#sumner school

I’m writing this post while on a train to New York because I (clearly) plan to visit some museums there, and I don’t want my recent visit to the Charles Sumner School in DC to lose its fresh place in my memory. Yesterday I visited the school, now a museum and archives, after having walked by it probably dozens of times in the past. A couple things that initially surprised me: 1. Public schools were apparently MUCH NICER buildings back in the day, and 2. The museum doesn’t focus solely on the history of Charles SumnerSchool; in fact, it covers a highly detailed history of the DC public school system and the evolution of African American education in the capital city. 

Returning to point #1: the fact that Charles Sumner School is an architectural marvel—an impressive red brick building with a bell tower and arched windows—is actually significant in and of itself. The Sumner School’s predecessor was likely neither attractive nor functional. It was a two-story schoolhouse constructed out of salvaged wood and opened for African American students in 1866. This lackluster building for the “M Street School” (which stood at the same location of 17th and M Streets where the Sumner School currently resides) was soon demolished. The structure that took its place was designed by famous architect Adolf Cluss—the same man who designed the Smithsonian Castle and the Arts and Industries Building, among many others throughout DC. If you can notice any blatant similarity here, it would be that red brick:

The Smithsonian Castle, via SI Newsdesk.

In fact, Cluss became known for transforming DC into the “Red Brick City” after the Civil War. This is why (I think) that a Cluss-designed building for an African American school is so significant: brick was locally made, inexpensive, and deterred fire, making it practical—but it was also regarded as new and modern during the period of industrial growth after the Civil War. I’ll defer to the Cluss historians to make this point, since I think it is phrased so well: “Brick satisfied a desire to show that this building was different from a building of an earlier period and was thus modern, not tied to other cultures, classes and styles.” Cluss designed several public schools in the city, which, according to an exhibition at the Sumner School Museum, “were meant to inspire students, dignify teaching, and elevate free public education to a position of prominence and respect.” Obviously, school integration would have been a more modern outcome, but that was still decades away. Sumner School was momentous for its time, as a state-of-the art building created specifically for the purpose of offering public education to African American students. When it was built in 1872, it was one of just three public elementary schools for African American children. It also hosted the first graduation in the country for African American high school students, in 1877.

A photo from an exhibit on Bill Webb’s documentation of DC public schools from 1975 to 1991, located on the ground floor of the Sumner School Museum.

Finally, heading inside the building: it’s impeccably maintained, and initially hard to imagine it as a school rather than a beautiful mansion (the metal school bells on the walls help give it away). It ceased functioning as a school in 1978 due to disrepair, and community rallying saved the building to be preserved as a historic site. 

The ground, first, second, and third floors all contain artifacts and records related to the DC public school system. Rooms are loosely organized around the histories of individual schools, like Cardozo, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and Booker T. Washington. It also chronicles the contributions of teachers and administrators who helped advance African American education. One notable educator, Myrtilla Miner, founded a school focused on instructing African American women to become teachers, which also operated out of the Sumner School building.

One of Myrtilla Miner’s teachers-in-training instructing students on the lawn of the Sumner School.

-Professor John B. Reeve, Howard University

The Sumner School housed elementary and secondary school classes for Washington, DC’s African American children. It was here that the first high school graduation for African American students in the United States was held in 1877. The site now serves as the home of the official museum and archives for DC Public Schools. In November 2011, we will celebrate our 25th anniversary as an active keeper of DC Public School memory.