small scale trading was rife among owners, particularly in taverns and hotels. most sales involved say five to 20 people at a time. even more common were brokers helping owners to sell off a few people to raise a little money as scholar mary beth corrigan notes. during the years circa 1822 to 1836, john gadsby advertised 81 to 93 people. his 1830 census record indicates he owned 39 people. again, john gadsby could take advantage of the flourishing slave trade. the national hotel was relatively close to other hotels in the city involved in the slave trade and a reasonable distance from slave jails and pens. one infamous hotel, the st. charles, advertised that you could come for the auction and house the people you bought in their basements. it was very convenient. one infamous hotel, the st. charles oh, sorry. during the first decades or so of the 19th century, slave trading appeared to be concentrated in georgetown, and later moves to what is now downtown washington near th
population in the nation. this population growth also created a much more segregated city in washington, d.c. as african-americans continued to move in and were funneled into certain sections of this city. by the start of the 20th century, washington s african-american community constituted essentially a separate city within the federal government, a secret city, as one author has described it. now, while we know a great deal about the general history of african-americans in this city, i would argue, i would suggest, that we do not know enough about the specific issues unfolding in different portions of the district. those of us that know washington, d.c., know that this is a city of multiple parts, different experiences, and different communities. georgetown is different from the park, which is different from u street, which is different from northeast, which is different from capitol hill, which is different from the area surrounding the white house. the community in each o
image, in which the north elevation of the slave quarters is barely visible over here. but you get the sense of it, its size and shape. the african-american men pictured in the foreground could have been servants living in the slave quarters. i am going to continue to use that term to talk about the building, not only because it makes clear the original intent of its construction, but also because it was its vernacular name used for it across the 20th century. 1880 census listed three african-american servants, william hanson, john smith, and elizabeth abby living in the house of edward beal. by 1900, the population of servants living on the property had doubled. of the six servants living on the property, five were classified by the census as black. mazie worked as a reader. ellen, a ladies made. emma thomas worked as a land dress and was the only married servant in the household. lloyd lyles, a coach man, aid adolph bird worked as a butler. only one of the african-american
until i was able to peel back some of the stories by reading newspaper accounts that were contemporaneous with the time, you begin to fashion together what life was really like. there are so many stories where, for example, even though wormley was a close friend of vice president wilson when he died, they had been friends before he had become vice president. he was going to attend the funeral train to return back to new england. and members of congress said the only way that wormley would be there if he were the caterer to the train. they ended up not having to do that, but those are the kinds of hurdles that people of color had to overcome, even though they were already well known around the world, presidents all knew them, they still treated them as fourth class citizens. they are the stories of in the newspapers of the not too long ago boston, cincinnati, cleveland, they all use the n word in the media. for people of color. it was just a second way of talking about peopl
unfortunately, the panel created that created the state policy of segregation split along party lines, three democrats and two republicans. and they refused to recommend any revisions. so in effect, the house officially kept the dining room segregated and there it died after that. i want to talk momentarily about the day he was sworn in to congress. after the swearing in was done, the hopes, dreams and aspirations of 12 million african-americans were lifted to a height that was never felt before in the 20th century. they had no representation. there was a reporter for the chicago defender who said and i quote, as he walked down the aisle his face was grim, almost to the point of sternness as if the solemnness of the occasion rested on his shoulders. i think it dawned on him at that point that he was the sole voice for 12 million african-americans in this country. i can t imagine the weight of responsibility that he must have felt at that time. think about that. one voice