General Oliver Otis Howard House, Second Empire house at Howard University campus, Washington D.C., United States.
The General Oliver Otis Howard House is a two-and-a-half-story brick building on the Howard University campus in Washington, D.C. It has a mansard roof and a three-story tower at its southwest corner, marking it as a Second Empire style structure from the post-Civil War years.
The house was built in 1867 for General Oliver Otis Howard, who ran the Freedmen's Bureau after the Civil War and founded the university for Black students. It is one of the very few buildings from that founding period still standing on campus.
The house takes its name from the general who lived here and gave the university its name. Walking past it today, visitors can see how a single building ties the founding of one of the country's first Black universities to the life of one man.
The building sits on an active university campus, so access can vary depending on events or administrative activities taking place at the time. It is worth checking ahead before visiting to avoid arriving when the building is closed to the public.
This house is the only building on campus that has stood in its original location since the university was founded. Every other structure from that early phase has been demolished or moved.
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