The Old Korean Legation, prominently located on the north side of Logan Circle, was initially a private residence designed by Thomas M. Plowman in the Second Empire style and constructed by Joseph Williams in 1877. Seth Ledyard Phelps, a veteran of the Civil War who also served as a DC Commissioner and Minister to Peru, resided here until 1885, when he passed away.
The United States and Korea established formal diplomatic relations that same decade, in 1882, with Korea sending its first permanent diplomatic envoy, Park Jeong-yang (Pak Chung Yang), to Washington five years later. Korea's presence in a growing, international city furthered its assertion of sovereign status, separate from China. After a short stint at a property that is no longer standing (located at 1513 O Street NW), the Korean Legation moved into the former Phelps Residence in 1889. Korea purchased the property two years later.
During its years of operation, the Korean Legation supported Korean students who enrolled at U.S. universities, including the George Washington University and Howard University in Washington. Additionally, a program for Korean students was established at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, where over 30 Korean students eventually attended, including Korean independence activist Kim Gyu-sik (Kimm Kiusic).
Other important individuals associated with the first diplomatic envoy in the 1880s and the Korean Legation between 1887 and 1905, include: Seo Gwang-beom, who, amongst many other accomplishments, helped document Korean music through wax cylinder recordings that can now be found at the Library of Congress; Seo Jae-Pil (Philip Jaisohn), who was the first Korean immigrant to gain American citizenship and the first Korean immigrant to obtain a medical degree from a U.S. university, and who also organized the first overseas Korean independence movement; and Syngman Rhee, who was also involved in the overseas independence movement and became the Republic of Korea's first president in 1948.
At the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), Korea's sovereignty from China was recognized. However, Korea soon found itself in the middle of Russian and Japanese conflict, which culminated in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). Following Japan's victory, a treaty was forced on Korea in 1905, resulting in the closure of the Korean Legation that same year. By 1910, Japan had annexed Korea. That year, a Japanese minister sold the former legation building to a private American citizen. Over the following years, the closed legation inspired independence activists and the wider Korean diaspora.
After serving as a private residence, the building housed the Local 639 (Teamsters Union) headquarters and then served as an office for the National Council of Negro Women. Between 1977 and 2012, it was, once again, a private residence, at which time the Republic of Korea purchased the former legation – 107 years after its closure. From 2015 to 2018, Korea's Cultural Heritage Administration restored the property to its 1889 to 1905 appearance. It is now open as the Old Korean Legation Museum.
The three-story Old Korean Legation, clad in red brick masonry, is located on Logan Circle behind a short iron and steel fence. The primary facade, facing 13th Street NW, includes two projecting bays and a central tower with a pair of oval windows in its steep mansard roof. The tower is the location of the main entrance – a pair of wood and glass paneled doors located at the top of a staircase, just behind the porte-cochère. The south elevation along Logan Circle has a semi-circular projecing bay (and chimney) and double-story porch that is enclosed on the first floor and open on the second. Just north of the building's projecting bay is a small garden, recently completed. Its most prominent feature is a bullomon (a carved stone gate), which symbolizes Korean-American relations.
The building, in line with its Second Empire styling, has window hoods, decorative brackets supporting the cornice, and a mansard roof clad with slate and topped with cast-iron cresting. Both the exterior and interior exhibit details from the era's Eastlake Movement.
The building's metal and granite porte-cochère, accessed by a semicircular driveway from 13th Street, was added by the Korean government in 1891. Due to a street widening, it was demolished in 1950. During the 2015 to 2018 restoration, it was reconstructed – thanks in-part to guidance from an 1893 photograph. The porte-cochère pediment includes a symbol from the Korean flag (Taegeukgi).
DC Inventory: July 25, 2024
National Register: September 9, 2024
Within Logan Circle Historic District and Greater Fourteenth Street Historic District
This site is a part of the Finding Asian American History in Washington DC digital tour.
]]>This row house is notable for its significance as the headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and as the DC residence of Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955), educator and civil rights leader. The row house transitioned from a single-family home for the upper-middle class in the late-nineteenth century to a boarding house and shop in the early twentieth century. The house was the headquarters of the NCNW from the 1940s to the 1960s. Comprised of fifteen rooms, one kitchen, and two bathrooms, the Council House served as the headquarters for NCNW, Mary McLeod Bethune’s residence until 1949, and guest accommodations for out-of-town visitors.
In January 1966, a fire damaged the Council House. While the building’s core remained intact, extensive water and smoke damage forced the NCNW to relocate. For nearly eleven years, the house lay dormant. It was not until 1975, when the Council House was listed in the DC Inventory of Historic Sites, that the NCNW successfully raised funds needed to renovate and restore both the main and carriage houses. In the fall of 1977, the Bethune Historical Development Project began, and in November 1979, the home reopened to the public as a museum and archives for the collection, preservation, and interpretation of Black women’s history. Today, the headquarters still function as a museum and archive, administered by the National Park Service. Each transition exemplifies the shifting nature of the Logan Circle area. During the past century, this neighborhood changed from an affluent, nearly all-white community to an enclave of the Black elite, and finally, to a racially diverse district. Bethune’s association with the house made it a center of activity in the 1940s as a meeting place for the NCNW and prominent figures, including Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Church Terrell.
DC Inventory: May 9, 1975
National Register: October 15, 1982
National Historic Site: December 11, 1991
Within Logan Circle and Greater Fourteenth Street Historic Districts
This site is included on the Women's Suffrage in Washington DC for its connection to the National Council of Negro Women and their efforts to make voting more accessible to Black women.
]]>Built between 1911 and 1912 on R Street NW between 14th and 15th streets, Wardman Row was constructed with the needs of potential middle-class residents in mind. Wardman Row is composed of seven four-story buildings: the Walton, Arden, Ripley, Dudley, Morton, Ashton, and Newlon. With the continued population growth of D.C., Wardman Row housed renters that needed to access downtown for work while also keeping to a modest budget. While not built in a luxurious style, the seven buildings were built with a solid construction and details that the developer Harry Wardman was known for.
As one of the most prolific builders during the early twentieth century, Harry Wardman developed a signature style and level of sophistication within all of his projects. While Wardman Row was built for middle-class residents, the attention to detail and design still gave the buildings a refined look that appealed to many. With the design elements, affordability, and access to downtown, these apartment buildings and many others provided favorable housing for many Washingtonians.
DC Inventory: December 21, 1983
National Register: July 27, 1984
Within Greater Fourteenth Street Historic District
This site is a stop on the D.C. Apartment Buildings tour as an example of a Stacked Flats apartment building.
]]>From 1907 until her death, this was the home and studio of Alma Thomas (1892‑1978), a nationally recognized artist whose career reached its height in the 1960s. Thomas is significant not only for her artistic contributions, but also for her dedication to educating and introducing both young and adult African Americans to the world of art during the time of segregation in the nation’s capital.
In 1924, Thomas graduated as the first art major at Howard University, and probably the first black female fine arts graduate in the nation. From 1925 to 1960, Thomas taught at Shaw Junior High School while continuing her painting and studies.
Her mostly abstract work is sometimes associated with the Washington Color School. She took inspiration from this house and the natural world she viewed from it—both the holly tree in this house's front yard and crape myrtle in the back garden figure in her painting.
Her work is included in the collections of the National Museum of American Art, Corcoran Gallery, Metropolitan Museum, Whitney Museum, and others. The two-story Italianate row house was built about 1875.
DC Inventory: November 13, 1985
National Register: July 28, 1987
]]>Built between 1876 and 1879, Saint Luke’s is a major work of Calvin T.S. Brent (1854-1899), the city’s first Black architect. It is designed in the early English Gothic style (Gothic Revival) and features a long nave with cast-iron columns, exposed roof framing, oak paneling, and stained glass. Yet, some say the edifice is a physical creation and embodiment of Reverend Alexander Crummell’s belief in the role the church historically played in the lives of Black Americans as an advocate for social change, education, and self-help.
Reverend Alexander Crummell (1819-1898) overcame obstacles of the color caste in the ministry and helped found Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church. He was also one of the foremost Black scholars of the nineteenth century, a pioneer in establishing an African American tradition of scholarship, a spokesman for Black liberation, and the founder of the American Negro Academy. Crummell’s work inspired future scholars throughout the twentieth century, as they carried on his legacy of understanding Black civil rights and the ongoing struggle for freedom.
Through these positions, Crummell laid a foundation for future intellects’ scholarship and organizing efforts, such as Carter G. Woodson’s formation of the ASNLH and Du Bois’s creation of the NAACP. Additionally, both Du Bois and Marcus Garvey followed Crummell’s belief in Pan Africanism. Crummell’s life exemplifies a tradition inherent in the development of Black history and culture in which his philosophies were carried further by those who came after him.
DC Inventory: March 3, 1979
National Register: May 11, 1976
National Historic Landmark: May 11, 1976
]]>This three-story Victorian era rowhouse, with its slate Second Empire style mansard roof, is designated as a National Historic Landmark in recognition of the service of Zalmon Richards (1811-1899), who devoted most of his life to furthering the development of public education. Known primarily as the founder and first president of the National Teachers' Association (today's National Education Association), Richards was also largely responsible for the 1867 congressional act that established a national educational office.
The end house in a row of identically designed brick rowhouses, the Richards House was built between 1872 and 1873. Richards occupied the house from 1882 until his death in 1899, and taught in one of its rooms.
DC Inventory: July 24, 1968 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: October 15, 1966
National Historic Landmark: December 21, 1965
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