Woodridge is a Ward 5 community located in the Northeast quadrant of the District of Columbia. Its borders are generally recognized as Bladensburg Road NE, 18th Street NE, Michigan Avenue NE, and Eastern Avenue NE, with Rhode Island serving as the central economic artery for the neighborhood.
Before it was fully developed into a suburban-style neighborhood, its name reflected the natural surroundings — which were populated mainly by forests and farms. Its rural nature and elevation over the central city led it to be the prime site of two forts (Fort Saratoga and Fort Thayer), built to protect the capital during the Civil War. Beginning in the 1890s, streetcars increasingly became a prevalent mode of transportation. This technological shift enabled District residents of means, who were often white, to move in droves to “suburban” neighborhoods like Woodridge. Woodridge was originally intended to be a racially and economically segregated community, decidedly removed from the increasing number of newly freed Black Americans that were migrating North in the decades following the Civil War.
In 1897, the Maryland and Washington Streetcar Service traveled from Florida and New York Avenues to Mt. Rainer, which is located beyond Woodridge’s Eastern Avenue boundary. In the 1920’s and 1930’s, Woodridge developed steadily, mostly along Rhode Island Ave, which was the main line of the "Route 82” streetcars" that traveled from Hyattsville to the Treasury Building. This route became the neighborhood’s center of commerce, and over time, it transformed from being surrounded by farmland to mostly single-family plots, reflecting a shift into a more suburban built environment. Since the 1930’s, Woodridge's community has mainly consisted of one-to-two-story single-family homes, and its residents have been a mix of working class and middle to upper-middle class families.
Before the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment, neighboring Prince George’s County and Woodridge consisted of plantations filled with enslaved African Americans. Primarily cultivating tobacco, the enslaved were the backbone of Maryland’s wealth, economy, political power, and infrastructure. Due to the nature of the Emancipation Proclamation, only the enslaved that resided within the Confederacy were freed. This allowed the multitude of plantation owners in Maryland to maintain their enslaved population, mainly due to the Capitol’s proximity to the Confederacy and a desire to not be surrounded by enemy forces. The Union also used slave labor to support their war efforts, both through contracting plantation owners for the enslaved, and by offering liberation to young Black men who joined the Union army in February of 1864. Maryland updated its state constitution to end slavery in November of 1864. The year between the Emancipation Proclamation and the abolition of slavery in Maryland was rife with apprehension and anticipation, as enslaved African Americans waited to see whether they would be freed. After Maryland’s abolition of slavery, many freshly freed African Americans were pushed out of the areas they lived in their entire lives due to violence, attempts at forcing indentured servitude by their former captors, political disenfranchisement, and discrimination in housing, education, employment, daily life, and public transportation. This forced exodus included Woodridge, where many African Americans were pushed further into the District in ethnic enclaves.
Woodridge was originally envisioned to be a racially exclusive enclave. In the twentieth century, middle-class Black families began to move into the neighborhood, which caused friction with its white residents. The Rhode Island Avenue Citizen’s Association, which operated as the mouthpiece of the white community in Woodridge, organized white citizens in the neighborhood and published anti-integration rhetoric in their monthly newsletter. Much of the resistance to integration was pursued under the guise of protecting the best interests of the community and keeping a “higher standard of living” in the area to keep out “undesirable” elements out of the neighborhood.
Once racially restrictive housing covenants were officially outlawed in 1948 by the Supreme Court in Shelley v. Kramer, African Americans moved into Woodridge throughout much of the 1950’s. This led to another wave of “white flight” — the movement of white residents moving out of areas that became populated with African Americans.
The Kraemer decision led to a significant increase in non-white families in the area, and with it brought the formation of the Woodridge Civic Association. As other civic associations in the city, its main goal was to promote integration of DC neighborhoods and to create pathways for equitable and opportune spaces for African Americans in the community. Another goal of the Woodridge Civic Association was to foster the education of Black youth, especially as Woodridge became the home of many young middle- and working-class families.
Due to its distance away from the Federal City, the development of Woodridge’s education was key in fostering strong community connections. Young families looking for more space and a slower pace were attracted to Woodridge. By 1900, there were four elementary schools serving Woodridge, with only one allowing non-white children. The oldest school, Hamilton School (1881), was located on Bladensburg Road — the original boundary of the District. Bunker Hill Road School (1883) educated non-white students after 1911, Langdon School (1897) was built on Queens Chapel Road, and the Brookland School (1891) was built on Munroe Street.
As the area grew, Woodridge Elementary was built to solve the overpopulation of the neighboring Langdon and Burroughs Schools.
Woodridge Elementary School
Since Woodridge originally began as a white neighborhood, one which discouraged realtors from selling to African Americans until the Shelley v. Kraemer decision, education within the area was mainly catered for white students, including Woodridge Elementary.
The construction of Woodridge Elementary began as part of a 5-year building program in the early 1920’s to meet the educational demands of the area. The school was officially opened to white students in 1927 with the full support of the community. In fact, the opening event was sponsored by the Rhode Island Citizen’s Association and the Woodridge Parent Teacher’s Association. There were many influential figures present, like MC Wilson — President of the Rhode Island Avenue Citizens Association, Illinois Representative Frank H. Funk — an ardent segregationist, and Frank W. Ballou — the Superintendent of Schools.
Despite Woodridge Elementary being the most modern school at the time of its opening, the lights in the building went out during the opening ceremony. In place of widespread panic, participants found flashlights and candles to continue the event, singing popular minstrel songs (“Swanee River,” “Sweet Alice,” “Ben Bolt,” “Old Black Joe”) to uplift the crowd. This event was seen as a point of tenacity and unity for the white community.
In 1954, the huge Supreme Court decision for Bolling v. Sharpe outlawed the explicit desegregation of public schools in the District and was clearly a factor in Woodridge Civic Associations’ successful campaign for a local desegregated school.
In 1954, Woodridge Elementary began to be considered as one of the schools to “grant” non-white civic associations to use the location after-hours for meetings and eventual integration, which was protested by some in the community. Twenty people representing larger citizens’, religious, racial, political, and civic organizations spoke in support.
Reactionary white flight affected Woodridge Elementary heavily, as the enrollment of white children drastically reduced. Though Black families did enroll their children in the school, few returned to Woodridge in adulthood — decreasing the self-populating nature of the community. This steady descent in population caused the Woodridge Elementary to be closed in 1997, alongside 12 other schools. Students enrolled in Woodridge Elementary at the time of its closing were moved to Langdon and Burroughs Schools, who originally needed Woodridge for their excess students.
It is important to note that many of the closed schools were cited as having “poor scores,” but the abysmal scores were not any different than the average scores in the District’s public school system. The schools shut down during this period were also mainly in communities of color, with Woodridge being predominantly Black at the time.
Despite it being closed as a public school, Woodridge Elementary eventually became Friendship Public Charter School: Woodridge Elementary in 1998. Friendship Public Charter School spans 16 campuses across Washington D.C., with Woodridge Elementary being one of its first two schools. This change meant that children from all areas of the city could enroll, and attendance was no longer restricted to residents in the neighborhood. The main difference to the school itself is the method of teaching: instead of having standardized curriculum governed by school districts, charters create an adaptive curriculum in accordance with agreements with the government standards. This permits more freedom in the mode in which the curriculum is delivered to students and what content is centered — allowing teachers to educate in methods that can work better for their students.
Evolution of the University of the District of Columbia Community College
The University of the District of Columbia Community College (UDC), a Historically Black College and the District’s first public college, holds humble beginnings: it started in 1851 as Miner Normal School for Colored Girls with a class of six students. The purpose of the Normal School was to give African American girls vocational training, geared specifically for teaching. It was the first of its kind in the District, but broadened pathways toward professional jobs for African Americans in DC. By 1863, the Senate granted both the permission and funds for the Normal School for Colored Girls to educate “colored” youths, creating generations of Black educators who exceled throughout the District.
In 1879, Miner Normal School became a part of public school system, as it was one of the first high schools made for Black women. Many of its alumni, from its inception to its later merger, taught at Black schools both in and outside the District.
In 1873, the Washington Normal School, later named the James Ormond Wilson Normal School, gave teaching training to white girls, eventually including boys later. In 1929, both the Miner and Wilson Schools were accredited as 4-year teacher’s colleges by Congress.
After Bolling v. Sharpe, Miner and Wilson Teacher’s Colleges merged, being relocated from near Howard University to a stretch of land near Fort Lincoln that held the National Training School for Boys. This merger created the District of Columbia Teachers College.
In 1976, the District of Columbia Teachers College merged with Federal City College and Washington Technical Institute to create the University of the District of Columbia Community College.
As a consequence of the District’s status as a territory and proximity to the nation's Capital in the early twentieth century, there was no official political representation for its residents. There was no mayor, city council, or political body to advocate for the needs and desires of the people to the federal government. To restore some agency, residents created Citizen’s Associations to lobby desires to the federal government. Though they serve the same purpose, Citizen’s Associations and Civic Associations are not the same: Citizen’s Associations were discriminatory and worked to enforce cultural, social, political, and economic segregation.
The Woodridge Civic Association was born from the need to actualize a unified political voice for communities of color in Woodridge, specifically African Americans, in 1953. Its intention was, and still is, to work for the betterment of the community. As more African Americans moved into Woodridge, the Rhode Island Avenue Citizen’s Association worked to exclude and disenfranchise Black residents within the community, mainly by restricting where the Civic Association could meet once it had been established. The Woodridge Civic Association first held meetings at the Slowe Elementary.
Membership was open to anyone 18 years or older who had an interest in property, businesses, employment opportunities, and housing within the Association's reach.
At its inception, the Civic Association aimed to obtain educational and recreational centers in Woodridge for the Black families denied these amenities. The Association also worked to block the building of liquor and reduction of public services in predominantly Black areas.
The Civic Association often published materials, like a yearly handbook, to envision and express goals and values within the community, alongside reporting on relevant news that related to their mission of meeting the needs of the community.
Oftentimes, published manuscripts included messages from the Association’s current president, advertisements for local businesses, and calls to action to improve the quality of life for Black residents.
Unlike the Rhode Island Avenue Citizen’s Association, the Woodridge Civic Association still meets to this day to advocate and support the community. These community meetings are held at the Woodridge Neighborhood Library.
The Woodridge Neighborhood Library, now a cornerstone of the community, is a building that underwent many stages of development and community lobbying to exist as it does today. In fact, before 1898, there was no official public library in the District! What started as a library in a house on 326 New York Ave. NW, became the Carnegie Central Library at Mt. Vernon Square in 1903. From there, branches of the DC Public Library cropped up throughout the District’s communities.
The first branch was built in 1911 and resided in Takoma Park, Maryland, around four miles away from Woodridge. This was just as far as the Carnegie Library for Woodridge residents, which made these institutions particularly inaccessible to the people of Woodridge. The Takoma branch was an easier trip, but still quite the distance from Woodridge.
As the community grew, requests for a larger, closer, and official library building became frequent. By 1929, a neighborhood subbranch library opened inside a rental store at 2206 Rhode Island Ave NE. Though its selection was particularly small, and it was only open two nights a week with two full-time staffers, the library was well-loved. The Citizen’s Association worked to increase from the original 1,700 volumes, circulating 176,758 from 1929 to 1932.
Five years after its creation, the community requested a full-time library, and 27 years after the first inception of the subbranch the Woodridge Neighborhood Library was built. Designed by Leon Chatelain, Jr. and built by Conrad N. Chaney, District Commissioners approved a $317,400 budget to construct the Woodridge library at 18th & Rhode Island Ave NE. Officially opened on January 16, 1958, the library could house 50,000 books and had 20,000 square feet of floor space. Dr. George F. Bowerman, the librarian at DC Central Library, led the charge in creating new library branches within the District, including the Woodridge Branch.
The library was remodeled from 2013-2016, opening on September 28, 2016 with the help of the Woodridge community. Friends of the Woodridge Library, a non-profit organization, encouraged teenagers within the community (specifically from Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School) to help with the construction.
Mills Station & the Statue of Freedom
The Statue of Freedom, which resides on top the dome of the Capitol Building, was cast at Mills Station — a foundry owned by sculptor Clark Mills — in Woodridge. This integral monument to the “Freedom” of America, one which is seen daily by all who come to visit the nation’s capital, relied on the work of the enslaved to come to fruition. Much like the Capital itself, this 19 ½ feet and 15,000 pound statue was completed through the knowledge and efforts of African Americans. Out of the many who worked at Mills Station, there is only one enslaved man directly credited in the development of the monument: Phillip Reed.
Phillip Reed (Reid before emancipation) was born into slavery around 1820 and purchased in 1842 Charleston, South Carolina by Mills because of his excellent skill as a craftsman. Reed moved with Mills to Washington, DC for the construction of the Statue of Freedom in 1860. From July 1, 1860, until May 16, 1861, Reed worked weekly for the fabrication of the statue. He was only directly paid $1.25 on Sundays, with the rest of his wages going to Mills, but due to his expertise, he was paid 25 cents higher than non-enslaved wageworkers. Reed could not read or write, but signed his payment slip with an “X” for a signature.
Reed was integral in the production of the Statue of Freedom: he kept the kilns going and solved a major logistical issue in the sculpture itself. The plaster model of the statue — created by Thomas Crawford in Rome and assembled by an Italian craftsman for display in the Capitol, was too fragile to be moved in one piece to Mills Station. It needed to be separated into its original five sections, but the Italian craftsman refused to do it without a higher pay. Reed determined that the plaster could be separated into its original five sections by using a pulley and tackle to reveal the seams. This allowed the workers to transport the plaster of the statue to be casted to Mills Station without damages.
Reed was emancipated in 1863, a year after the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, and worked as an established plasterer in Washington, DC.
