This house is one of the few remaining dwellings from the old African American community that predated Fort Stevens. It has been in the Lightfoot family for more than 90 years, ever since George M. Lightfoot (1868-1947) purchased the home around 1916.
Lightfoot graduated from the Howard Academy (Howard University's prepartory school) in 1887, and received an A.B. from Williams College in 1891 and an M.A. from Catholic University in 1922. He taught French, German, Latin, algebra, and history in the Howard Academy until it was closed in 1922, after which he taught in the University's Latin Department until 1939. Lightfoot often entertained W.E.B. Du Bois, Carter G. Woodson, and other African American intellectuals here.
Sources:
"Prof. George M. Lightfoot, H.U. Teacher, Dies at 79," Washington Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 3, 1948.
Carol Lightfoot Walker, interview, September 27, 2007.