About this property
The Whitelaw Hotel is a historic structure located in the U Street Corridor (a.k.a. Cardozo/Shaw) in Northwest Washington, D.C. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. The Whitelaw was built in 1919 as an upscale apartment hotel during the segregation era. The building was designed by architect Isaiah T. Hatton, who was one of the nation's first African American architects. Hatton designed the hotel using a classical Italian Renaissance Revival architectural style. Construction costs totaled $158,000. It was named for the mother of its builder, entrepreneur John Whitelaw Lewis who also founded Industrial Savings Bank. It was completely financed and built by African American entrepreneurs, investors, designers, and craftsmen as a place of meeting and public accommodation for prominent African Americans during segregation. The hotel was listed in Victor Green's Green Book, a guide for African American travelers. Entertainers, such as Cab Calloway, who performed on U Street stayed at the Whitelaw as well as other African Americans who came to Washington for meetings of national black organizations and could not stay in the city's other hotels. Its large public spaces allowed the Whitelaw to become an important social center. The end of legal Segregation in the United States and the rise in drugs in the neighborhood led to the decline of the Whitelaw. It was closed by the city in 1977 and was slated for demolition. Manna, Inc bought the building in 1991 and used historic tax credits to renovate it into low- and moderate-income housing. It re-opened in 1992.
Location
Categories
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.
Everything a full report reveals about Whitelaw Hotel
This page lists Whitelaw Hotel. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Questions about this property
When was Whitelaw Hotel listed on the National Register?
Whitelaw Hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 13, 1993.
What type of historic resource is Whitelaw Hotel?
Whitelaw Hotel is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Whitelaw Hotel?
The period of significance for Whitelaw Hotel is recorded as the civil_war era.
Can I research the history near Whitelaw Hotel?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Whitelaw Hotel will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in District of Columbia County
Historic places, battles, and census history across District of Columbia County.
Explore District of ColumbiaCounty ›More historic places in District of Columbia
Browse all historic places in District of Columbia.
View District of Columbiahistoric sites ›District of Columbia history
Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.
District of Columbiahistory ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Whitelaw Hotel will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.