Built 1919 Opened 1919 Added to NRHP 14 July 1993 | NRHP Reference # 93000595 Area 809.4 m² | |
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Location 1839 13th St. NWWashington, D.C. Part of Greater U Street Historic District (#93001129) Similar Lincoln Theatre, Howard Theatre, Folger Shakespeare Library, Arena Stage, Ford House Office Bui | ||
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The Whitelaw Hotel is an historic structure located in the Shaw neighborhood of the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
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History
The Whitelaw was built as an upscale apartment hotel in the Italian Renaissance Revival style for $158,000 in 1919. The building was designed by architect Isaiah T. Hatton, who was one of the nation's first African American architects. It was named for the mother of its builder John Whitelaw Lewis. It was completely financed and built by African American entrepreneurs, investors, designers, and craftsmen as a place of meeting and public accommodation for prominent African Americans during segregation. Entertainers, such as Cab Calloway, who performed on U Street stayed at the Whitelaw as well as other African Americans who came to Washington for meetings of national black organizations and could not stay in the city’s other hotels. Its large public spaces allowed the Whitelaw to become an important social center.
The end of legal Segregation in the United States and the rise in drugs in the neighborhood led to the decline of the Whitelaw. It was closed by the city in 1977 and was slated for demolition. Manna, Inc bought the building in 1991 and used historic tax credits to renovate it into low- and moderate-income housing. It re-opened in 1992.