Freedman's Bank Building, Federal office building in Lafayette Square, Washington, United States
The Freedman's Bank Building is a federal office building in Washington, D.C., located on the corner of Madison Place and Pennsylvania Avenue, facing Lafayette Square. Its facade is made of limestone and follows a classical style typical of early 20th-century government construction in the capital.
From 1865 to 1874, the Freedman's Savings Bank operated on this site, serving Black Americans in the years following the Civil War. The current building was completed in 1919 and replaced the original structure, though the address kept its connection to that earlier history.
The building carries the name of the Freedman's Savings Bank, which once stood on this site and served Black Americans who had never before had access to a bank. Walking past it today, visitors are reminded that this corner of Pennsylvania Avenue was once a place where formerly enslaved people came to open their first savings accounts.
The building is easy to find since it sits directly across from the United States Treasury Building, right along Pennsylvania Avenue. The area around Lafayette Square is walkable, and the surrounding government buildings help with orientation once you arrive.
Frederick Douglass was appointed as the last president of the Freedman's Savings Bank in 1874, just months before it collapsed due to mismanagement and fraud. He invested his own money trying to save it, and ended up losing a large part of those personal funds when the bank failed.
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