to maintain her residence in the Shoreham (she traveled quite a bit and had homes elsewhere).

As the story goes, Helen Lee died under mysterious circumstances — rumored to be suicide or drug overdose — in the same suite. By 1973, the apartment was vacant, filled with antique furniture, old paintings and some unwanted guests.

Hotel guests staying in neighboring rooms would often complain of loud noises and banging coming from Suite 870, though it was vacant. Housekeepers and hotel workers have witnessed furniture being moved, hotel carts rolling and lights flicking on and off. And the most chilling bit is that much of this activity happens around 4 a.m.

It seems like the spirit of Juliette Brown still roams the apartment.

Related articles

• Hawaiian ex-Queen Liliʻuokalani Comes to Washington (ghostsofdc.org)
• “I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost” (washingtonian.com)

The post Suite 870: the Haunted “Ghost Suite” at the Omni Shoreham Hotel appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

This is the first in a four-part series of posts covering the colorful homes on Cliffbourne Pl. NW, between Calvert St. and Biltmore St. You’ve seen these before, the green, yellow, red and blue homes, perfectly complementing each other. I imagine that I’m not the only one curious about the history of the four houses in this rainbow row of historic homes. So dive into the first home … the one at 2515 Cliffbourne Pl. NW.

The Green House: 2515 Cliffbourne Pl. NW

The Speech Reading Club of Washington

In April of 1927, the home was serving as the clubhouse for the Speech Reading Club of Washington. Miss Frances Harrod Downs was going to represent the club at the national speech reading tournament that July in Chautauqua, New York which was organized by the American Association of Organizations for the Hard of Hearing.

The club was founded in 1920 and incorporated in 1924. Below is an excerpt from the Washington Post about its mission and core values.

It’s objectives were to promote the study and development of the science and art of lip reading as a substitute for normal hearing, to create a center for the deaf and hard of hearing where social intercourse and opportunity for the practice of lip reading and mutual helpfulness may be encouraged and provided and be an active instrument of helpfulness to the deaf and hard of hearing.

They offered regular lip reading classes every Tuesday evening at 8 p.m., card game parties on Saturday nights and social gatherings on Monday evenings.

Queen of the Cherry Blossom Festival

16-year-old Doris Sheldon points to the Wheel of Fortune

The Washington Cherry Blossom Festival is always a big draw, and even more so back in the 1940s. By 1948, World War II had slowly started slipping into the past and that spring, 150,000 visitors were on hand for the crowning of the Cherry Blossom Queen at Hains Point.

Mrs. Louisa Sheldon of Wilmington Delaware was the proudest attendee, as she had brought her 16-year-old daughter, Doris Sheldon, to Washington for her coronation as the festival’s queen.

At the ceremony that April afternoon, Doris was being escorted by her uncle, Navy Chief Petty Officer Kenneth G. Hayden of the Washington Naval Gun Factory.

At the time, Hayden resided at 2515 Cliffbourne Pl. NW with his wife.

A modern-day rooming house

Boarding and rooming houses seem to have fallen out of favor in large American cities, but if you read this post, you might think that it would be a good idea to bring them back.

Back in 1987, the building was a rooming house with nine rooms for rent.

Below is an excerpt from an article in the Washington Post about the conflicts brewing over allowing rooming houses, inns and bed and breakfasts in residential neighborhoods.

Owners of rooming houses, who have the same certificates of occupancy as the inns, have their own reasons to be furious. Mary Godwin owns a nine-unit rooming house at 2515 Cliffbourne Place NW and for 15 years has had long-term tenants. Restricted by rent control measures, the rooms rent for about $240 per month. Godwin said she found it hard to believe that Kalorama Guest Houses and the Adams Inn seem to be growing, after city officials informed her that the anticonversion law prevents her from turning her building into an inn.

Filling in the gaps

Here are some shorter stories from our research.

A happy notice in the Washington Post on April 12th, 1936 mentions that a marriage license was granted to William Austin Calvin, 38 years old, of 2425 1st St. NW and Iranell Marian Jester, 27, of 2515 Cliffbourne Pl. NW and their marriage ceremony would be presided over by the Rev. Wiley Westray.

Back in 1948, a young man by the name of Robert Simms lived in the house. He had a photo in the newspaper around Christmas, while he was working at a Christmas tree lot at 1324 13th St. NW. Much like this winter, it was an unseasonably warm 60 degrees around the holidays.

In keeping with the abundance of traffic accidents in the District, here’s one I came across from August 18th, 1952.

Frank H. Glugston, 17, of 2515 Cliffbourne pl. nw., suffered a bloody nose when his automobile went out of control in the 3800 block of Porter st. nw. and caromed off three parked cars. His passenger, David Atkinson, 16, 0f 3801 Macomb st. nw., was also treated for a bloody nose at Emergency Hospital.

My guess is that the teenagers were horsing around while driving, Frank was distracted and slammed into some parked cars. Come on … they’re teenagers. Teens are horrible drivers.

Check back later today for the post on the yellow house. If you’d like to be notified, why not follow Ghosts of DC on Twitter or Facebook?

The "Rainbow Row" of homes on Cliffbourne Pl. NW

Related articles

• If Walls Could Talk: The Looking Glass Lounge – 3634 Georgia Ave. NW (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: The Seaton at 150 Rhode Island Ave. NW (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: The Yellow House at 2513 Cliffbourne Pl. NW – Part 2 (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: The Blue House at 2509 Cliffbourne Pl. NW – Part 4 (ghostsofdc.org)
• If Walls Could Talk: The Red House at 2511 Cliffbourne Pl. NW – Part 3 (ghostsofdc.org)
• Stories from 1036 Park Rd. NW . . . Before Red Rocks Pizzeria (ghostsofdc.org)

The post If Walls Could Talk: The Green House at 2515 Cliffbourne Pl. NW – Part 1 appeared first on Ghosts of DC.

A curious Ghosts of D.C. reader posted on Facebook that she wanted to know why Syracuse has a house in Woodley Park. I too am curious each time I walk by the Greenberg House at 2301 Calvert St. NW. So I’m going to find out, as well as learn about the house’s history.

This will be our first official “Reader’s Choice” and another “If Walls Could Talk.” It better be good.

Greenberg House, photo by Karen Ruckman

The university has a program in Washington called “Syracuse University in the Capital” and their school website gives some basic information on it. By the way, the Greenberg House is also on Twitter and Facebook, so check those out (after your read the full post of course).

Home to over 16,000 alumni, Washington, D.C. is known for many things: the point of origin for the nation’s public policy, the home base for some of the most powerful men and women in the country, and a magnet for world attention. Located in the Woodley Park neighborhood of Washington, Syracuse has a presence in the nation’s capital. The four-story facility was named with a gift from Paul Greenberg ’65 and has been supported by gifts from alumni and friends.

The Syracuse University Paul Greenberg House serves a number of vital academic, alumni and recruitment purposes that opens doors to a variety of opportunities for students, faculty and alumni.

I like how the first sentence says we are a “magnet for world attention.” Flattery will get you everywhere @SUinDC. Even for a university with 20,000 students, that seems like a large number of alumni in the city. I’m guessing that D.C. is the second most popular destination for graduates after New York City. That number is large enough for them to have an alumni club website.

Syracuse University Seal

Actually, I think the number should be corrected to 15,999 after the very unsuccessful tenure of Donovan McNabb, former Redskins quarterback and Syracuse alum (why do we insist on getting crappy old — or just lousy — quarterbacks to helm the team?).

Another thing I learned today … 35 study abroad students from Syracuse University were onboard Pan Am Flight 103 when a bomb brought it down over Lockerbie, Scotland. That is so sad. My uncle was a pilot for Pan Am and flew that route regularly. I vividly remember that day in 1988.

Sorry, I’m getting a little sidetracked. Let’s get back to the house’s history and see what I can dig up on the former residents.

The real estate mogul and an aspiring aviator in The Great War

Everything I read points to the house being built in 1913 and the resident at that time was Turner A. Wickersham (1853 – 1915) and his family. Turner was a successful real estate mogul in Washington in the early 1900s. The Wickersham’s were originally from Indiana and were very influential in the D.C. Christian Science community. Prior to taking up residence in Woodley Park, they lived at 1101 15th St. NW — in a building that no longer exists.

1910 U.S. Census of the Wickersham household

Mr. Wickersham was quite well off because in 1913 he filed for a permit to install an elevator in his home at a cost of $2,050. And by well off, I mean rich, because elevators were not exactly common then and second, a typical home in Columbia Heights would cost about that much to built.

On February 4th, 1925, the Washington Post had an obituary for Elizabeth C. Wickersham (1862 – 1925). It stated that Turner predeceased Elizabeth and she lived at 2301 Calvert St. with their son Morgan and adopted daughter Jane G. Syme.

Morgan Wickersham is listed in the July 2nd, 1917 Washington Times as having been accepted to Cornell University, in return for volunteering for military services in The Great War.

Twenty-seven Washington young men, most of them collegians, have offered their services to the Government as members of them aerial corps, which will be sent to France as the “eyes” of General Pershing’s army.

The Washingtonians have passed preliminary examinations and have been assigned to ground schools at several colleges. Later they will be sent to flying schools for further training. If successful in the second examination they will be commissioned first lieutenants of the aviation section of the signal corps.

Where Sooners gathered in D.C.

Oklahoma!

Did you know that there is an Oklahoma State Society in D.C.? Well I certainly did not, but they apparently have a website. I do have one Oklahoman friend here that will find this interesting. During World War II, the Oklahoma State Society occupied 2301 Calvert St. NW and on January 16th, 1944, they held an open house with honored guest Sergeant Jim Lucas, Marine Corps combat correspondent. He dispatched the first eyewitness account of the landing at Tarawa in the Pacific and was formerly a reporter for the Tulsa newspaper.

The Society also rented the place out as there are many advertisements for events in the building, such as an alumni meeting in the spring 1944 when the New Jersey College for Women (subsumed by Rutgers University in 1955) held their school’s 25th anniversary celebration at the Oklahoma House.

A fraudulent university

In the 1940s Mount Vernon University of Washington was embroiled in a minor scandal covered by the papers. On October 17th, 1947, an article in the Post titles “FTC Charges School Here Sold Degrees” claimed that the university had been fraudulently awarding its degrees to students. The school had a presence in the Woodley Park building, but was based in Fort Worth, Texas. The building has four floors and two were used for academics, while one was used for dentistry and another as a sanatorium.

The FTC complaint termed the school’s educational standards “wholly insufficient to satisfy minimum requirements of any standards in the educational field.”

…

Other allegations, in substance, charged that degrees “were sold to students on the barest compliance with suggested courses and on wholly inadequate material and theses.” In many instances, “honorary” diplomas and degrees were “sold for cash,” usually for $50, the complaint stated.

Ouch, those are some harsh printed words and damning accusations … also, $50 for a degree? I hope nobody out there has a $50 degree from Mount Vernon University in Woodley Park, because it’s probably not worth the paper on which it’s printed.

A mid-century nursing home

Elza Heald

Both the Washington Post and the Washington Times have numerous obituaries of D.C. residents that passed while in the care of the Mount Vernon Nursing Home Service (weird that the name is the same as the university — I’m guessing there is an obvious connection).

During the 1950s, the building served as a nursing home for local aging residents like Elza Heald. Mr. Heald’s story in the March 1st, 1957 Post caught my attention.

This was a man born before Lincoln was president, headed west to take advantage of the Homestead Act, only to be forced back east due to untenable conditions on the prairies of Nebraska. He landed in Washington, took a position as a government bureaucrat and ended up living out his final days in Woodley Park at 2301 Calvert St. NW.

Elza Heald, 98, who homesteaded 160 acres near Gordon, Nebr., among the Sioux Indians in the 1880s, died Wednesday at the Mount Vernon Nursing Home Service, 2301 Calvert st. nw.

Mr. Heald was born in Bartlett, Ohio. After his marriage to the former Lenna Haines, of Zaneville, the young couple struggled for 10 years then gave up the homestead and moved to Blair, Nebr.

Mr. Heald often recalled that the Sioux, while they sometimes took tools or food, would always leave a buffalo robe or something of greater value than that taken.

He came to Washington in 1899 and held clerical positions with the War Department and the Treasury. He retired in 1929 from the office of the register of the Treasury.

Elza is a guy that probably had some incredible stories to tell from his days on the plains of Nebraska.

A tragic four-alarm fire

This was a shocking and detailed article to come across in the Washington Post from February 3rd, 1961:

The District Government was warned exactly three months ago that a doorway in the Mt. Vernon Nursing Home constituted a potential fire hazard.

A fire shot through the home Wednesday, trapping and killing seven aged patients on the top floor of the four-story brick building at 2301 Calvert st. nw. Seventeen others were injured, only one seriously.

The cause of the blaze, one of the worst in Washington history, remained a mystery late yesterday.

Wow, seven dead in one of the worst fires in D.C. history (don’t forget the Mt. Pleasant fire of 2008). That is some tragic history attached to that house and it’ll feel a little different the next time I walk by it.

Six victims of the 1961 fire

The home was operated by Normund Leas and was one of 11 nursing homes in the District that had a license to operate. Among the nine casualties of the fire included Ira S. Moss, 63, a former Pentagon civil engineer … and Normund’s father-in-law.

These seem to be the darkest days for the building as it ended up being boarded up for some time during the investigation and until at least 1965. Mr. Leas publicly stated that had no plans to reopen the nursing home after this tragedy.

A romantic dinner for two at The Talleyrand

The Talleyrand (1966)

By the 1960s, the university was gone, the nursing home was no longer serving Woodley Park and 2301 Calvert St. was a find dining room and lounge. An advertisement in the July 18th, 1966 Post said the “Talleyrand features the largest variety of continental seafare,” and also had live entertainment in the lounge (not to mention they accepted credit cards).

The establishment had fine dining, cocktails, dancing and live performances of jazz by groups like the Frank Hinton Trio, staying open until 1:30 a.m. (the guys from Swampoodle would party much later than that).

Here’s a review of the restaurant from may 16th, 1971

President Garfield’s town house has been converted into the Talleyrand. The service from maitre d’hotel to bus boy is a model. While not all-inclusive, the menu offers a range of seafood and meat dishes. The cuisine varies in quality. Lobster tails came off well. Steak diane in a thickened sauce was acceptable; it differed completely from the classical version. A beef ragout was made from good meat, but hardly memorable. A la carte average.

That is the opposite of a glowing review. The restaurant was billed as “just another dark, romantic club.” It also only received one smiley face out of four, so this was probably not the place you wanted to take a date to impress her.

Also, Garfield’s town house? How is that possible when he was assassinated in 1881 and the house was built in 1913? Maybe this is the same spot where the President’s home once sat? This one doesn’t make sense.

Indian Curry House (1976)

The building appears to have remained a restaurant through the decade and on into the 1970s. By then, the establishment was named the Indian Curry House (I’m sure you can guess the cuisine). It had a similar live entertainment schedule, just of a slightly different musical genre. The advertisements of the time also bill it as the former residence of James Garfield. If that’s the case, it was some time between 1863 and 1881 when he was a member of Congress from Ohio.

Rolling into the 1980s, there are notices in the newspapers highlighting art gallery openings in the building, so the restaurant days were over. It was billed as the “Calvert Collection,”  a four-story mansion filled with antiques, paintings and fine art, capable of holding up to 250 people for events. A private party could be arranged for between $800 and $1,500.

Syracuse University

Okay, let’s get back to the reason for this post … why is Syracuse University in Woodley Park?

In the late 1980s, Syracuse University pulled together a committee to find a location for the school’s new satellite facility in the District. After reviewing a number of properties, they settled on 2301 Calvert St. NW as the property they would acquire.

At the time it was being used as an art gallery and a space for private parties by an antiques dealer. The university purchased it in 1988 with the help of a $1 million donation (of the total required $2.5 million) from Paul Greenberg, a Syracuse University graduate from 1965 and founder of Greenberg Realty Co. in Bethesda, MD. The dedication ceremony was presided over by former U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) at which time, the building was formally given the name Greenberg House.

So there you have it. That was a really long post, but some interesting stories in there about the life of this house … although I still can’t figure out this James Garfield connection. I’ll leave that for another post. Hope you enjoyed this one.

UPDATE: Our friendly reader @SUinDC volunteered to scan some old photos of the building to share. Here they are.

Washington Star photo from 1963 of the fire

Ladies admiring themselves in the mirror - maybe early 70s from Talleyrand days

Same women being helped down the stairs by owner?

A night on the town at the Talleyrand

The post Reader’s Choice: Why is Syracuse University in Woodley Park? appeared first on Ghosts of DC.