Alexander Crummell School, Public school building in Ivy City, Washington, D.C.
Alexander Crummell School is a two-story red brick structure with Renaissance-style features and three bays located in the Ivy City neighborhood. The building includes separate entrances for boys and girls on Gallaudet Street and was expanded with a second-story addition at the rear.
The building was designed in 1910 by City Architect Snowden Ashford and completed in 1911 under the supervision of Allan T. Howlson. A second-story addition was constructed in 1932 to meet growing educational needs.
The school takes its name from Alexander Crummell, an African American clergyman and educator devoted to advancing education. It served as a community gathering place where generations of neighborhood children received their schooling.
The building ceased operations as a school in 1977 and subsequently housed a preschool, library, job training center, and daycare facility serving local needs. The original design includes an English basement and full attic, which are characteristic features of the educational architecture from that era.
The structure retains its original English basement, full attic, and the rear addition from the 1930s, making it a rare example of continuous architectural adaptation in school design. These layers of change reveal how educational facilities evolved to meet changing needs over decades.
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