ON A

Vision 2021

EMBARKING on a DECADE of TRANSFORMATION

In 2021, the George Washington University will celebrate its 200th anniversary. GW President details the dynamic changes that will prepare the university for that milestone.

George Washington University Museum

Law School

Science and Engineering Hall School of Public Health and Health Services will oversee it. Our Career Service Task Force which will finally give our university library the Q You’ve been calling 2011-12 developed a model of career preparation that grand and welcoming entrance it deserves! a “pivotal” year. Why? will begin that process earlier in a student’s Finally, we will soon break ground on program of study. And, with the help and President Steven Knapp: Well, in the GW Museum, which will incorporate the the first place, 2012 is the centennial of the advice of the Board of Trustees, we began a historic Woodhull House and contain the establishment of our main campus in Foggy strategic review of our athletics program. One Textile Museum and the Washingtoniana Bottom, its third and I hope its final location! result was the recruitment of Patrick Nero, our Collection of Albert H. Small. The new We are using the occasion to celebrate all that it new director of athletics and recreation, who is museum will attract visitors and scholars means to be a university located at the heart of deeply committed to supporting the academic from around the world and will provide this nation’s capital. At the same time, we begin as well as the athletic success of our student wide-ranging opportunities for students in this year a decade of transformation leading athletes. We will be unveiling the athletics anthropology, history, and museum studies, up to our bicentennial in 2021. We are hiring strategic plan early this year. among other disciplines. new faculty and building academic facilities across the university, and we are supporting Q You mentioned that we are Q How do these changes those efforts by bringing in external resources continuing to build new strengthen GW as an more rapidly than at any previous time in the facilities; what specific academic institution? university’s history. changes will we see this year? SK: Improved infrastructure supports our Under the provost’s leadership, we are SK: We broke ground on our new Science recruitment not only of stronger students developing our first strategic plan in a decade. and Engineering Hall in October, and the but also of world-class teachers and The Strategic Plan for Academic Excellence excavation is well under way. This half-million- scholars. A splendid example is Nobel goes all the way back to 2002, and since square-foot building, due for completion by laureate Ferid Murad, who joined us last then every one of our schools has welcomed early 2015, will be the largest academic facility spring and has already set up the biomedical a new dean. We also have a new team of we have ever built—and certainly the largest laboratory in which he intends to work vice presidents, only two of whom were science building ever likely to be built within toward his second Nobel Prize! I’m very glad here when we wrote the last plan. The time six blocks of the White House! It will nearly to note that Dr. Murad is a member of our is right to take stock of our unique strengths double the amount of research and teaching cadre of University Professors, who combine and opportunities and set a course to achieve space we have for our science and engineering groundbreaking research with the teaching the world-class stature that I am sure this disciplines and will enhance collaboration by of undergraduates. university is poised to attain. bringing all the relevant departments together under one roof. On the Mount Vernon Campus, Q And the end goal? Isn’t GW also engaged in we have completed renovations to Ames Hall, Q SK: It’s simple, really: to be the university new fundraising? which will house state-of-the-art classrooms, where students most want to study, faculty student gathering spaces, and offices. Those most want to teach, and where scholars SK: We are actively exploring the possibility of launching a comprehensive fundraising are going to be some of the most beautiful serve the nation and the world by combining campaign. The fact that we are simultaneously classrooms anywhere on the East Coast, theory and practice in ways unmatched by developing a strategic plan will give us an unusual looking right out over the Potomac River! any other institution. With the support of our opportunity to make sure if we do go forward This spring we will break ground for the quarter-million alumni, the unique opportunities with a full-scale campaign that our fundraising new home of the School of Public Health and afforded by our location, and the inspiring goals dovetail with our institutional priorities. Health Services. There is a plan to expand example of our namesake, I have no doubt that the Law School, perhaps above the new the achievement of these aspirations is, sooner Q What about the planning underground garage we are constructing on or later, within our grasp. And the coming you did with faculty, staff, G Street, and we are developing additional decade will move us steadily closer to and students last year? space for the School of Business. This year we that destination. Important changes resulted from those will also begin a major renovation of Gelman SK: For a list of events happening during GW’s efforts. We created an Office of Diversity Library. Among other changes, we will move celebration of 100 years in , and Inclusion and recruited Terri Harris Reed the library entrance from the ground floor on visit www.gwu.edu/~fb100. from Princeton as the new vice provost who H Street to an elevated location on Kogan Plaza, 3 in GW D.C.

Beautifulin the Days Neighborhood GW’s signature community events and year-round activities bring students and neighbors together. By Mary Dempsey ach morning, Graham Galka wakes up with the Kennedy Center for the annual neighborhood festival, which includes booths by on one side and GW on the other. more than 100 restaurants, information tables from D.C. businesses, “Foggy Bottom is great because of its diversity and its nonprofits, community groups, and city agencies, face painting for Eopportunities,” says Mr. Galka, BA ’08, who still lives in Foggy Bottom. children, free concerts, and dance performances. “This neighborhood is near the White House, the State Department, and “Our university has a strong commitment to our community and the university is right here.” how our students and neighbors interact,” says Britany Waddell, GW’s Mr. Galka, who co-founded a tanning salon and spa in Foggy director of community relations. “Volunteering and working on these Bottom when he was a student, now represents his apartment complex events instills character in our students. They come to realize they are in the Advisory Neighborhood Commission, the local group that advises a part of the community, and Foggy Bottom is not just some place they the District government on issues affecting neighborhoods. come to and then leave.” Mr. Galka is certainly an involved neighbor, and he’s not alone. Each An integral part of the block party is FRIENDS, a neighborhood year, students experience what it truly means to be a part of one of D.C.’s group that emerged in 2002 as a result of community discussions. Since most historic and vibrant neighborhoods. then, FRIENDS membership has grown to more than 400. Half the meetings address neighborhood issues and the other half are designed The GW community actively participates in the Foggy Bottom/ around social activities. West End Neighborhood Block Party, sponsored by FRIENDS. The annual event has drawn thousands of students, neighbors, and other GW’s annual Senior Prom, a collaborative event involving GW’s community members for the past 10 years. Office of Government and Community Relations, GW’s Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, D.C.’s Department of Aging and “From the student perspective, I think it’s a great day,” says Jake Department of Parks and Recreation, and even members of the D.C. City Miner, a student whose internship in GW’s Office of Government and Council, has been one of the most popular neighborhood events. Community Relations included work on the block party. “At the block party you see the power of being in a city and how you can be a part of On prom night each spring, seniors arrive from all over the District, bringing people together.” some on transportation provided by their housing complexes and others, like residents of St. Mary’s Court in Foggy Bottom, aboard shuttle Neighbors, students, and university staff all participate in planning buses provided by the university. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

4 Steve Timlin Graham Galka William Atkins William Atkins

teve Timlin was raking leaves f you want to be involved in the outside his house when a man arts, in academia, take advantage walking by in a suit called out of cultural offerings, it’s all right “hello.”S That man was Michael Akin, who Ihere,” says Graham Galka, BA ’08, who at the time, served as GW’s community lives in the Columbia Plaza apartments relations director. Mr. Timlin jokingly in Foggy Bottom. “And it’s a beautiful, asked if he wanted to help him rake. clean, and safe neighborhood, a vibrant neighborhood.” To Mr. Timlin’s surprise, Mr. Akin took him up on the invitation and raked In early 2008, Mr. Galka sold his for more than half an hour, all the while share in Relaxed Tanning & Day Spa on talking about his job at the university and F Street, the business he co-founded as about the neighborhood group FRIENDS. a sophomore in 2006. At the end of the same year, he graduated with a degree “He invited me to the next in international affairs and found a job FRIENDS meeting and I enjoyed it,” Mr. in Foggy Bottom at the Advisory Board Timlin says. “I found a congenial group Company. Every morning he walks four in FRIENDS and an opportunity to learn blocks to his job as a senior analyst for more about the university through an corporate strategy. even-handed exchange.” Mr. Galka also filled a vacancy Mr. Timlin had spent Easter created by the retirement of an breaks in Foggy Bottom when he incumbent commissioner of the was young, visiting an aunt and Advisory Neighborhood Commission uncle. He permanently moved to the and is considering whether he will run neighborhood 26 years ago when he for another term when elections come inherited his aunt’s house after she died. up in November. “I was impressed that I was “Increasingly we’ve seen the living near a big university,” he says, growth of a community of young adding that he likes the diversity of his professionals,” Mr. Galka says. “This neighborhood, counting both students diversity is what makes this such an and faculty among his friends. interesting neighborhood.”

William Atkins 5 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 Lina Musayev, BA ’05, MA ’07, worked as a student volunteer at three Senior Proms. Zelda Kapner Oral History Project “The prom sounded like something fun to do—and a way to give some seniors a really good time,” she says. “And I’m also all about good neighborly relations.” Ms. Musayev joined other student volunteers in decorating the prom venue, serving the meal, and joining seniors out on the dance floor. “The dancing is the best part,” Ms. Musayev says. Another event, Foggy Bottom Cleanup, is 100 percent student planned and managed. The GW Student Association persuades area businesses

Jessica McConnell Burt to donate trash bags and other equipment for the squads of volunteers who take to the neighborhood elda Kapner, originally from with rakes and gloves. In 2012, the cleanup marks New York City, has lived in its 17th year. Z Foggy Bottom for 35 years. The university provides breakfast and lunch

She takes advantage of GW events and Jessica McConnell Burt for the volunteers, but students do the planning. facilities open to local residents. James Briscoe, an oral history project They spread the word about the day for the “I really enjoy having the university participant, will join a panel discussion cleanup and go out and talk to residents to find out about Foggy Bottom’s working-class if there are particular areas of the neighborhood here,” she says. roots during 100 years in Foggy Bottom that need attention. “I like the students and I love festivities in February. having all the people around,” she adds. “Normally neighbors get involved,” says Miles hen GW first moved to Foggy Selib, the Student Association community liaison “Coming from New York, I’m used to Bottom, the university was for the 2011 and 2012 cleanups. Those neighbors the liveliness.” surrounded by industrial operations might loan out their rakes or provide extra gloves. She also has been active with the Wsuch as breweries, glass plants, and oil Some even join the cleanup teams to help. neighborhood group FRIENDS since refineries, and many blue-collar African “It helps students understand that it’s their nearly its formation in 2002, and that Americans lived and worked in the area. city, and they should be responsible for it,” Mr. connection has proved important. To help preserve the heritage Selib says. “We’ve been able to reach out and have “As a member of FRIENDS, I feel of Foggy Bottom and its former relationships with a great number of people in like I have a direct contact with the neighbors, an oral history project is the community.” university,” Ms. Kapner says. being undertaken to record the stories Ms. Waddell says having volunteers on the of African Americans connected to the street meeting neighbors and making a visible For example, when a friend was neighborhood during this time. diagnosed with macular degeneration, contribution to Foggy Bottom is valuable because Participants in the project are Ms. Kapner knew the university would it “puts a face on the student body.” Mr. Miner, coming together for a panel discussion meanwhile, says students get as much—or more— be “a good neighbor” and contacted February 28 as part of a series of events from the outreach events as they put into them. GW’s community outreach staff. commemorating 100 years in Foggy “I recognize that a good relationship with the “They provided wonderful students Bottom. For more information on the community is key to the value of my degree and who helped this woman read her mail,” project, contact Katie Mead at the value of my university. Everything we do is she says. “The university does a great [email protected]. dependent on the consent of those around us,” deal for people in the neighborhood.” he says. 6 in GW D.C. Jessica McConnell Burt

a HOUSE of

CharactersBy Kelley Stokes

GW English professor and acclaimed novelist Thomas Mallon spends My novel Two Moons opens on March 8, 1877, his days writing in—and about—Foggy Bottom. with its heroine, a 35-year-old Civil War widow, His novel Two Moons centers on characters both real and fictional working at heading toward the U.S. Naval Observatory in the Old Naval Observatory, located in what is now the Navy’s Bureau of Medicine search of work as a “computer”—the name and Surgery at 23rd and E streets, in the 1870s. A central character in another, Fellow for a job, done mostly by women, that involved Travelers, works for the State Department and lives in an apartment building that is making trigonometric calculations required by now the university’s West End residence hall. In that novel, he also uses his own home, the astronomers. recast as an abandoned house, as the setting for one of the book’s pivotal scenes. —Thomas Mallon Mr. Mallon first became familiar with Foggy Bottom in the mid-1990s while The black ball rose up the flagpole. Spotting it conducting research on the Old Naval Observatory for Two Moons, however it was from two blocks east, Cynthia May allowed herself not until the early 2000s that he considered moving into the neighborhood that had to slow down. The hoisting of the canvas sphere, as hosted so many of his stories. big across as a wagon wheel, meant that ten minutes remained until noon, when Potomac ferry captains He had been traveling to Washington for years when he found himself staying and fat boarding-house mistresses all over northwest in Foggy Bottom’s DoubleTree Hotel on New Hampshire Avenue. As he described in Washington would watch it drop and reset their clocks, an essay on his home he wrote for the journal American Scholar, the hotel sits “across and she would be due inside the Naval Observatory from a row of those brightly colored, if impossibly tiny, houses that make up, amid for her appointment. the loomings of academe and government and modern apartment buildings, the She crossed E Street at the corner of Virginia, neighborhood’s snug, tenacious Historic District.” He realized then that the place that taking off her hat as she went. March 8th, and already his characters called home could be his home as well, and “that’s when the other shoe so hot that, after twenty blocks of walking, she’d dropped.” A year later, the century-old house on the corner of 25th and H streets sweated through the skimpy silk lining beneath the was his. straw. With the hat in one hand and her book in the other, she had no hand free to hold her nose against the Mr. Mallon’s next book, Watergate: A Novel, is due out this winter. The historical stink coming up from the water filling half the street. fiction novel will be his third set in Foggy Bottom and follows the drama surrounding She wondered why the whole swamp that was Foggy the Watergate scandal as a dark comedy seen through the eyes of some of its most Bottom didn’t sink, once and for all, into the river; and important players. why the steps of the young man who’d been following her at a constant distance these past few blocks now With three books completed, Mr. Mallon believes that Foggy Bottom still has seemed farther away. Had he been slowed by the smell, many more tales to tell. “One of the things about living down here is that I just can’t or by the thin streak of gray he’d no doubt noticed in her imagine ever running out of stories. I get an idea for a novel about every two weeks.” hair as soon as she took off her bonnet?

7 in GW D.C. Putting the WASHINGTON in D.C.

The George Washington University is an engaged partner of service to many in the D.C. community. And being in and of D.C. is something the university takes seriously. While service has always been an important part of GW, in 2009 the university founded its Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service to provide a unified office for the university’s many service activities and integrate civic engagement into GW’s educational work. The center has more than 30 partnerships with D.C. organizations on projects that include adult education, arts and cultural services, environmental sustainability, education and tutoring, health and wellness, hunger and homelessness, intervention services, and service with veterans and seniors, among others (visit serve.gwu.edu for more information). Students, faculty members, and staff members serve in all eight wards of D.C. for these efforts. In addition, the District benefits from other GW service-related activities, such as service-learning programs happening in various GW colleges and schools, as well as the Law School’s Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinics, and a variety of medical and health programs and research. In recognition of its ongoing service to the community, GW was honored in 2011 with the second annual Whitney M. Young Jr. Leadership Award from the Greater Washington Urban League. GW was recognized specifically for its community service and support of city initiatives. Here are a few of the many ways GW gives back to its city. 8 in GW D.C. William Atkins William Atkins

GW students and community members painted murals and walls GW students, staff members, and others sort donations at the at Ballou High School as one of the events of GW’s 2011 Martin Capital Area Food Bank in September 2009. Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

veterans and military families across the D.C. metro region. It was this The Neighbors Project passion for giving back that led first lady Michelle Obama to challenge From volunteering at a homeless shelter or food pantry, to planting our students to complete 100,000 hours of service—a challenge the trees, to mentoring youth at the Boys and Girls Club, GW students and university exceeded by completing 163,980 hours of service. As a other community members have a chance to improve D.C. and the lives result, the first lady served as GW’s 2010 Commencement speaker in of its residents with a variety of programs through GW’s Neighbors recognition of this effort. Project. Launched in 1994 with a grant from Learn and Serve America, the Neighbors Project is GW’s cornerstone community service program, Participation in the annual Freshman Day of Service has increased facilitating partnerships with nonprofit organizations across the city that yearly. In 2010 more than 2,000 GW community members took part in connect those at GW with volunteer opportunities. the environment- and sustainability-themed day of service at 14 sites in the D.C. area. And in 2011, GW partnered with D.C. Public Schools In the 2010–11 academic year, the Neighbors Project engaged and engaged more than 2,300 GW community members in school 1,500 students in service to more than 40 community organizations in beautification projects. D.C., such as St. Mary’s Court, the Capital Area Food Bank, Anacostia Watershed Society, the YWCA, the Boys and Girls Clubs, DC Scores, In similar fashion, the GW community for several years has Bright Beginnings, and Martha’s Table. been organizing its Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service: “A Day On, Not a Day Off.” This year, students and other GW community members served at a dozen school and community centers across A Day On, Not a Day Off D.C. to support healthy communities by painting walls and murals, George Washington students are directly involved in making a preparing classroom materials and bulletin boards, and cleaning difference in the District. and disinfecting classroom materials. One prominent event is GW’s annual Freshman Day of Service, More than 500 students participate in this popular annual event, which began in 2009. The inaugural event, held in honor of the National which began in 2001 in conjunction with the national Martin Luther Day of Service and Remembrance established by President Obama, King Jr. Day of Service. The day is part of a weeklong celebration at GW saw 1,200 students, faculty, and staff members volunteering to serve of Dr. King and his legacy.

9 in GW D.C. William Atkins Doug Plummer

Director Susan Jones meets with student advocates of the Small Business & Community Economic Development Clinic. Law students have represented more than 1,500 local small businesses and have worked in partnership with multiple D.C. business coalitions.

One hundred GW students hosted Jumpstart for a Day in May 2010. The event brought more than 300 D.C. preschool children from low-income Legal Services families to the Mount Vernon Campus for a day of fun-filled activities. GW Law School students have served more than 40,000 hours of pro bono work for D.C. residents in need of legal assistance. Since 1971, GW’s Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinics have provided members of Education and Tutoring the local community with critically needed legal services, particularly Many of GW’s service activities involve the education of D.C.’s youth, to low-income D.C. residents, while giving motivated law students the from pre-kindergarten to college. George Washington engages in a opportunity to view the legal system up close and get experience as variety of D.C. school partnerships, which range from tutoring programs counselors and advocates for people in need. up to overall school management. Many of the clinics have a primary focus on assisting One of the biggest partnerships is with GW’s Foggy Bottom District residents. neighbor, School Without Walls. In addition to providing tutoring to its students and collaborating on recent building renovations, GW also has The Small Business & Community Economic Development Clinic formed the Early College Program, which allows School Without Walls provides free start-up legal assistance to community micro-businesses students to earn dual credits for their diploma and an Associate of Arts and nonprofits. It is one of the oldest GW clinics—started in 1977—and degree from GW’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, tuition free. also one of the oldest small business clinics in the country, started with Selected through a rigorous application process, the students attend seed money from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The clinic’s the university full time and take four or five classes a semester. School nonprofit and for-profit clients have run the gamut from a food co-op to Without Walls has been recognized as a Blue Ribbon school by the U.S. dance and theater companies, musicians and visual artists. Department of Education, which cited the partnership between GW and The Health Rights Law Clinic, which serves the Washington, D.C., the School Without Walls as a national model. community as the Health Insurance Counseling Project, serves more Other longstanding relationships continue, such as the one with than 4,000 members of the community each year through direct legal Duke Ellington School of the Arts, in which GW jointly manages the services, counseling, and information sessions on health care and health school through a project with D.C. Public Schools, The Ellington Fund, insurance matters. The Family Justice Litigation Clinic represents clients and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Another with in D.C. Superior Court cases involving custody, child support, divorce, Anacostia High School has been providing GW student tutors for and protection from abuse. Anacostia’s students for 15 years. The D.C. Law Students in Court program, which includes One of the most popular tutoring programs for GW students is the students from GW Law and four other D.C. law schools, allows GW Chapter of DC Reads, which works with D.C. Public Schools and students to provide legal representation, assistance, and counseling community-based organizations to provide tutoring sessions in public to low-income D.C. clients for civil cases or criminal cases involving schools and community-based organizations. The GW chapter is the misdemeanor offenses. area’s largest, with 250 students participating. In the Public Justice Advocacy Clinic, students represent low- Another popular program is the GW affiliate of Jumpstart, a income clients from community partners and involve claims of wage national AmeriCorps program that trains and places college students theft and appeals of denials of unemployment compensation benefits. in teams to serve preschools in low-income neighborhoods for The newest clinic, the Neighborhood Law and Policy Clinic, began an academic year. Hundreds of GW students have participated in operations in September 2011 and focuses on addressing housing, Jumpstart through the years. public benefits, and the civil legal needs of ex-offenders. 10 in GW D.C.

Medical and Health Services For many GW students of medicine, health sciences, and public health, Through research and community outreach, faculty members and the city around them provides a variety of opportunities for learning students also serve the city on the front lines of cancer and HIV/AIDS. and service. The GW Cancer Institute takes a multifaceted approach to Among the options, the Interdisciplinary Student Community- understanding and combating cancer disparities. And in the community, Oriented Prevention Enhancement Service, or ISCOPES, has helped the institute’s programs provide education, screening, and services promote health across the District since its founding in 1995. The to augment care. Among the programs: GW’s roving “Mammovan” program pairs teams of students and faculty advisers with local offers breast cancer screening to women around the metropolitan organizations to help with the development and delivery of educational area regardless of ability to pay; patient navigators help link patients to information and health care. resources; and the GW Cancer Pro Bono Project, in partnership with GW Last year, for example, ISCOPES offered healthful cooking Law School, pairs patients with supervised law students who answer demonstrations to parents; created a health education and resources questions related to advanced directives, wills, and insurance. guide for expectant fathers; and compiled a database of vetted health Efforts at GW to study and combat HIV/AIDS can be traced resources, in a variety of languages, at a medical clinic run by Northwest back to D.C.’s first AIDS patient, who was diagnosed 30 years ago by D.C. nonprofit Bread for the City. GW physician Gary Simon, now director of the Division of Infectious A separate GW effort at Bread for the City, the student-run Diseases. One of the university’s newest and biggest HIV/AIDS Healthcare, Education and Active Learning (HEALing) Clinic has proven projects is the establishment of a federally sponsored Developmental so popular with students since it launched in 2006 that volunteer spots Center for AIDS Research (or D-CFAR) in the nation’s capital. The are won by lottery. The demand for services there fueled the opening of citywide consortium, led by Alan E. Greenberg, MD ’82, chair of GW’s a second site in 2010, at the nonprofit Family and Medical Counseling epidemiology and biostatistics department, is providing scientific Service in Southeast D.C. Both sites supply after-hours primary care, leadership and institutional infrastructure to promote HIV/AIDS regardless of insurance status or ability to pay, offered by students research, unite researchers from across the city, and foster the next in GW’s medicine, physician assistant, and public health generation of investigators. The group was awarded $3.75 programs under the guidance of volunteer million in 2010 by the National Institutes of Health attending physicians. to launch the new D.C. D-CFAR with the goal of establishing a full CFAR within five years.

A patient is counseled by a GW HEALing Clinic staff member at D.C.’s Bread for the City. GW Biomedical Communications 11 The BUILDING BLOCKS of a University

William Atkins

In 1912, GW moved its department of arts and sciences from 15th , constructed in 1943, provided and H streets to 2023 G Street, the area that U.S. President George a much-needed venue on campus for student Washington himself selected as the site for “his” university. body meetings and performances. The drama club, glee club, and debate club utilized the In the 1920s, GW started and completed construction on two space frequently. academic buildings: Corcoran and Stockton halls. Other classroom and university space at the time included buildings GW acquired in the neighborhood.

1912 1943

1920s Mapping a Century of GW in Foggy Bottom

When the university took up residence in the neighborhood 100 years ago, GW’s Foggy Bottom Campus included one academic building on G Street. Since then, GW has become the largest institution of higher education in Washington, D.C. From a single address to a neighborhood filled with students, faculty, staff, residents, visitors, and the school that supports them, GW has put itself on the map. Images courtesy Special Collections Research Center, George Washington University

A hand-drawn 1945 campus map includes illustrations alongside The Avenue, a mixed-use retail, office, and residential buildings and landmarks. GW experienced significant growth during complex, is GW’s newest addition to Foggy Bottom. its early decades in the neighborhood. By the 1930s, the university It opened in 2011. was well established in Foggy Bottom. Today, GW’s Foggy Bottom Campus is home to the The Marvin Center opened in 1970 and included majority of GW’s schools and administrative offices, a theater, meeting space, the university as well as classrooms, libraries, residence halls, and bookstore, and eateries. Today, it still serves as the university’s medical center. GW’s campus community center.

1970 TODAY

1945 2011 William Atkins

13 Tracing Foggy Bottom’s Black History

hat do jazz legend Duke Ellington, famous slave narrative author Harriet Jacobs, and renowned surgeon Charles Drew all have in common? They each have Wroots in Foggy Bottom and its rich—but largely unknown— black history. The former homes of these three historical figures are included in a new African American Heritage Trail, which marks a total of 33 sites in the Foggy Bottom and West End communities. “As a historian, I want to preserve African American history and I want to celebrate it,” says Bernard Demczuk, PhD ’08, GW’s assistant vice president of D.C. Government Relations, who organized the trail after receiving his doctorate in American studies and African American history and culture. “This walking tour honors the great contributions that African Americans offered both Foggy Bottom and the city of Washington.” Here, we provide a glimpse of some of the trail’s highlights. To see all 33 sites, contact Dr. Demczuk at [email protected].

A mural and plaque commemorates the historic birthplace of Duke Ellington in Foggy Bottom. 14 William Atkins Former home of Harriet Jacobs (22nd and K streets) After escaping more than two decades of slavery, Harriet Jacobs wrote the famous slave narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in 1861. She became an outspoken opponent of slavery and later lived in Foggy Bottom and Alexandria, Va., where she supported newly emancipated women.

Birthplace of Duke Ellington (2129 Ward Place) Jazz legend Duke Ellington is considered one of America’s most prolific composers. He was born in Foggy Bottom in his grandparents’ home and later moved to the Shaw neighborhood, where he blossomed as a musician on D.C.’s “Black Broadway” on U Street. The Alexander Pushkin statue The Alexander Pushkin statue (22nd and H streets) A 15-foot statue of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, who The “father of Russian poetry,” Alexander Pushkin, is one of the most was of African descent, is located on campus. Jessica McConnell Burt revered poets in world literature. He was of African descent, a little- known fact, and is honored in a 15-foot statue that was a gift from the Russian capital city of Moscow to Washington, D.C.

Former home of Charles Drew (817 22nd Street) Charles Drew, a world-famous hematologist, is best known for discovering the blood plasma used to keep patients alive while undergoing blood transfusions. It is estimated that this discovery saved the lives of thousands of World War II American soldiers during battle. Dr. Drew grew up in Foggy Bottom, where his extended family had three houses.

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (728 23rd Street) Designed by the same architect who worked on the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall, the church was originally named St. Mary’s Chapel St. Mary’s Episcopal Church for Colored People. The church was founded in 1867 by black Foggy Bottom men and women, some of whom were banned from the “white” Founded by black Washingtonians, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church is a D.C. historic landmark.

St. John’s Episcopal Church across from the White House in the 1830s. Jessica McConnell Burt

GW Africana Research Center in Gelman Library (Seventh Floor, 2130 H Street) The Africana Research Center in Gelman Library houses many historic documents and artifacts of some of the nation’s prominent black leaders, including abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The center also includes historic materials from Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 March on Washington, donated by local organizer of the march, Walter Fauntroy, and from D.C. landmark Ben’s Chili Bowl.

Former homes of Bo Diddley (near 22nd and O streets) Blues guitar great Ellas Otha Bates—nicknamed “Bo Diddley”—is known to have lived on and off in Foggy Bottom. A Rock & Roll Hall of GW Africana Research Center Fame inductee and Grammy-winner, Bo Diddley is considered a rhythm The historic papers of Ben’s Chili Bowl, known for and blues innovator. surviving the 1968 race riots and continuing to serve

William Atkins the surrounding community in the decades following, are housed at Gelman Library. GW AND PRESENTPast

Ten of the most historic buildings on GW’s Foggy Bottom Campus are decorated with a little something extra for the 100th anniversary of GW in Foggy Bottom—a QR code. The university’s Special Collections Research Center has placed Quick Response codes—a type of barcode—outside buildings around campus to lead people on a historic walking tour. By scanning the QR code with a smartphone, users are led to a mobile website with options to read more about the building, to view historical images, or to see a map of all tour locations. The tour information will also be available on paper during 100th anniversary events beginning in late February. Here, we let you in on just a few of the things you can learn on the tour. For more information on the tour and other events, visit www.gwu.edu/~fb100. (2223 H Street) GW purchased the former apartment building in 1947 to house nurses on the staff of the George Washington University Hospital. The building later became a student residence hall and was renamed in honor of Senator J. William Fulbright, who earned his LLB from GW in 1934. Tonic at Quigley’s Pharmacy (2036 G Street) When GW moved to Foggy Bottom, the only commercial establishment nearby was Quigley’s Pharmacy at the corner of 21st and G streets. Opened in 1891 by an alumnus, Quigley’s originally provided only medicine, but later included a soda fountain and general store. It was a social center among students for many years and is now the site of Tonic, an alumnus-owned restaurant and bar that preserves the spot’s historic character. (725 21st Street) The first building to be constructed for GW on the Foggy Bottom Campus, Corcoran Hall, was home to the research of renowned nuclear physicist George Gamow. Also, with a government contract designed to develop new technologies during World War II, the basement of Corcoran Hall was the birthplace of the bazooka. (1925 F Street) Formerly the F Street Club, this venue has hosted guests including Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. Today, the house serves as both the home of Steven and Diane Knapp and as a centerpiece of the university community. 2000 Pennsylvania Ave.(Red Lion Row) (2000 block of Eye ST.) The row of 19th-century townhouses on the 2000 block of Eye Street is known as “Red Lion Row” in reference to the Red Lion pub on the block. The park that faces the block was once the site of the city’s Western Market, established there in 1803. Many of the block’s inhabitants at that time were merchants and kept small shops in their homes. 16 Images courtesy Special Collections Research Center, George Washington University