The Slowe-Burrill House is a Queen Anne-style house in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Built in 1890, the home was occupied from 1922 to 1937 by

Lucy Slowe Lucy Diggs Slowe (July 4, 1885 – October 21, 1937) was an American educator and athlete, and the first Black woman to serve as Dean of Women at any American university. She was a founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the first sorority foun ...

and

Mary Burrill Mary P. Burrill (August 1881 – March 13, 1946) was an early 20th-century African-American female playwright of the Harlem Renaissance, who inspired Willis Richardson and other students to write plays. Burrill herself wrote plays about the ...

, notable African American educators who are thought by historians to have been a couple. The house was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 2020 for its significance to African American and LGBT history.

History

The house at 1256 Kearney Street NE was built for the original owner James T. Ward, an Irish immigrant, in 1890. It is a two-and-a-half-story structure in Queen Anne style.

and

, two African American educators, bought the house together in 1922 after Slowe was appointed Dean of Women at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

. At a time when lesbian relationships were extremely taboo, Slowe and Burrill kept their romantic relationship under wraps professionally, but their close friends treated them as a couple. They frequently used the property's spacious rear yard for social gatherings of African-American women intellectuals. Howard president

Mordecai W. Johnson Mordecai Wyatt Johnson (January 4, 1890 – September 10, 1976) was an American educator and pastor. He served as the first African-American president of Howard University, from 1926 until 1960. Johnson has been considered one of the three lead ...

at one point pressured Slowe to move onto campus, but she fought to remain in the house at 1256 Kearney. The pair lived there together for 15 years until Slowe's death in 1937, after which a mourning Burrill sold the house and moved into an apartment near Howard. The D.C. Preservation League sought preservation status for the house based on the historical significance of its former occupants. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 5, 2020.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Houses completed in 1890 Houses in Washington, D.C. Queen Anne architecture in Washington, D.C. Brookland (Washington, D.C.) African-American history of Washington, D.C. Lesbian culture in Washington, D.C. LGBT history in the United States LGBT African-American culture

History

See also

References