Located on a quiet residential street, this 1914 Colonial Revival townhouse is typical of the finely detailed urban residential building constructed in the Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C. in the early twentieth century. Frances Perkins long and distinguished career as a social worker and New York State Industrial Commissioner took an important turn for American women, and for the country as a whole, when in 1932 she was appointed U.S. Secretary of Labor, the first woman ever to be included in a president's cabinet.
Perkins remained Secretary of Labor until 1945, one of only two original cabinet members to remain to the end of Franklin Roosevelt's presidency. During her long tenure, particularly in the pre-war New Deal years, she was the prime mover on several pieces of legislation that are among the Democratic Party’s most lasting achievements: the Social Security Act (Perkins chaired the drafting committee), and the Fair Labor Standards Act, which created a minimum wage and restricted child labor nationwide.
National Historic Landmark: July 17, 1991
National Register: July 17, 1991
]]>This house at 1734 N Street, NW is located on a quiet residential street near Dupont Circle, an area developed by wealthy Washingtonians in the 1870s as they constructed opulent living spaces. Although most of the buildings are now used as offices, these elegant Victorian mansions originally operated as individual homes.
The house at 1734 N Street, NW was built by Rear Admiral William Radford in 1875 when he retired from the U.S. Navy. Founded in 1890, the Federation moved to this building in 1922, when it became involved in conservation projects and community programs. At either side of the building entrance were offices which housed the legislative, research and distribution headquarters of the organization. Behind the offices were the kitchens, the pantry, and the housekeeper's office. The second floor had a music room and conservatory which opened out into a formal garden. There was also a white-paneled dining room, a reception room with fireplace, a library, and a sixty-foot lounge. The upper floors were equipped with sixteen bedrooms, six baths and a large sitting room which was at the disposal of visiting GFWC members.
This main building has never been altered structurally, but it has been redecorated several times during the GFWC's occupancy.
National Register: December 4, 1991
National Historic Landmark: December 4, 1991
This site is included in the Women's Suffrage in Washington DC tour as the home to one of the largest women's organizations in the nation and a prominent space of women's political activism.
]]>The American Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton in 1881 and chartered by Congress in 1900. The building was built as a memorial to the women of the Civil War thanks to U.S. and private funds. It exemplifies the McMillan Plan's emphasis on development facing the Ellipse.
Built in 1915-1917 with designs of architects A. Breck Trowbridge and Goodhue Livingston, the Red Cross headquarters features Classical Revival facades of white marble with front and side porticoes, Corinthian columns, a balustraded attic, a hipped roof, and tall chimneys. The interior includes a monumental stair hall, assembly hall with Tiffany stained glass, and a museum.
The complementary north building was built 1928‑1929; the west building was built in 1931.
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: October 15, 1966
National Historic Landmark: June 23, 1965
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