In 1876, John Wesley Powell, along with four other men, founded the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC, with the intention of forming a sophisticated, intellectual social club for the elite of the capital city. It was not until 1950 that the Cosmos Club purchased its current clubhouse, otherwise known as Townsend House. Townsend House itself was commissioned by Richard H. Townsend for himself and his wife in 1898, and construction on the house was completed in 1900. Upon its completion, Townsend House became a focal point for social life in Washington, DC until Richard’s untimely death in 1902. The house was then left to his wife and their daughter Mathilde. Upon Mrs. Townsend’s passing, Mathilde and her husband inherited the home. The two lived there until Mathilde’s death in 1949. After her passing, her husband sold the home to the Cosmos Club that same year.Before acquiring Townsend House, the Cosmos Club had occupied a number of other buildings in the years since its founding, but the Townsend House was set to be their permanent residence. Renovations were made to the house over the years to fulfill the club's needs, including expansions to the house in general. On April 3rd, 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Cosmos Club. Today, the renovated Townsend House building still serves as the active clubhouse for the Cosmos Club.

A view of the clubhouse in 2010 ((By AgnosticPreachersKid (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons))

Mid-20th century photos of the club and its study room

1915 photo of the entrance to the Townsend Home before it became the new and current home of the club. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

1921 photo of the club's first home, the Corcoran Building on the corner of 15th and F Streets, N.W. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Undated photo of club members. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

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The Cosmos Club is a private club located in Washington, DC. Founded in 1876, the Cosmos Club states that it is dedicated to the intellectual advancement of science, literature, and art among its active members. Through the years since it was established, the Cosmos Club has held numerous high-profile denizens of Washington, DC, and continues to do so today. The club’s current clubhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 3rd, 1973.

Cosmos Club

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This two-mile walk travels northwest monuments near DuPont Circle, and includes stops at several of the District's lesser-known but historically significant buildings, museums, and monuments. The tour begins at the Nuns of the Battlefield Memorial and includes stops at the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, the Phillips Collection, and the former home of President Woodrow Wilson.  

The Charles Sumner School was built on the site of a previous educational building that had been constructed in 1866. After the school’s dedication in 72’, it grew in stature as an African American institution for the District of Columbia. It stands as one of few physical markers that signify the African American history in the area. A large renovation project in the 1980s brought the structure back to working&nbsp;order thanks to the efforts of Richard L. Hurlbut and other supporters.

The Charles Sumner School provided education for many African Americans who had recently settled in the area with their families following the&nbsp;conclusion of the Civil War. The school was the center of Black education during many years of segregated education in the D.C. area. The school only began to decline after the integration of D.C. schools in the 1950s.

Now the Charles Sumner Museum and Archives, the building still stands where it has since 1872, and houses displays and information about the school’s development and operation. Within the museum are many displays with information about the school’s operation and the influence it had on the African Americans in D.C. The building also houses the District of Columbia Public School Archives and other associated reading rooms.

The Charles Sumner School was built in 1872 and was named in honor of Senator Charles Sumner, an influential political figure who fought for the abolition of slavery and who supported equal political and economic rights for former slaves. The school was one of the most significant educational facilities to be built for the area’s African American community during the era of Reconstruction. The school now holds the harles Sumner Museum and Archives which preserve and share the history of the school and the larger history of educational achievement for African Americans following the Civil War. The building also houses the District of Columbia Public School Archives.

Charles Sumner School and the Sumner Museum and Archives

Of the Civil War's 620,000 dead, roughly two-thirds came not from battlefield wounds, but illness and disease. Medicines and doctoral practices of the era were relatively undeveloped, and as the casualty count of America's bloodiest war began to climb ever higher, battlefield hospitals on both sides found themselves critically understaffed. Female volunteers soon began to fill the gaps, despite having served for the first&nbsp;time in an officially-recognized capacity only a decade before under the pioneering Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War in Europe.Of these, nuns were typically the only women with medical training, since many in the mid-19th century helped run hospitals. Transitioning into their newfound battlefield roles, they were praised for their hard work and were known to perform&nbsp;without complaint due to their extensive training and discipline. Indeed, the work of Catholic sisters belonging to a dozen orders was instrumental in reversing popular American opinion of the Catholic church, which prior to the war had been extremely negative (and often bound up in anti-immigration politics, which viewed predominately Catholic groups such as the Irish with suspicion). For several decades leading up to the conflict, Catholic nuns had often been forced to eschew their cloth habits in public for fear of being harassed or even attacked. By the end of the war, Catholic nuns were well-known for their kindness and medical professionalism in the face of horrific circumstances. One Union soldier wrote of a Catholic nurse:<blockquote>"Amid this sea of blood she performed the most revolting duties for these poor soldiers. She seemed like a ministering angel, and many a young soldier owes his life to her care and charity...She was reverenced by Blue and Gray, Protestant and Catholic alike...Her name became a household word in every section of the North and South."5</blockquote>Having heard the stories of the battlefield nuns for years, in 1914 Ellen Jolly (then the president of the women's branch of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish Catholic fraternity) proposed a monument to honor the work of these selfless females. Initially, the War Department turned down her proposal, citing a lack of written evidence to support the nuns' role during the war. Jolly spent the next decade compiling what would become one of the first substantial bodies of knowledge about female Catholic nurses on the battlefield.Finally, March 29, 1918, Congress approved the creation of the sculpture, but stipulated that it would not be government funded. Jolly was instrumental in raising the funding, leading a committee that raised $50,000. The monument was dedicated on September 20, 1924. The Nuns of the Battlefield memorial is formed out of a granite slab, sitting atop a granite base, and measures six feet by nine feet. On each end of the slab sits a bronze winged female figure. On one end, she holds a shield in her hand and a scroll in her lap, while the figure at the other end ears a long dress and a scarf around her head. On the face of the granite slab is a bronze bas relief panel, picturing twelve nuns. Both above and below the panel are inscriptions. The inscription above says:"THEY COMFORTED THE DYING, NURSED THE WOUNDED, CARRIED HOPE TOTHE IMPRISONED, GAVE IN HIS NAME A DRINK OF WATER TO THE THIRSTY."Below the panel, the inscription reads,"TO THE MEMORY AND IN HONOR OFTHE VARIOUS ORDERS OF SISTERS WHO GAVE THEIR SERVICES AS NURSES ON BATTLEFIELDS AND IN HOSPITALS DURING THE CIVIL WAR."On the back of the slab are the words,"ERECTED BY THE LADIES AUXILIARY TO THE ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS OF AMERICA. A.D. 1924BY AUTHORITY OF THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES."The bas relief panel itself is signed with the artist's name, "JEROME CONNOR," and the year, 1924. Although born in Ireland, Jerome Connor lived for a time in Massachusetts. He was the son of a stonemason, and while growing up he help jobs such as a stonecutter and bronze founder. He was trained in Blacksmithing, but eventually found sculpture, and was commissioned for several projects. After the completion of the Nuns of the Battlefield sculpture, he returned to Ireland, where he opened a studio in Dublin, but unfortunately never found a great deal of success.

Although women were never officially employed as nurses during the American Civil War, roughly 4,000 worked as volunteers on both sides--both Union and Confederate. Of this number, nearly one-fifth were Catholic nuns who took on the role of battlefield nurse. The Nuns of the Battlefield memorial in Washington D.C. was constructed in 1924 to honor the role of these women in caring for the wounded of America's bloodiest conflict at a time when medicine was often brutal, misinformed, and unsanitary. Conceived and executed by Irish sculptor Jerome Connor, the monument is significant for being only one of two in the area to honor women for their roles in battle. 

Nuns of the Battlefield Memorial

Dedicated in 1840, the parish of St. Matthew the Apostle became the fourth parish established in the District of Columbia. In 1982, pastor Monsignor Thomas Sim Lee purchased the land on which the current cathedral stands. Architect Christopher Grant LaFarge was charged with designing a new church that would serve the parish. In 1893, LaFarge's design was approved, and the first cornerstone was laid down and blessed later that year. The church opened for Mass in 1895, although construction continued until its 1913 dedication. In 1939, St. Matthew's was designated a Cathedral following the creation of the combined Archdiocese of Baltimore and Washington. Later, it became the Mother Church of the new archdiocese of Washington when it was established as its own, separate entity in an announcement made by Pope Pius XII. This cathedral is dedicated to the Apostle Matthew, the patron saint of civil servants. Architecturally, the structure is of the Romanesque Revival style, with Byzantine-inspired elements. It is constructed of red brick and sandstone, and features a terracotta trim. The shape of the church is that of a Latin cross measuring 155 feet × 136 feet. An octagonal dome caps the cathedral which, with the cupola and crucifix, reaches a total height of 200 feet. The interior of the church is decorated with marble and semiprecious stones, as well as an impressive, 35-foot mosaic of its patron saint, created by Edwin Blashfield. Additionally, the structure includes an 8-tomb crypt near the entry of the St. Francis Chapel, wherein former archbishops are interred. This cathedral is notable as the location for several historic funeral Masses, conducted for such notable individuals as television anchorman Frank Reynolds (1983), U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. (1997), and Chief Justice William Rehnquist (2005). In 1963, a Pontifical Requiem Low Mass for President John F. Kennedy was recited at this location during his state funeral service. The spot where Kennedy's casket was place is marked inside the church. The cathedral has also served as the site of other important Masses. For example, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass at St. Matthew's during a 1979 visit to D.C. One of the most famous Red Masses in the world is hosted at this Cathedral annually, with the Justices of the Supreme Court, members of Congress and the Cabinet, and dignitaries (sometimes including the President of the United States) in attendance. The Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

The Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, also commonly known as St. Matthew's Cathedral, is located in Downtown Washington, D.C. It is the seat of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. This church is notable as the site of several historic funeral Masses, including that of President John F. Kennedy. In 1974, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places at St. Matthew's Cathedral and Rectory.

Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle

Elliott Coues (September 9, 1842 – December 25, 1899), was an American army surgeon, historian, ornithologist, and author. Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Coues attended college at Columbian University (now George Washington University) in Washington, D.C. Following his graduation from medical school, Coues would go on to serve as a medical cadet and as an assistant surgeon in the army. From 1873 through 1876, Coues worked as a surgeon and naturalist for the United States Northern Boundary Commission. He was secretary and naturalist to the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories from 1876 to 1880. In 1881, Coues resigned from the army to devote himself to scientific study, though he continued to instruct students at the medical school of his former college until 1887. Coues is best known for his significant contributions to American ornithology and the study of North American birds. In addition to editing approximately 15 volumes of journals, memoirs, and diaries by Western explorers and fur traders, Cous helped to found the American Ornithologists Union in 1883. His Key to North American Birds (originally published in 1872), promoted the study of ornithology in America. Coues' work had a role in the establishment of trinomial nomenclature in the field. He also did invaluable research in mammalogy, and the Odocoileus Virginianus couesi (Coues white-tailed deer) is named after him. Despite his devotion to science, however, Coues was also fascinated by Spiritualism. He founded the Gnostic Theosophical Society of Washington and, in 1890, became the president of the Esoteric Theosophical Society of America. The Elliot Coues House in Dupont Circle was added to the National Register of Historic Places and listed as a National Historical Landmark in 1975, on the merits of its role as the residence of this notable ornithologist rather than for any architectural features. Coues lived in this townhouse from its construction in 1887 until his death in 1899.

The Elliott Coues House, located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., served as the home of the notable 19th Century ornithologist Elliott Coues from 1887 until his death in 1899. Coues is most remembered for his contribution to the knowledge base regarding North American bird life and classification. In addition to his numerous publications, Coues helped to found the American Ornithologists' Union in 1883. Though the house's architecture is not notable, Coues' former residence was added to the National Register of Historic Places and listed as a National Historical Landmark in 1975 because of its connection to the ornithologist.

Elliott Coues House

Salvatore “Sonny” Bono was born in Detroit to poor Sicilian immigrants on February 16, 1935. When he was seven years old, his family left Michigan and moved to southern California, settling near Los Angeles. As a teenager, Bono dropped out of high school and worked at a series of odd jobs while writing music and attempting to break into the music industry. In his twenties, he found employment as a singer and songwriter for Specialty Records, where he worked with Sam Cooke and Little Richard. Later, Bono worked for renowned record producer Phil Spector and sang backup for a number of music groups, including the Righteous Brothers.  The turning point in Bono’s entertainment career came in 1962 when he met the sixteen-year-old aspiring singer Cherilyn Sarkisian, who went by the name of Cher. Despite the twelve-year age difference and the fact that he was married, the two hit it off and soon after began writing and recording songs together. Bono divorced his first wife, Donna Rankin, that same year and married Cher in 1964. The following year, the husband-and-wife duo released “I Got You Babe,” which became a number-one pop hit. In 1967, they released “The Beat Goes On.” Four years later, The Sonny &amp; Cher Comedy Hour debuted on CBS. The popular variety show ran until 1974, when the couple separated. Their divorce became final the following year.  After his show with and marriage to Cher ended, Bono more or less stepped away from the entertainment business. In the 1980s, he entered the restaurant industry when he opened Bono’s, an Italian restaurant in Palm Springs, California. His experience as a restauranteur, in fact, motivated Bobo to become involved in politics, something that would define his later years. While attempting to install a new sign at his restaurant, he became angry and frustrated by the amount of red tape that he had to clear. In 1988, as a Republican, Bono successfully ran to become mayor of Palm Springs. Four years later, he made an unsuccessful bid at capturing the Republican nomination for one of California’s seats in the U.S. Senate. In 1994, Bono won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing California’s Forty-Fourth Congressional District. He was reelected in 1996.  Bono’s life was tragically cut short in 1998. On the afternoon of January 5, while on vacation with his family at the Heavenly Ski Resort in South Lake Tahoe, California, the congressman went off to ski on his own. After he failed to return several hours later, his family reported him missing. That evening, rescue crews discovered his body at the base of a forty-foot-tall pine tree. Investigators concluded that Bono, while attempting to ski through a wooded area, accidently crashed into the tree, sustaining massive head trauma as a result. He was sixty-two years old.  Shocked and saddened by the death of his close friend, Washington, D.C. developer Geary Simon decided to create a park in Bono’s honor. Utilizing the city’s Adopt-A-Park program, he adopted an 800-square-foot traffic triangle at the intersection of O Street, New Hampshire Avenue, and Twentieth Street. The small plot of land near Dupont Circle was overgrown with weeds, sprinkled with litter, and infested with rats. Over the course of several months, Simon spent almost $50,000 of his own money to renovate the space. He installed a sprinkler system, stone benches, lighting, Kentucky bluegrass, and a tree from Bono’s California congressional district. On the ground at the entrance to the pocket park, Simon placed a bronze circular dedicatory plaque, underneath which he buried a time capsule containing various items related to the entertainer-turned-politician. The park opened to visitors in 1998, the same year as Bono’s death.

This Washington, D.C. pocket park commemorates singer-songwriter and politician, Sonny Bono (1935-1998). In the 1960s and 1970s, he was part of the husband-and-wife pop duo, Sonny & Cher. Best remembered for their 1965 number-one hit “I Got You Babe,” the couple hosted a popular variety show on CBS from 1971 to 1974. After his show with and marriage to Cher ended, Bono more or less stepped away from the entertainment business, eventually turning to politics. In 1988, as a Republican, he successfully ran to become mayor of Palm Springs, California. Six years later, Bono won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing California’s Forty-Fourth Congressional District. He was reelected in 1996. Two years later, Bono died in a tragic skiing accident. Shocked and saddened by the death of his close friend, Washington, D.C. developer Geary Simon decided to create a park in Bono’s honor. Utilizing the city’s Adopt-A-Park program, he adopted an 800-square-foot traffic triangle at the intersection of O Street, New Hampshire Avenue, and Twentieth Street. The small plot of land near Dupont Circle was overgrown with weeds, sprinkled with litter, and infested with rats. Over the course of several months, Simon spent almost $50,000 of his own money to renovate the space. He installed a sprinkler system, stone benches, lighting, Kentucky bluegrass, and a tree from Bono’s congressional district. On the ground at the entrance to the pocket park, Simon placed a bronze circular dedicatory plaque, underneath which he buried a time capsule containing various items related to the entertainer-turned-politician. The park opened to visitors in 1998, the same year as Bono’s death.

Sonny Bono Memorial Park

Samuel Francis Du Pont was born on September 27, 1803 in Bergen Point (now Bayonne), New Jersey. The nephew of E.I. du Pont, founder of what would become the largest gunpowder factory in the country by mid-century, he attended Mount Airy Academy in Germantown, Pennsylvania before becoming a midshipman in the U.S. Navy at the age of twelve. In subsequent decades, Du Pont served on a number of different vessels that took him to the Caribbean, South America, and Europe. By the outbreak of the Mexican War, he had risen to the rank of commander. During the conflict, Du Pont commanded the sloop Cyane, helping to neutralize the Mexican naval threat in the Gulf of California, sinking or capturing thirty enemy vessels in the process. After the war, he helped modernize the U.S. Navy by exploring the potential of steam power, amending naval rules and regulations, and creating a curriculum based on engineering and mathematics at the United States Naval Academy. Du Pont also received a promotion to the rank of captain and briefly served as the academy’s superintendent. In 1860, he became commandant of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Du Pont helped devise Union naval strategy. He also received a promotion to the rank of flag officer and took command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. In November 1861, Du Pont led a successful joint operation that captured Port Royal Sound in South Carolina, providing the Union with its first major naval victory of the conflict. As a reward for his accomplishment, he received a promotion to the rank of rear admiral the following year. In April 1863, Du Pont commanded a fleet of nine ironclads in an assault on Charleston, South Carolina. Without support from ground forces, the federal ironclads, with their limited number of guns and slow rate of fire, did not stand much of a chance. Confederate guns disabled five of Du Pont’s vessels, one of which later sank. A few months after the engagement, the worst naval defeat of the war, Du Pont agreed to be relieved of command. For the remainder of the conflict, he served on various boards and commissions. Du Pont died in Philadelphia on June 23, 1865 at the age of sixty-one. His remains were buried in the family cemetery just outside of Wilmington, Delaware. In 1882, Congress commissioned a bronze statue of Du Pont and appropriated $20,500 for the project. Designed by sculptor Launt Thompson, it was dedicated at the center of the newly renamed Du Pont Circle (previously known as Pacific Circle) on December 20, 1884. Within a few decades, however, the pedestal began to settle unevenly, causing the statue to lean considerably to one side. In response, the Du Pont family, who were never fans of the statue, asked Congress to have it replaced. Congress agreed on one condition: that the Du Ponts foot the bill for the replacement. After acquiring authorization and accepting responsibility for funding, the family hired architect Henry Bacon and sculptor Daniel Chester French to design an ornamental fountain. At the time, the two were collaborating on the Lincoln Memorial. Dedicated on May 17, 1921, the white marble fountain consists of two concentric circular basins connected by a tall cylindrical pedestal adorned with high reliefs of three allegorical figures representing the sea, wind, and stars. The old bronze statue of Du Pont now resides in Rockford Park in Wilmington.

This fountain commemorates U.S. Navy rear admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont. The nephew of famous industrialist E.I. du Pont, he commanded the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. In November 1861, Du Pont led a successful joint operation that captured Port Royal Sound in South Carolina, providing the Union with its first major naval victory of the conflict. Two years later, however, his fleet of nine ironclads suffered the worst naval defeat of the war while attempting to take Charleston. Following the engagement, Du Pont agreed to be relieved of command. In 1882, Congress commissioned a bronze statue of Du Pont and appropriated $20,500 for the project. Designed by sculptor Launt Thompson, it was dedicated at the center of the newly renamed Du Pont Circle (previously known as Pacific Circle) on December 20, 1884. Within a few decades, however, the pedestal began to settle unevenly, causing the statue to lean considerably to one side. In response, the Du Pont family, who were never fans of the statue, asked Congress to have it replaced. Congress agreed on one condition: that the Du Ponts foot the bill for the replacement. After acquiring authorization and accepting responsibility for funding, the family hired architect Henry Bacon and sculptor Daniel Chester French to design an ornamental fountain. At the time, the two were collaborating on the Lincoln Memorial. Dedicated on May 17, 1921, the white marble fountain consists of two concentric circular basins connected by a tall cylindrical pedestal adorned with high reliefs of three allegorical figures representing the sea, wind, and stars. The old bronze statue of Du Pont now resides in Rockford Park in Wilmington, Delaware.

Dupont Circle Fountain

Streetcars in DC were first established in 1862, with the establishment of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad. Gradually over time, more and more companies were incorporated and more and more lines were built. In 1933, all streetcar companies came under one company, named Capital Transit. Under Capital Transit, operations of streetcars mostly shifted to commuting inside the city instead of the many rural and suburban lines of years past. One of the largest bottlenecks in the city was perpetually located at Dupont Circle, where Connecticut, Massachusets, and New Hampshire Avenues converged, streetcars were often stuck in traffic with cars, proving to be a large problem. As early as 1937, plans were advocated to make an underground bypass for streetcars. Plans were revived in 1941 and were finally approved in 1947. The first car to go through the new tunnel was PCC car No. 1550, which was a success, as trips through the circle on the 40/42 streetcar line were cut by several minutes. When streetcars stopped operating in January 1962, DC Transit attempted to fit buses through the tunnel, but the tunnels proved to be too small. The first pre-streetcar purpose of the underground station was as a designated fallout shelter where citizens might go if the Soviet Union attack the US with nuclear weapons. This function was abandoned in 1975, and for while, the station sat unused. In 1995, a food court was set up called Dupont Down Under, which also flopped due to dark conditions and poor ventilation. In 2016, the tunnels reopened with the new Dupont Underground art display.

Dupont Underground is a former underground streetcar station that has now been converted into an art installation. The tunnels and station were constructed over 2 years, opening in 1949. The tunnels operated for 11 years before being shut down due to the city-wide conversion from streetcars to buses. Since then, the venue has served multiple unsuccessful businesses, although it appears the most recent art installation appears to fare better than its predescors. 

Dupont Underground

<h3>Robert Patterson (1850-1910)</h3>Robert Patterson was born in Chicago, Illinois on November 30, 1850. As a young man he attended Williams College in Massachusetts and graduated in 1871. He returned to Chicago and studied law. Howevefr, after the Great Chicago Fire (October 8-10, 1871), which apparently left him broke, he turned his attention to journalism and got a job as a reporter at the Chicago Times. Two years later, he became an assistant night city editor for the Chicago Tribune, which was headed by Joseph Medill, Elinor's father and mayor of Chicago from 1871-1873. Over the course of his career at the Tribune, Robert received several promotions and eventually became editor and president in 1899 after Medill died. Robert died unexpectedly of apoplexy in a hotel in Philadelphia. He and Elinor also had a son, Joseph Medill Patterson (1879-1946), who founded the New York Daily News in 1919.<h3>Elinor "Nellie" Medill Paterson</h3>Information about Elinor's life is not readily available but, as Joseph Medill's daughter, was a prominent socialite and it was she who took the lead in building the Patterson Mansion. She bought the property in 1900 and hired Stanford White of the architecture firm McKim, Mead &amp; White, which was based in New York City, to design the house. As noted above, the house was built mainly to entertain guests. It gave Elinor the opportunity to showcase her stature among the elite social circles of the city. She maintained a full staff at the house until 1922 but as time passed she spent more time at her home in Chicago.<h3>Eleanor "Cissy" Patterson (1881-1948)</h3>Eleanor Cissy Patterson was born on November 7, 1881 in Chicago. As a young woman she attended a boarding school and then traveled with her uncle, Robert S. McCormick, to Europe after he was named ambassador to Austria-Hungary. There she met a noble named Count Joseph Gizycka and fell in love with him. They married in 1904 and had one daughter, named Felicia. They eventually divorced in 1917 and Cissy returned to Chicago in 1920. Five years later, her brother, Joseph Medill, who founded the New York Daily News in 1919, allowed her to write for the paper. Around this time she also started writing for newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. In 1925 she got married to New York lawyer Elmer Schlessinger, who died a few years later. After his death she changed her name to Eleanor Medill Patterson (her first name was originally spelled Elinor). In 1930, Hearst appointed her editor of one of his two Washington D.C. newspapers, the Washington Herald. Within a few years she became publisher and under her leadership, the paper's circulation doubled to 120,000 readers. In 1939, she acquired the Herald and Hearst's other newspaper, the Washington Times, and merged them to establish the Washington Times-Herald (by then Hearst had been in financial trouble and couldn't keep both papers). She and Joseph were both conservative and were staunch isolationists, opposing the U.S. entry into World War II. In 1942, she published an article written in the Chicago Tribune revealing that the U.S. military had cracked the Japanese code. The Roosevelt administration charged both papers for espionage but the case was eventually dropped. Cissy's personal life became difficult after the war. Joseph died suddenly in 1946 and she grew estranged from Felicia. Her health suffered from alcoholism and heart disease, and she grew suspicious of others even her servants whom she thought was spying on her. She died of an apparent heart attack on July 24, 1948. The Times-Herald continued to run for five years before it was sold to her cousin who then terminated it.Her will deeded the Patterson House to the American Red Cross, which sold it to a women's organization called the Washington Club in 1951. The club owned it until 2014 when it was sold to a developer that renovated it into an apartment building named the Ampeer Dupont Circle. It became Oakwood Suites &amp; Studios in 2020.

Elinor "Nellie" Medill Patterson, the wife of Chicago Tribune editor Robert Patterson, built this elegant mansion in 1903 as a second home for the family, although its primary purpose was to entertain guests. It is one of two mansions still standing on Dupont Circle (the other is the Wadsworth House) and is a fine example of Neoclassical architecture with Italianate decorative elements. The Patterson's daughter, Eleanor "Cissy" Patterson, became one of the first women in the country to run a major newspaper when she established the Washington-Times Herald in 1939. The Patterson Mansion is also notable for being briefly the home of President Coolidge and his wife, Grace, in 1927 when the White House was undergoing renovations. Another notable guest was aviator Charles Lindbergh, who stayed at the mansion for two nights in June of that year. Today the mansion is an apartment building and event venue called the Oakwood Suites &amp; Studios Dupont Circle.

Patterson Mansion

Architect George Cary constructed this house, which takes up an entire city block, around 1900 for Herbert Wadsworth (1851-1927) and his wife, Martha Elbert Blow Wadsworth (1864-1934). Wadsworth, a wealthy gentleman farmer, hailed from Geneseo, New York, and built the mansion primarily for entertaining. Charles A. Langley was the chief builder for the project. The house follows the shape of its triangular lot, and features curved faces on two corners. It rises three and a half stories from a cyma capped limestone base. The exterior is yellow Roman brick with cream-colored terra cotta trim. Broadly, the building's style is Beaux-Arts, incorporating aspects of French and English 17th and 18th-century architectural styles. Many details in the interior of the house remain intact. The eclecticism of the house reflects the mood of the period in which it was built. One of the city's first internal garages was the mansion's "automobile room." The American Red Cross briefly occupied the mansion as its headquarters, when Wadsworth transferred it to the organization in 1917. After Wadsworth's death in 1927, his widow Martha owned the building for five years. Miss Mabel Boardman purchased the building in 1932 for use as a private women's club. The original entrance was changed in this same year as part of a remodel designed by Frederick H. Brooke. The new entrance was also renovated in 1952. Boardman lived across the street from the mansion, and sought to found a private club to sponsor social, artistic, literary, and musical activities. Furthermore, she and her associates bought the Wadsworth house to prevent it "from falling into undesirable hands" (Ganschinietz 3). The Sulgrave Club took its name from the ancestral home of George Washington and the inspiration for its organization from the Colony Club in New York and Chilton Club in Boston.

The Sulgrave Club is a private women's social club, similar to New York's Colony Club. It is headquartered in a Beaux-Arts mansion designed by George Cary near Embassy Row in Washington, DC. It has also been known as the Wadsworth House. The National Register of Historic Places recognized the building in 1972.

Sulgrave Club

The German Historical Institue was founded in 1987 as an independent nonprofit organization. In 2002, they joined the Max Weber Foundation, which coordinates an international network of humanities institutes. The GHI also has a Pacific Office in Berkley, CA. The team at GHI performs advanced research and publishes many papers in top peer-reviewed journals. The GHI has a non-lending reference library that anyone in the general public may access, although it is temporarily closed due to COVID-19. The house that the GHI is currently located at was chosen as the headquarters for GHI in 1988. The building was built in 1911 for the Blairs, a wealthy DC family, designed by architect Jules Henri de Sibour.

The German Historical Institue, located near Dupont Circle, is an archive that is dedicated to promoting research in German/European and Jewish history, History of the Americas and transatlantic history, and global and transregional history. The institute is the largest institute for historical research in the US not affiliated with a university. The building it occupies, named the Second Blair House, was constructed in 1911. 

German Historical Institute

Sitting between New Hampshire avenue North West and Eighteenth Street North West off DuPont Circle in Washington D.C. there sits a beautiful historical building built by Perry Belmont and his wife. The building was completed in 1909 at the extravagant cost of $1.5 million. It was designed by Eugene Sanson, a famous French architect who had designed many grand homes and chateaus in Europe. Sanson was known for his use of lighting and space and for his magnificent staircases which is all seen in the Belmont mansion. The building was only used for about two months out of the year when owned by Perry Belmont for the Washington party season. The mansion was a site of elegance, gracious and grand hospitality, of distinguished diplomats, world-renowned guests and romance. The Belmont’s entertained often and had a staff of about 34 servants, whom had their own quarters in the basement of the mansion. They used the house from 1909 to 1925. It was then closed and put on the market for sale with the stipulation that it could not be altered for 20 years after the purchase. The building remained unused until about 1935 until the General Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. Perry Belmont, being a Freemason, was thrilled to sell the building to someone who would take care of it and use it well. He sold the building to the Eastern Star for only $100,000. As part of the agreement with Mr. Belmont, The General Grand Chapter law states that the Right Worthy Grand Secretary must live in the building, so the building is still a private residence as well as their Headquarters. One of the most interesting guests that was housed by Perry Belmont was Edward, Prince of Wales. Edward was supposed to visit the president but Woodrow Wilson was taken ill and the prince was not able to stay with them at the mansion. Without many other options the Secretary of State sent a telegram to Mr. Belmont asking to use his mansion. Without hesitation he agreed and for ten days he housed the future King Edward the VIII.

The Belmont mansion built in 1909 by famous French architect Eugene Sanson for Perry and Jessie Belmont, is now known as the International Headquarters for the Order of the Eastern Star. The Order of the Eastern Star (also known as OES) is a philanthropic international organization to give a part of their time to many projects that benefit mankind and that also holds its members to a very high standard much like the Freemasons. This mansion was previously used by the Belmonts to host parties and special events, and at one point in time hosted the Prince of Wales, until its closing in 1925. When it was purchased by the General Grand Chapter in 1935 it was purchased for 1.5% of the original construction price and is not used not only as the headquarters but as the home of the Right Worthy Grand Secretary and their family. 

The Belmont Mansion: International Headquarters for the Order of the Eastern Star

The museum commemorates Jewish-American soldiers in a variety of ways, including a brick pathway, a Tree of Honor, and the Hall of Heroes, which is a traveling exhibition. The Hall of Heroes pays homage to American Jewish recipients of the Medal of Honor. &nbsp;Continuing exhibitions include “Jewish War Veterans’ Protest March Against Nazi Germany- 75th Anniversary”, which tells the story of the American Jewish veterans call to boycott German goods during the early 1930s, and “A Mother’s Grief”, which shows the pain and suffering of mothers who lost children to war. Traveling exhibits include an exhibit on Jewish female military members, titled “Women in the Military: A Jewish Perspective” and “GIs Remember: Liberating the Concentration Camps.”The central exhibit is titled “Jews in the American Military” and centers on the following quote by Theodore Roosevelt: “Americanism is a question of spirit, conviction, and purpose, not of creed or birthright.” The exhibit uses this quote to break the displays down into five sections: Answering the Call, Spirit, Conviction, Purpose, and Leaving the Service. The exhibit includes the story of Jewish Americans who answered the call to serve during both world wars, as well as the lesser-known story of how Jews served in many other American wars, including The Civil War and the War of 1812. There is a particular focus on the unprecedented number of Jews who chose to serve in World War II in an effort to eradicate the anti-Semitism of Nazi Germany.The website includes resources for those wishing to educate themselves outside the museum. Included in these resources is the American Jewish Military Heritage Project, which is an extensive list of outside resources about Jews in military history and also war veterans in general.

The National Museum of American Jewish Military History was built to educate the public about the Jewish Americans who served in the US military and fought against anti-Semitism. The extensive collection of artifacts in this museum, spanning from 1654 to the present, helps tell the dynamic story of Jews in American military service, extending as far back as the Revolutionary War. While there is focus on fighting anti-Semitism in a variety of ways, including World War II, the museum also makes sure to acknowledge that Jews served in the US military because they believed doing so helped restore and maintain peace and freedom in the United States. 

The National Museum of American Jewish Military History

In 1890, New York merchant George S. Fraser commissioned the firm of Hornblower and Marshall to design and construct a lavish home for him and his wife in Washington, DC. Fraser only lived in the house for six years, though, as he died shortly after in 1896. His wife sold the home in 1901 Joseph Earston Thropp, a congressman of Pennsylvania. Thropp and his wife Miriam moved in and made a number of renovations to the home, and they lived there until Thropp died in 1927 and Miriam in 1930. The house was sold off soon after, and it became the Parrot Tea Room in 1932. The Parrot Tea Room stayed in business for several decades, and in 1950, it was sold off to John Goldstein. Goldstein remodeled the building, changing it into a restaurant called the Golden Parrot, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 19th, 1975. In the following decades, the building would undergo numerous changes in management, as well as changes in the content of the restaurant.

In 1981, a man by the name of Walter Sommer purchased the Fraser Mansion building, renovating it into two different restaurants. Sommer had plans to create an apartment complex behind the Mansion in 1987, but through a series of events and complications in the process of trying to make the apartment complex a reality, Sommer filed for bankruptcy in 1989, and in 1994, he sold the mansion to the Church of Scientology. The Church still owns the Fraser Mansion, and it currently serves as the National Affairs office for the Church of Scientology.

The Fraser Mansion is a historic building located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC. Built originally as a home in 1890, the Fraser Mansion has gone through a highly varied number of uses over the years, including being a boarding house, a restaurant, and home to portions of the Church of Scientology. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in August of 1975 as the Golden Parrot Restaurant. Today, Fraser Mansion is currently owned by the Church of Scientology, and it serves as their office of National Affairs.

Fraser Mansion

The Phillips Collection is housed&nbsp;at 1600 21st Street in Washington, D.C. and was established following the untimely death of Phillips' father, window glass magnate&nbsp;Duncan Clinch Phillips, in 1917. The Duncan Memorial Gallery began as a small collection of family paintings displayed above the north wing of the Phillips&nbsp;home. The collection expanded dramatically and by 1930, with an inventory of&nbsp;over 600 pieces, the Phillips family relocated to a&nbsp;different home and converted the entire property into an art gallery.&nbsp;&nbsp; The property has undergone a number of additions and renovations to accommodate the expanding collection. A modernist wing was added to the original structure in 1960 and was later renovated in 1989. The addition was named the "Goh Annex" in honor of&nbsp;Japanese businessman Yasuhiro Goh's contributions to the restoration project. A large-scale construction project was completed in 2006 that added an additional 30,000 square feet to the structure-- 65% of which was below ground. The new space is known as the Sant Building and includes expanded galleries, an auditorium, courtyard, and the Center for the Study of Modern Art.&nbsp;

The collection opened to the public in 1921 and is located in Washington’s Dupont Circle neighborhood. Paintings by Renoir and Rothko, Bonnard and O'Keeffe, van Gogh and Diebenkorn are among the many stunning impressionist and modern works that fill the museum. Its distinctive building combines extensive new galleries with the former home of its founder, Duncan Phillips. The collection continues to develop with selective new acquisitions, many by contemporary artists. The museum is part of the Massachusetts Avenue Historic District. 

The Phillips Collection

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (known also as Mahatma Gandhi) was born to a well-to-do family in the city of Porbandar in British India on October 2, 1869. At the age of eighteen, he went to England to pursue legal studies. After completing his law degree, Gandhi returned to his homeland in 1891 with the hope of putting his legal training to use. After years of struggling to find a job, he finally accepted a temporary position in South Africa in 1893. Gandhi’s time there proved to be an eye-opening and influential period in his life. While living in South Africa, the young Indian lawyer experienced firsthand the overt racism and discriminatory laws directed toward non-whites. On one occasion, which he later referred to as a watershed in his life, Gandhi was kicked off a train after refusing to leave a first-class, whites-only passenger car and move to another compartment. While spending the night in the freezing cold waiting room of the train station at Pietermaritzburg, he decided to devote himself to fighting injustice. In the following years, Gandhi moved to organize the minority Indian community in South Africa. It was during this time that he also developed his philosophy of nonviolent civil disobedience. Gandhi’s social activism kept him in South Africa until 1914, when he returned to India. From 1919 to 1948, Gandhi peacefully protested the injustices suffered by Indians under the British Raj. After British authorities issued laws that allowed for Indians suspected of sedition to be jailed without trial, he called for a national day of fasting and a work stoppage. In 1930, Gandhi led a 200-mile march to the coast, where he and others made salt from seawater in defiance of a British law that forbade Indians from manufacturing salt. Taxes on salt helped to fund the British colonial government. Gandhi’s actions inspired tens of thousands of Indians to do the same in protest. In the 1940s, he went on a hunger strike to protest the treatment of India’s “untouchables.” This led to a 1947 resolution that made it illegal to discriminate against that particular caste of persons. During this period, most significantly, Gandhi called for an end to British rule in India, becoming the leader of the Indian independence movement. He also worked assiduously to promote peace and understanding between Hindus and Muslims. Indian independence from Great Britain finally came in 1947, but religious strife between Hindus and Muslims continued. The following year, on January 30, while on his way to a prayer meeting in New Delhi, Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu extremist angered by Gandhi’s cooperation with, and tolerance for, Muslims.  In 1997, India marked the fiftieth anniversary of its gaining independence from Great Britain. On the heels of the celebration, the Indian embassy and Indian-Americans living across the United States lobbied to have a memorial to Gandhi erected on federal land in Washington, D.C. Their efforts paid off in October 1998 when Congress passed the necessary legislation. Soon after, President Clinton signed the bill into law. Dedicated in September 2000 on a triangular traffic island across from the Indian embassy, the memorial consists of a larger-than-life-sized bronze statue of Gandhi on a roughly-hewn pedestal of Indian ruby red granite. Designed by Indian sculptor Gautam Pal, the nearly nine-foot-tall statue depicts leader of the Indian independence movement walking with a staff. A gift to the United States from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the memorial sits on a small circular plaza within the traffic island. Paved with grey granite, the plaza features a five-foot-long bench and three informational panels, all made of Indian ruby red granite. In attendance at the memorial’s unveiling ceremony was President Clinton and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who at the time was on a state visit to the United States.

This memorial commemorates lawyer, social activist, and leader of the Indian independence movement, Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948). A practitioner of nonviolent civil disobedience, he protested the injustices suffered by Indians under the British Raj during the early twentieth century. At the time, Gandhi also worked assiduously to promote peace and understanding between Hindus and Muslims in India. While on his way to a prayer meeting in New Delhi in 1948, he was assassinated by a Hindu extremist. In 1997, India marked the fiftieth anniversary of its gaining independence from Great Britain. On the heels of the celebration, the Indian embassy and Indian-Americans living across the United States lobbied to have a memorial to Gandhi erected on federal land in Washington, D.C. Their efforts paid off in October 1998 when Congress passed the necessary legislation. Soon after, President Clinton signed the bill into law. Dedicated in September 2000 on a triangular traffic island across from the Indian embassy, the memorial consists of a larger-than-life-sized bronze statue of Gandhi on a roughly-hewn pedestal of Indian ruby red granite. Designed by Indian sculptor Gautam Pal, the nearly nine-foot-tall statue depicts leader of the Indian independence movement walking with a staff. A gift to the United States from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the memorial sits on a small circular plaza within the traffic island. Paved with grey granite, the plaza features a five-foot-long bench and three informational panels, all made of Indian ruby red granite. In attendance at the memorial’s unveiling ceremony was President Clinton and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who at the time was on a state visit to the United States.

Mahatma Gandhi Memorial

The Anderson House is
situated among the largest concentration of embassies in Washington, D.C. In
the early twentieth century, this elegant Beaux Arts mansion was constructed as
part of a larger, growing neighborhood of wealthy and politically active locals
and dignitaries from around the world. It is suitable that the well-traveled and politically active&nbsp;Larz and Isabel
Anderson, along with the Society of the Cincinnati, would call this place home.Larz and Isabel Anderson were both descended from old
American wealth and military officers, tracing their lineages to the colonies.
Larz Anderson was born in 1866 to the high-class Anderson family of Cincinnati,
Ohio. His family provided Anderson with extensive opportunities to better
himself through education. After studying at Phillips Exeter Academy and
Harvard College, he embarked on a grand tour of the world for a year and a
half. Upon his return, Anderson briefly attended Harvard Law School until
offered diplomat position in London, which his father and minister to Britain,
Robert Todd Lincoln, encouraged him to pursue. In 1894, Anderson was sent to
Rome for diplomatic work, where in 1896 he met his soon to be wife, Isabel Weld
Perkins, who was traveling Europe for a year. At the time, she was considered
the richest woman the United States, with an inheritance of $17 million. In
1897, Larz and Isabel were wed. As they were both inheritors of large fortunes,
they toured the world together. They returned to the United States when Larz volunteered
to serve in the Spanish-American War in 1898, following in the footsteps of his
family’s military history dating back to the American Revolution.In the early 1900s, the Andersons commissioned the
architect firm Little and Browne of Boston to design their mansion in
Washington, D.C. Construction on the home was completed in 1905 and the
Andersons began entertaining guests in their sizable abode. The mansion, which cost
$750,000, included fifty rooms with luxurious interior details such as wood
detailing, gilded papier-mâché ceilings, iron staircases, marble floors,
central heat, elevators, and telephones. The grounds included a tennis court a
walled garden, and carriage house. The Andersons filled the mansion with
paintings, murals, tapestries, sculptures, and furniture from around the world.
They held numerous diplomatic gatherings in the home and were well-known in the
area because of it. Maintaining the house, its priceless objects, and numerous
events required the hard work of around twenty servants, who also lived in the
house. Servants worked as chauffeurs, maids, butlers, cooks, housekeepers, and
personal assistants to ensure the house remained in pristine condition for its residents
and countless visitors. They lived in quarters on the third floor and outbuildings,
did laundry and cared for the Andersons’ possessions on the fourth floor, and
maintained heating systems in the basement.The Andersons were active members of D.C. society and broader
international networks. Larz Anderson continued his work as a diplomat, serving
as minister to Belgium and ambassador to Japan. During World War I, Isabel
Anderson led relief efforts in D.C.’s Red Cross and traveled to France and
Belgium to care for the sick and wounded. Both Larz and Isabel were given prestigious
awards for their work. Isabel Anderson also pursued a successful writing
career, publishing nearly forty books including family histories, travelogues,
children’s literature, and poetry.In 1937, Larz Anderson died with no heirs, leaving the
large estate to his widow. She donated the Anderson House to the Society of the
Cincinnati, which Larz was a member of for forty years. The Society of the
Cincinnati was established toward the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783,
making it is the oldest patriotic organization in the United States. The name
“Cincinnati” pays homage to a heroic figure of ancient Rome, Lucius Quinctius
Cincinnatus, whose humility, sacrifice, and care for the public inspired the
Society founders. Larz Anderson’s parents hailed from Cincinnati, Ohio, which
was named in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati. In 1939, the Society
opened the estate to the public as a museum, and the Anderson House has
retained that public function to this day. On April 7th, 1971, the house was
added to the National Register of Historic Places, and on June 19th, 1996, it
was designated as a National Historic Landmark.






























In 1937, Larz Anderson died with no heirs, leaving the
large estate to his widow. She donated the Anderson House to the Society
of the Cincinnati, which Larz was a member of for forty years. The Society of
the Cincinnati was established toward the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783,
making it is the oldest patriotic organization in the United States. The name “Cincinnati”
pays homage to a heroic figure of ancient Rome, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus,
whose humility, sacrifice, and care for the public inspired the Society
founders. Larz Anderson’s parents hailed from Cincinnati, Ohio, which was named
in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati. In 1939, the Society opened the
estate to the public as a museum, and the Anderson House has retained that
public function to this day. On April 7th, 1971, the house was added to the
National Register of Historic Places, and on June 19th, 1996, it was designated
as a National Historic Landmark.


















The Andersons made numerous other estates and collections
available to the public, including the Larz Anderson Auto Museum and Larz
Anderson Park in Brookline, Massachusetts; the Perkins Manor in Contoocook, New
Hampshire; and the Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection at Harvard University’s
arboretum.

Built between 1902 and 1905, the Anderson House is a mansion constructed for American diplomat Larz Anderson and author Isabel Weld Perkins Anderson. It is located along Embassy Row in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. After the death of Larz Anderson, the house was bequeathed to Society of the Cincinnati, an organization established in 1783 for veterans of the Continental Army and their descendants, of which Larz Anderson was an active member. Today, the Society maintains its headquarters at the Anderson House, along with an extensive research library and a museum related to the home and its history. The Anderson House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1996.

Anderson House

By 1933, there were more than 170,000 gas stations doing business in the United States. In 1937, the Gulf Oil Corporation alone ran 60 service stations in Washington, D.C. The Embassy Gulf Service Station one such station, located near Dupont Circle and Embassy Row. Built in 1937, the building was designed as part of an effort, commissioned by Gulf Oil, to provide aesthetically-appealing service stations that complimented their surroundings. The motivation behind these artistic gas stations was to develop a corporate image through architecture. The Neo-classical, one-story structure is in the freestanding temple form. It features a gable roof, limestone facades, Tuscan columnns, and fan transoms. Harvard-educated architect P.L.R. Hogner incorporated design elements and materials that were more commonly associated with a bank or library than an automobile service station. The final design was modified slightly by the Commission of Fine Arts, the National Park Service, and the National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The Embassy Gulf Service Station is noteworthy as an example of 1930s gas station architecture. The structure symbolizes the early history of automobile culture in the U.S., and the rise of its associated industries. Though Gulf Oil is no longer extant, the station is known by its historical name and still used for its original purpose as a repair shop. It is now owned by Sunoco and is open during regular business hours. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 30, 1993.

The Embassy Gulf Service Station was designed in 1936 by Gulf Oil Corporation architect P.L.R. Hogner. It is notable as an example of 1930s gas station architecture and symbolizes the rise of automobile culture in the United States. Because of its location next to a National Park Service jurisdiction, the Commission on Fine Arts, the Park Service, and the National Capital Park and Planning Commission all reviewed the design of the building. Located near Dupont Circle, the Embassy Gulf Service Station gets its name from the nearby area, known as Embassy Row. The station framed itself as a public service, with its classical architecture emphasizing its connection to civic life. 

Embassy Gulf Service Station

Philip Henry Sheridan was born on March 6, 1831. Exactly where he was born, however, is uncertain. Some scholars argue that it was Albany, New York. Others contend that he was born in Boston, Ireland, or at sea while his Irish parents were immigrating to the United States. What is certain, however, is that he grew up in Somerset, Ohio, where he received a common school education and worked as a bookkeeper and clerk in local stores. Inspired by stories from the Mexican War (1846-1848), Sheridan decide to pursue a career in the military. In 1848, he secured an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Despite a physical altercation with a fellow cadet that resulted in a year-long suspension from the academy, Sheridan graduated in 1853. Over the next several years, he served in California, Texas, and the Pacific Northwest, where he fought against, and conducted negotiations with, various Native American groups.  In May 1862, just over a year after the outbreak of the Civil War, Sheridan received a commission as colonel of the Second Michigan Cavalry. That July, he led his regiment to victory at the Battle of Booneville. For his conduct during the engagement, Sheridan received a promotion to the rank of brigadier general of volunteers and took command of an infantry division in the Army of the Ohio (later renamed the Army of the Cumberland). After participating in the Battle of Stones River, he received another promotion, this time to the rank of major general of volunteers. In late November 1863, Sheridan and his men helped to capture Missionary Ridge just outside of Chattanooga, a move that enabled Union forces to seize the vital railroad junction. When Ulysses S. Grant assumed command of all union armies in early 1864, he brought Sheridan east to take command of the Army of the Potomac’s cavalry corps. During his time in the position, Sheridan fought Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart at the Battle of Yellow Tavern (May 1864). The engagement not only resulted in a Union victory, but also resulted in the death of Stuart, the Confederacy’s most able cavalry officer. Later that same year, Sheridan took command of the Army of the Shenandoah. His objective was to drive Confederate forces from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and cripple the area’s ability to supply Richmond and rebel forces in the field. After defeating Confederate General Jubal Early in two separate engagements and taking control of the valley, Sheridan systematically destroyed barns, crops, livestock, and mills. Remembered as “The Burning” by residents, it impaired the Confederacy’s ability to make war and dealt a severe blow to southern morale. In October, Early surprised Sheridan’s army at Cedar Creek while their commander was ten miles away in Winchester. The Confederate attack sent the federal troops fleeing, but Sheridan’s quick return helped to rally the men in blue and eventually win the day. Following the battle, Sheridan received a promotion to the rank of major general in the regular army, in addition to thanks from Congress and President Abraham Lincoln. In the final weeks of the war, he helped harass and trap Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, leading to its surrender on April 9, 1865.  Following the war, Sheridan served as the military governor of the Fifth Military District (Louisiana and Texas) during Reconstruction, but was removed from the position by President Andrew Johnson for imposing Reconstruction policies too harshly. He then carried out a campaign against Plains Indians using the same tactics he employed in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864. For his efforts, Sheridan received a promotion to the rank of lieutenant general. In 1883, he became general-in-chief of the U.S. Army and General of the Army of the United States in 1888. Later that same year, Sheridan died in Nonquitt, Massachusetts after suffering a series of heart attacks at the age of fifty-seven. His remains were buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Four years after Sheridan’s death, the Society of the Army of the Cumberland commissioned sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward to complete an equestrian statue of the general by 1898. When the deadline arrived, Ward had only minimal progress to show. Frustrated by Ward’s glacial pace, the Union veterans’ organization canceled the contract in 1905. The artist later sued, but lost. Two years after cancelling its contract with Ward, the society commissioned sculptor Gutzon Borglum (who later became famous for Mount Rushmore) to complete the project. Dedicated on November 25, 1908 in Washington, D.C.’s Sheridan Circle, the bronze sculpture stands on a small rectangular granite base and depicts Sheridan atop his loyal steed, Rienzi, rallying his troops at Cedar Creek. The statue and its base rest on a large rectangular plaza, which features two sets of steps leading up the sculpture and two sets of bronze lion heads on each side that spout water into basins below. In attendance at the unveiling ceremony, among others, were President Theodore Roosevelt, Sheridan’s wife and son, and innumerable Civil War veterans.

This memorial in Sheridan Circle commemorates U.S. Army general, Philip Henry Sheridan (1831-1888). A graduate of West Point and career military officer, he is best remembered for his destructive 1864 campaign in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia during the Civil War. Four years after Sheridan’s death, the Society of the Army of the Cumberland commissioned sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward to complete an equestrian statue of the general by 1898. When the deadline arrived, Ward had only minimal progress to show. Frustrated by Ward’s glacial pace, the Union veterans’ organization canceled the contract in 1905. The artist later sued, but lost. Two years after cancelling its contract with Ward, the society commissioned sculptor Gutzon Borglum to complete the project. Dedicated on November 25, 1908, the bronze sculpture stands on a small rectangular granite base and depicts Sheridan atop his loyal steed, Rienzi, rallying his troops at the Battle of Cedar Creek. The statue and its base rest on a large rectangular plaza, which features two sets of steps leading up the sculpture and two sets of bronze lion heads on each side that spout water into basins below. In attendance at the unveiling ceremony, among others, were President Theodore Roosevelt, Sheridan’s wife and son, and innumerable Civil War veterans.

General Philip Sheridan Memorial

Joseph Henry Beale was a professor at the Harvard Law School beginning in 1892, several years after opening his own law practice. In the early 1900s, Beale commissioned famed architect of Washington, DC, Glenn Brown, to design a home for himself and his wife. Construction on the house began in 1907, and in early 1909, construction on the house was completed. In keeping with Brown’s style, the Joseph Beale House was built in a Roman Revival style and is said to be a pristine example of the style. The Beales did not live in the house for a terribly long time, however, as Margaret Beale sold the home to the Royal Government of Egypt for $150,000. Currently, the home houses the Egyptian ambassador to the United States and has done so since the house’s transfer of ownership. On May 8th, 1973, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Joseph Beale House is a historic house designed by architect Glenn Brown. Built in 1909, the Beale House was built for Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Beale, with an emphasis on design and entertaining guests. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in May of 1973. 

Joseph Beale House

Thomas Woodrow Wilson (in office March 4, 1913 – March 4,
1921) was the 28th President of the United States. A member of the Democratic
Party, he is best known as a leading force in the Progressive movement, the
creation of the Federal Reserve, and for his efforts to establish the League of
Nations during the negotiations that resulted in the Treaty of Versailles at
the Paris Peace Conference. Owing to opposition in the Senate, the United
States never joined the League of Nations, but the idea of an international
organization dedicated to maintaining world peace would carry over into the
1945 establishment of the United Nations.

In the last months of his second term, President Wilson
purchased a home in the Kalorama District along Embassy Row and gifted to his
second wife, Edith Bolling Wilson. Mrs. Wilson played a significant political
role in the White House. She married Wilson after the death of his first wife,
Ellen, while in office. Her greatest influence came in 1919, after the President
suffered a debilitating stroke that left him partially paralyzed. Mrs. Wilson determined
which matters to bring to the President’s bedside and which could be given to other
federal authorities. Though they worked to keep the President’s health
conditions private, Mrs. Wilson earned nicknames like the "Secret
President" and “First woman to run the government.”

The Wilsons moved into their retirement home on March 4,
1921, the inauguration day of the succeeding president, Warren Harding. Upon
his retirement, President Wilson remained active in the Washington, D.C.
community, opening a law office, giving speeches, attending local theatre, and
serving as president of the American Historical Association. He was the only
president to remain in Washington D.C. after serving as head of state until
Barack Obama chose to stay in the District in 2017.

President Wilson’s health continued to be a struggle. In
1924, he suffered another stroke and died in the residence. He was entombed at
the Washington National Cathedral. Mrs. Wilson remained at the house until her
death in 1961. She donated the entire site and its contents to the National
Trust for Historic Preservation as a memorial to her late husband. The
President Woodrow Wilson House opened to the public in 1963.

The design of the estate and grounds was the
responsibility of Waddy Butler Wood, who completed his work on the Georgian
Revival style house in 1915. Before it was the residence of President Wilson,
the property was owned by the executive of Bigelow Carpet Company, Henry Parker
Fairbanks. The structure was altered from its original state to accommodate President
Wilson's needs after his stroke, which he had suffered in 1919. Additions
included an elevator and upstairs balcony to help him avoid stairs, as well as
a larger room to house his 8,000-tome library. It was from the balcony of this
house that Wilson made his last public appearance in 1923.

The Woodrow Wilson House was designated a National
Historic Landmark in 1964. The National Trust for Historic Preservation now
owns the house and operates it as a museum. Very little inside or outside the
house has been changed since the death of President Wilson in 1924. The
structure stands alongside the homes and offices of dignitaries and diplomats
from around the world, making it part of "Embassy Row."

The President Woodrow Wilson House was the abode that President and Mrs. Edith Wilson called home after his retirement from office in 1921. Wilson was the only president to remain in Washington D.C. after his term until Barack Obama in 2017. While Wilson lived at the house only three years until his passing in 1924, Mrs. Wilson kept residence there until her death in 1961. She donated the entire site and its contents to the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a memorial to her late husband, the 28th President of the United States. The house, built in 1915, was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark due to its association with the Wilsons. 

Dupont Circle to Sheridan Circle

Cosmos Club

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information