when barber, langdon and mcgill all lived in ledroit park, along with benjamin butterworth from ohio and henry gannett the noted geologist and father of american map making whites began moving out of ledroit park shortly after blacks started to move in. also advancements in transportation made residential life possible on the outskirts of the city. the white community was stunned when the first black community, barber, williams, his wife and daughter moved in to 338 u street. someone fired a bullet in to one of their windows. eventually it settled down and the second family moved in. they were the very famous robert terrell, who was the first municipal court judge in washington appointed by president taft, and also mary church doral who is legendary for her civil rights work and her work with the women s suffrage movement. by 1913 the community was supported by a black-owned grocery store and other black businesses. after world war i, more and more blacks from southern commun
congre congressman de priest s political career began with his membership on the board of commissioners of cook county, illinois. and then extended to his involvement in the chicago city council from 1915 to 1917. he was the city s first blacking alderman and represented ward two. when his predecessor in congress representative martin b. maddon died suddenly of a heart attack after having secured the republican nomination to his 13th term, the republican machine backed depriest. congratulatory letters and telegrams from all over the world poured into chicago for him. not much is known about the young life of congressman depriest s wife, jesse. however, she was born september 3rd, 1870, in rockford, illinois and was the daughter of james and emma williams who were both originally from pennsylvania. james was born in 1840, worked as a farmer, and was registered as a white man on the 1880 federal sentence. federal census. his wife, emma, was classified as a milano, born in 1839
positions blacks held in 1929 when the de priests joined the community. when the depriests arrived, they joined a number of other prominent black families such as dr. wilkinson who lived at 406 u street, clara who lived at 414 u street. she was a pharmacist and the daughter of john smith towho waa lawyer and ambassador. there was percy a. roy who was a craftsman. in 1910, the browns neighbors at 401 u street worked as a dining car waiter and a maid. other neighbors of the browns worked as a traveling salesman, janitor, messenger for the navy, porter at a hotel, a barber, a chauffeur and a map folder. ledroit park was founded as an exclusively white neighborhood. the proprietors of ledroit park screened all applicants and accepted only those of the highest type. from the very beginning wrought iron gates, wooden fences and wooden boards were erected to a seclude them from a black neighborhood that lived next door in shanties and modest homes of power town by howard university.
but when asked about his opinion, he said, and time magazine quoted him, i am delighted beyond measure at the fine social context my wife was able to make at the white house. she greatly enjoyed herself and is greatly delighted. about a month after the affair, mrs. de priest addressed 300 women in the church in chicago about the affair. she was quoted as saying, the president s wife is a wonderful hostess. i believe she possesses a great soul. she s quite modest, but she has all the dignity her position demands. she went on the say, the ladies at the party discussed such problems as you and i may discuss on sunday a afternoon in this church. there was no excitement when i entered the white house. all the storm and criticism has been stirred up since and outside of the capital and mostly below the mason dixon line. two years later on january 29th, 1931, congressman and mrs. de priest, who were still residents of 419 u street northwest were invited to the white house for
depriest who were still residents of u street northwest were invited to the white house for a reception as guests of the president. the press reported that they mingled with the speaker of the house long worth and other dignitaries in the white house. this time there was no storm of criticism. congressman depriest served in the 71st, 72nd, and 73rd sessions of congress. he s remembered for courageously challenging segregation and racial discrimination. he fought for blacks to have the right to eat in the house restaurant rather than confined to a separate facility. he fought for the reduction of the number of seats in the house for states that disfranchised bla blacks. just as congressman white had done. he fought to honor and assist former slaves who were 75 years and older by giving them a federal pension. he fought to authorize federal courts to change the location of a trial that right to impartiality was at risk due to race, color, or creed as in the skoths burro case. h