Location

African Americans have been a significant part of life in Washington, DC since the area became the nation’s capital in 1790. They have made important contributions to the culture and development of the city and played a leading role in the fight for full civil rights for all citizens. See sites in downtown Washington important in telling this story, such as Old City Hall, where Frederick Douglass worked as U.S. Marshal and as Recorder of Deeds and the site of Thompson’s Restaurant, where Mary Church Terrell brought the test case that desegregated Washington’s restaurants in 1953.