The Slowe-Burrill House is a Queen Anne-style house in the
Brookland neighborhood of
Washington, D.C.
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Built in 1890, the home was occupied from 1922 to 1937 by
Lucy Slowe and
Mary Burrill, notable African American educators who are thought by historians to have been a couple. The house was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 2020 for its significance to African American and LGBT history.
History
The house at 1256 Kearney Street NE was built for the original owner James T. Ward, an Irish immigrant, in 1890. It is a two-and-a-half-story structure in
Queen Anne style.
and
Mary Burrill, two African American educators, bought the house together in 1922 after Slowe was appointed Dean of Women at
Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...
.
At a time when lesbian relationships were extremely taboo, Slowe and Burrill kept their romantic relationship under wraps professionally, but their close friends treated them as a couple.
They frequently used the property's spacious rear yard for social gatherings of African-American women intellectuals.
Howard president
Mordecai W. Johnson at one point pressured Slowe to move onto campus, but she fought to remain in the house at 1256 Kearney.
The pair lived there together for 15 years until Slowe's death in 1937, after which a mourning Burrill sold the house and moved into an apartment near Howard.
The D.C. Preservation League sought preservation status for the house based on the historical significance of its former occupants. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 5, 2020.
See also
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*
Lucy Diggs Slowe
Lucy Diggs Slowe (July 4, 1885 – October 21, 1937) was an American educator and athlete, and the first Black woman to serve as Dean of Women at any American university. She was a founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the first sorority fou ...
*
Mary P. Burrill
*
Dr. Franklin E. Kameny House
The Dr. Franklin E. Kameny House in the Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest Quadrant of Washington, D.C., is a two-story, brick Colonial Revival architecture, Colonial Revival-style house built in 1955, with a screened porch and a one-car gar ...
*
The Furies Collective
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.
Houses completed in 1890
Houses in Washington, D.C.
Queen Anne architecture in Washington, D.C.
Brookland (Washington, D.C.)
African-American history of Washington, D.C.
Lesbian culture in Washington, D.C.
LGBT history in the United States
LGBT African-American culture