These three buildings on Howard University’s Main Yard are nationally significant as the setting for the institution’s role in the legal establishment of racially desegregated public education, and for its association with two nationally recognized leaders of that fight—Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall—as well as many others. Through Houston’s vision, beginning in 1929, Howard Law School became an educational training ground for activist lawyers dedicated to securing the civil rights of all people of color. In 1936, the nation’s first legal course in Civil Rights was established there. Howard University also provided critical support to Marshall and the Legal Defense Fund and Educational Fund of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as they developed the legal strategy that culminated in the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education, thus ending segregation in public education.

Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel: Completed in 1894, the chapel was dedicated to the brother of Jeremiah C. Rankin, president of the university from 1890-1903. Eclectic and asymmetrical in design, it is set picturesquely into the hillside. It continues to be used for religious activities and as an auditorium.

Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall: Completed in 1935, this Neoclassical building was also built under the direction of Albert Cassell. It housed classrooms and offices for the Departments of Education, History, and Psychology, as well as the Deans of the College of Liberal Arts and the Graduate School.

Founders Library: Completed in 1939, Founders Library was designed in the Colonial Revival style by architects Cassell and Willinston. One of Albert I. Cassell’s primary design architects, Louis E. Fry, Sr., who had a significant hand in the design of the library, once commented on its resemblance to Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, stating “since the Library was dedicated to liberty, there was no more appropriate design for Howard University’s major building to emulate.”

Carnegie Building: Designed by Henry Whitfield and completed in 1910, this building housed the principal library and School of Religion until 1945. Although not fully documented with respect to National Historic Landmark (NHL) criteria, the building is included as a property that contributes to the setting of the site.

The Yard: Howard University's upper quadrangle provides the setting for the above buildings and five other academic buildings. The Yard became the university’s symbolic heart as the campus evolved, and it remains the center of campus life. The design is by landscape architect David A. Willinston. 

National Register: January 3, 2001

National Historic Landmark: January 3, 2001

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The General Oliver Otis Howard House (1830-1909), today known as Howard Hall, was one of four early campus buildings at Howard University and the only one to survive to the present. Built in 1867, it was the home of General Oliver Otis Howard, the university’s founder and third president. The house is a two-and-a-half story painted brick building with a mansard roof. A three-story tower projects from the southwest corner, rising to a low balustrade surrounding a mansard roof, which is crowned by iron cresting.  Howard University was founded in 1866 to admit students regardless of sex or color, but with a special commitment to the education of Black children. As such, this building symbolizes a dedication to making higher education accessible and available to all. It represents Howard’s history as a center of higher education and its exceptional role in preparing Black professionals in law, medicine, engineering, teaching, the ministry, and other fields. DC Inventory: July 24, 1973 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)

From 1881 to 1885, this was the home of Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893), who was a writer, journalist, educator, abolitionist, and lawyer. She is generally regarded as the first Black female journalist in North America and Canada’s first female journalist, acting as the co-editor of Canada’s first anti-slavery newspaper, the Provincial Freeman. In addition to co-editing the newspaper and contributing editorials, Shadd Cary also published several pamphlets and articles in Washington, DC newspapers. Her concern for the welfare of Black Americans also led to a long career in the teaching profession. She not only taught but also supervised and established a school in East Chester, New York. A gifted lecturer, she appeared before audiences throughout the country to speak on abolition and women’s suffrage throughout the nineteenth century. In October 1855, she attended the Philadelphia National Convention, the first Black female to be admitted as a “corresponding member,” and served as a Recruiting Officer for the Union Army during the Civil War. Today, Shadd Cary is recognized as one of the first Black female lawyers in the United States, earning her degree from Howard University in 1883 at the age of sixty years old. While she took on the law, Shadd Cary continued her interest in journalism by contributing to The New National Era and The Advocate newspapers. This landmark recognizes her distinguished life and her dedication to freedom, equality, and the advancement of Black people across the United States. DC Inventory: March 3, 1979

National Register: December 8, 1976

National Historic Landmark: December 8, 1976

Within Greater U Street Historic District

This site is included in the Women's Suffrage in Washington DC tour for Mary Ann Shadd Cary's role in establishing the Colored Women's Progressive Franchise Association, one of the first organized efforts on behalf of Black women to organize independently from white suffragists for the right to vote. 

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