Member-Only: Visit the Mary Church Terrell House
May 9 @ 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
The DC Preservation League invites its members to visit the newly-restored Mary Church Terrell House on Thursday, May 9th from 4:00-6:00pm. After 24 years on the DC Preservation League’s “Most Endangered Places” list, the Mary Church Terrell House has officially been saved and is ready for visitors.
All DCPL Members must register for a 20-minute time slot between 4:00pm and 6:00pm. Slots will be first come, first serve. Register for this event online and the link to sign up for a time slot will be included in your confimation email.
Originally constructed in 1894, the house was built as part of a duplex–hence its unusual, half-severed appearance. The twin half of the house was demolished following a devastating fire in the 1960s, rendering the Terrell house memorably asymmetrical. The building’s historical significance can be traced to one of its early residents, Mary Church Terrell, who is known for her work as a civil rights activist and educator in Washington, DC.
Numerous attempts to restore the house were made, however, true progress became possible in 2018 with the receipt of grant funding from the African American Civil Rights grant from the Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior. As a site of immense historical significance and as a contributing structure in the LeDroit Park Historic District, the restoration of the Mary Church Terrell House demonstrates a communal commitment to historic preservation and inspires hope for the future.
