Barry Farm Dwellings

Historic Preservation Review Board, July 25, 2019

Barry Farm Dwellings, 1941

Barry Farm Dwellings, 2019

Barry Farm Dwellings
Historic Preservation Review Board, July 25, 2019

Barry Farm Dwellings, ca. 2018

Barry Farm, 1867

Barry Farm, 1887
Barry Farm, 1894
Barry Farm community

Frederick Douglass, ca. 1870

Solomon Brown, 1891

Barry Farm’s early residents

Dr. Georgiana R. Simpson

Birney Elementary School teachers, ca. 1910
Barry Farm’s early residents

Garnet Wilkinson, ca. 1950 (b. 1879) Thelma Dale Perkins, b. 1915
Establishment of Barry Farm Dwellings, 1941-1944

Sumner Road, looking toward Washington Monument, Dec. 1941

Barry Farm Dwellings, 1957
Stevens Road, 2019
Stevens Road, 2019

Wade Road, 2019

Public housing design principles

Buildings arranged to maximize:

- Natural light

- Cross-breezes/ventilation

- Privacy

- Communal outdoor space Stevens Road, looking toward Washington Monument

and U.S. Capitol Building, April 1944
National Register: Public Housing in the United States,
1936-1943

Buildings arranged to promote a

clean, orderly environment via:

- Symmetrical placement of
buildings

- Conformity of design and scale

- Overall appearance of
uniformity

Barry Farm Dwellings, April 1944

Public housing design principles: Superblocks

- No cross streets

- Common open space

(“unrationed” light
and air)

- Distinguishes the
complex from
surrounding
neighborhood
Barry Farm Dwellings street layout in 1867 and today
Barry Farm Dwellings, April 1944 and ca. 1950
Homes of Bolling v. Sharpe plaintiffs

Sarah Briscoe, 1232 Eaton Rd

As
Jennings sisters, 1139 Stevens Rd

Spottswood & Wanamaker Bolling, 1732 Stanton Terr

Homes of Bolling v. Sharpe plaintiffs

Sarah Briscoe, 1232 Eaton Rd

As
Jennings sisters, 1139 Stevens Rd

Spottswood & Wanamaker Bolling, 1732 Stanton Terr

Bolling v. Sharpe plaintiffs, 1954

Spottswood Bolling with his mother, Sarah Bolling

Barbara and Adrienne Jennings with their mother, Luberta Jennings

Bolling v. Sharpe, 1954

Attorneys George E.C. Hayes (left)

and James Nabrit (right)
represented Barry Farm plaintiffs.
Homes of Cogdell v. Sharpe plaintiffs

Wallace Morris, 1234 Eaton Rd

As

Lauretta Parker, 1149 Stevens Rd

Valerie Cogdell, 1259 Stevens Rd Felicia Brown, 2609 Pomeroy Rd

Homes of tenant organizers, 1960s

Rachel Lawrence,
Shirley Jones,
1220 Stevens Rd

As 1302 Stevens Rd

Barry Farm
Lillian Wright,
Recreation Center
1103 Stevens Rd

Mary Taylor,
Etta Horn, 1121 Stevens Rd
William Scott,
1123 Stevens Rd
Hattie Peterson, 1269 Stevens Rd
1227 Stevens Rd
Etta Horn, National Welfare
Rights Organization
Etta Horn, MLK, and the Poor People’s Campaign

“…the real issue is not violence or

nonviolence but poverty and
neglect.”

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., March 31, 1968,

National Cathedral, Washington DC
Etta Horn, MLK, and the Poor People’s Campaign
Etta Horn, MLK, and the Poor People’s Campaign
Rebels With a Cause

Stokely Carmichael at Barry Farm, 1966

Junkyard Band and
the rise of go-go, 1980s
National Register: Relevant Criteria

(A) Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad
patterns of our history.

1. Occupies a section of the historically significant community of Barry Farm, est.1867.

2. Was home to key organizers & plaintiffs in desegregation of DC public schools.

3. Was home to nationally-known tenant and welfare rights organizers.

DC Inventory of Historic Sites: Relevant Criteria

• Events: site of events that contributed significantly to the heritage, culture or development of
DC or the nation

• History: associated with historical periods, social movements, groups, institutions, or

patterns of growth and change that contributed significanty to the history of DC or the nation

• Individuals: associated with the lives of persons significant to the history of DC or the nation

• Architecture and Urbanism: embody the distinguishing characteristics of architectural

styles, building types…or are expressions of landscape architecture, engineering, urban
planning, siting, or design significant to the appearance and development of DC or the nation
National Register: Relevant Integrity Standards

• Location. Remains in original location, a flat section of the historic Barry Farm freedmen's village.
Geography (e.g. isolation) that helped foster community activism still defines the site.

• Design. Retains open space and intentional arrangement of buildings to maximize ventilation,
natural light, privacy from the surrounding neighborhood. Organized but varied layout with shared
lawns and courts still provides a sense of unity to the site. 1867 streetscape remains.

• Setting. Streets slope upward from the Anacostia River. Retains historic topography, views of
downtown DC (Washington Monument, Capitol), green space, walking paths, and relationship of
buildings to each other and to the site.

• Association. Nominated buildings are associated with specific, historically significant events and
people. Essential features remain. Aesthetic character conveys history of the site.
Barry Farm Dwellings, 1941

Barry Farm Dwellings, 2019