Strivers' Section Historic District

About

The Strivers' Section Historic District is a historic district located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Strivers' Section was historically an enclave of upper-middle-class African Americans, often community leaders, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It takes its name from a turn-of-the-20th-century writer who described the district as "the Striver's section, a community of Negro aristocracy." The name echoes that of Strivers' Row in Harlem, a New York City historic neighborhood of black professionals. The district is roughly bounded by Swann Street and the Dupont Circle Historic District on the south, Florida Avenue and the Washington Heights Historic District on the north and west, and the Sixteenth Street Historic District on the east.

The historic district is mostly composed of apartment buildings and rowhouses. Notable inhabitants have included Frederick Douglass, Lewis Henry Douglass, and Calvin Brent. Architectural styles represented in Strivers' Section include Italianate, Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, and Second Empire. Architects and real estate developers whose works are in the district include George S. Cooper, Thomas Franklin Schneider, B. Stanley Simmons, Harry Wardman, and Frank Russell White. The historic district, which includes around 430 contributing properties, was added to the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites in 1983 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.