Emancipation Day, Howard University, Black Broadway and go-go.
Emancipation Day
On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the act that ended slavery in the District of Columbia, and 3,185 people were freed. April 16 is still celebrated in the city as Emancipation Day, an official holiday since 2005.
Howard University
Congress chartered Howard University on March 2, 1867, naming it for General Oliver Otis Howard. It is the only historically Black university with the top R1 research designation and produces more Black doctorate recipients than any other university. Its graduates include Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice, the Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Black Broadway
Until the 1920s the U Street corridor, near Howard, was home to the nation's largest urban African American community. The singer Pearl Bailey called it Black Broadway, and from the early 1900s to the early 1960s it was packed with theaters, clubs and Black-owned businesses. The Lincoln Theatre and the Howard Theatre were among its stages, and Duke Ellington grew up a few blocks away on 13th Street. The African American Civil War Memorial was dedicated there in 1991, and the corridor is one of the most significant African American heritage districts in the country.
Go-Go
African American musicians in Washington created go-go between the mid-1960s and the late 1970s. Chuck Brown is known as the Godfather of Go-Go, and in February 2020 the DC Council voted unanimously to make go-go the official music of the District.
Black Washington Today
On September 24, 2016 the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture opened on the National Mall, more than a decade after Congress established it in 2003. Across the city, Black-owned restaurants, salons, bookstores and brands are part of everyday Washington.
Shop Black-owned businesses in Washington DC on CashBlack.
Photo Credits
Founders Library at Howard University. Photo: Derek E. Morton, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons The Lincoln Theatre and Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street. Photo: APK PRAISE JEEBUS, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons