National Register of Historic Places

Bruce, Blanche Kelso, Elementary School

Washington, District of Columbia County, District of Columbia
Listed
March 30, 2015
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
15000114

About this property

The Blanche K. Bruce School was an all-black school and community center during the Jim Crow era in the United States. In July 1898, the District of Columbia public school trustees ordered that a then new public school building on Marshall Street be named the Bruce School in his honor. The Bruce School building was designed by architect William M. Poindexter in Renaissance Revival style of red brick with stone and pressed metal trim, with two floors of four rooms each. In 1927, a Colonial Revival style eight-room annex was constructed, designed by architect Albert L. Harris. (Marshall Street later became Kenyon Street.) In 1973, the Bruce School was closed and combined with the James Monroe Elementary School to become the nearby Bruce-Monroe Elementary School. The Bruce School building became the charter Caesar Chavez Prep Middle School in 2009, named for the Mexican-American labor organizer Cesar Chavez. After the teachers unionized in 2017, the school was closed by the Chavez Schools in 2019. The building was designated a D.C. historic site on November 20, 2014, and added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 31, 2015.

Location

770 Kenyon St., NW.
Washington, District of Columbia County, District of Columbia
38.92960, -77.02557

Categories

ARCHITECTURECOMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENTEDUCATION
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Questions about this property

When was Bruce, Blanche Kelso, Elementary School listed on the National Register?

Bruce, Blanche Kelso, Elementary School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 2015.

What type of historic resource is Bruce, Blanche Kelso, Elementary School?

Bruce, Blanche Kelso, Elementary School is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Bruce, Blanche Kelso, Elementary School?

The period of significance for Bruce, Blanche Kelso, Elementary School is recorded as the industrial era.

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