USA > Washington > Standard history of the city of Washington from a study of the original sources > Part 35
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For the first time in a quarter of a century a President elect on March 4, 1901, rode to the Capitol as his own successor. On that day Mr. Mckinley, accompanied by Senator Hanna and Representatives Cannon and McRae, and escorted a second time by Troop A of Cleveland, drove through a disagreeable rain to receive the oath on the east portico from Chief Justice Fuller, the rain ceasing during this ceremony but starting again before the conclusion of the President's address. Vice-president Roose- velt was sworn in by Senator Frye, President pro tempore of the Senate. The downpour was not sufficiently severe to cause material injury to the inaugural parade in which it was esti- mated thirty thousand persons took part.
On the evening of September 6, 1901, President Mckinley, while holding a reception in the Temple of Music at the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition, was shot through the stomach by Leon F. Czolgosz, a Polish anarchist. He was subjected to a surgical operation soon after, but died in the early hours of the morn- ing of September 14, at the home of John C. Milburn the President of the Exposition.
The dead President's body arrived at Washington on the evening of the 16th. The following day, escorted by a proces- sion one and a half miles long, it was taken from the White House to the Capitol, where it lay in state the remainder of the day, and was viewed, it is estimated, by eighteen thousand persons.
Owing to a recently enacted statute prohibiting the drap- ing of public buildings, no black draping appeared on the Capitol or White House. That evening the body started on the trip to Canton, Ohio for interment.
Mr. Roosevelt was sworn in as President by Judge Hazel of Columbus on September 16, at the home of Andrew Wilcox in
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Columbus, Ohio in the presence of the members of the Cabinet.
The social life of President and Mrs. Roosevelt was char- acterized by the same intense activity which rendered the ad- ministration notable. Mrs. Roosevelt was a woman of remark- able energy and administrative capacity, to which were added social qualities of the highest order. The young ladies of the family, Miss Alice and Miss Ethel Roosevelt furnished a motif for many dances, teas, garden parties and similar affairs for their friends of the younger set, to which were added an exceptional number of dinners, at homes, receptions and luncheons, in addi- tion to the regular public functions. In all, the unprecedented number of one hundred and eighty private White House enter- tainments were held during the slightly more than seven years of Mr. Roosevelt's period of office.
Prince Henry of Prussia, the brother of Emperor William, came to America in February, 1902, to take part in the launch- ing of the Emperor's yacht Meteor. He came to Washington for a brief visit on the 24th of that month, calling upon President Roosevelt at the White House and shortly after receiving a re- turn of the call from the President at the German Embassy. He also visited Mount Vernon during his visit. On May 24, of the same year, the representatives of the Rochambeau and La- fayette families, together with representatives of the French Army and Navy, were officially entertained at Washington on the occasion of the unveiling of the Rochambeau statue in La- fayette Square. In August, 1902, President Roosevelt received an official visit from the Crown Prince of Siam; on May 28, 1904, he was visited by a representative of the reigning house of China; and on November 14, 1904, he entertained Prince Sada- nura Fushimi, a relative of the Mikado of Japan, then on his way to the St. Louis Exposition.
President Roosevelt's proverbial good luck was in evidence on March 4, 1905, when a clear, beautiful day aided the efforts of those who had arranged one of the most impressive of all the Presidential inaugurals. Accompanied by Senators Spooner and Lodge and Representatives Dalzell, and escorted by three troops of Squadron A of New York, the President was driven in the midst of a hollow square of "Rough Riders" from his old Regi-
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ment, to the Capitol where, after Vice-president Fairbanks had received the oath from Senator Frye, Mr. Roosevelt delivered his address, and was sworn in by Chief Justice Fuller. Thirty thousand troops marched up Pennsylvania Avenue in the inau- gural parade. The celebration closed with a ball at the Pension Office building and a display of fireworks at the Monument lot.
On February 7, 1906, Alice Roosevelt, the oldest daughter of the President, was married in the East Room of the White House to Representative Nicholas Longworth, of Ohio. Two years later Miss Ethel Roosevelt was formally introduced to society in the White House at an elaborate function given by her mother.
On the misty evening of December 30, 1906, a train of empty freight cars running rapidly toward Washington on the Metro- politan Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ran into the rear end of a crowded passenger train just starting from the station at Terra Cotta, in the District, killing forty-three persons and injuring more or less seriously about fifty others, many of the killed and injured being Washingtonians.
The inauguration of President Taft on March 4, 1909, took place immediately following one of the worst snow storms in the history of the Atlantic States. Trains were tied up, wires were down, and the suffering, which was general throughout the afflict- ed section, worked great hardship upon those who had started to see the inauguration, many of whom were prevented from reaching the city.
While the gale was still raging on the morning of the inau- gural day a wide space in the middle of the Avenue was cleared of the snow which had fallen by the municipal street cleaning service ; and Mr. Taft rode to the Capitol accompanied by President Roosevelt, and Senators Lodge and Knox and escorted by Troop A of Cleveland.
Mr. Taft was desirous of taking the oath on the east portico, but this was regarded by Congress as imposing too much hard- ship and danger upon its more elderly members, and a resolution was hastily passed providing for the holding of the ceremony in the Senate Chamber. Vice-president Sherman was sworn in by his predecessor, Mr. Fairbanks, and President Taft by Chief
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Justice Fuller. Under the circumstances, the parade suffered noticeably. Notwithstanding the severity of the weather a brilliant ball was held in the Pension building and some fire- works, though none of the set pieces which had been designed, were displayed on the Monument lot.
Under Mrs. Taft the public functions of the Executive Mansion were held with the usual frequency and eclat. Mrs. Taft proved herself, also, a most agreeable hostess in the affairs of a private nature which she gave to the more intimate circle of her friends. At one of her lawn parties she introduced the innovation of having the grounds of the White House patroled by a detach- ment of United States soldiers, a feature which, owing to public disfavor, was not continued.
On January 25, 1912, the Duke of Connaught, brother of King Edward VII of England and uncle of King George V, paid a brief visit to the Capitol, taking tea at the White House with President and Mrs. Taft, and receiving a return call from the President at the British Embassy.
Propitious weather favored the inauguration of President Wilson on March 4, 1913. On the afternoon of the preceding day five thousand women, with several hundred men, marched up Pennsylvania Avenue to call the attention of the country to the cause of Woman Suffrage, concluding the ceremonies with a series of tableaux on the south portico of the Treasury building.
On the day of the inauguration three thousand students of Princeton University and the University of Virginia lined the way for Mr. Wilson from the Shoreham Hotel to the White House. Mr. Wilson was driven to the Capitol in company with Presi- dent Taft and Senators Crane and Bacon, and escorted by the Essex Troop of New Jersey; Vice-president Marshall being es- corted by the Black Horse Troop of Culver Military Academy. After Vice-president Marshall had been sworn in by Senator Gallinger, Mr. Wilson received the oath from Chief Justice White and delivered his address from the east portico. Forty thousand persons took part in the military and civic parade which follow- ed. In deference to Mr. Wilson's wishes the customary ball was omitted. It was estimated that 250,000 people came to Washing- ton for this inauguration.
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Two White House Weddings have taken place during the term of President Wilson. On November 25, 1913, the Presi- dent's second daughter, Jessie Woodrow, was married to Mr. Francis B. Sayre in the East Room; and on May 7, 1914, the President's youngest daughter, Eleanor Randolph, was married in the Blue Room to Mr. William Gibbs McAdoo, the Secretary of the Treasury in President Wilson's Cabinet.
The census of 1880 showed Washington with a population of 147,293, a gain of 38,000 in the preceding decade; Georgetown with 12,578, a gain of a little over one thousand; and the County with 17,753. The total population of the District was 177,624, of whom 59,402 were colored. In 1890 the population of Wash- ington was 188,932; that of Georgetown was 14,046; and that of the County, 27,414. Of the total of 230,392, about one-third, or 75,572 were colored.
By Act of February 11, 1895, Congress decreed that from that date the part of the District of Columbia then constituting the city of Georgetown, which by the Acts creating the Terri- torial and the temporary commission governments had been given recognition under that name, should no longer be known by the name of the city of Georgetown, but should be known as and constitute a part of the city of Washington, the Federal Capitol. By the census of 1900 the combined population of the two former cities was 247,294, and that of the County 45,973. The total population of the District was 278,718, of which num- ber 87,186 were colored. In 1900 the total population of the District was 331,069 of whom 94,941 were colored.
With the beginning of the last quarter of the 19th century the white public school system of Washington and Georgetown was divided into five districts, of which Georgetown constituted the fifth. Eleven school buildings of considerable size, and other smaller ones, were owned, but approximately one-third of the school accomodations consisted of rented quarters in churches, private residences, engine houses and public halls, in many cases, being one or two room frame or brick structures. The principal buildings were the Franklin, built in 1869; the Seaton, built in 1871; the Jefferson, built in 1872; the Wallach, built in 1864 the Cranch, built in 1872; and the Curtis, built in 1875. In the
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latter year the old first district building at 14th and G Streets was sold and the proceeds used in acquiring another site. An Act of Congress of June 25, 1864, had made school attendance compulsory upon all children between the ages of six and seven- teen, but had been a dead letter from the date of its passage, as the voluntary school attendance exceeded the accommodations. In 1875 the enrollment in the white public schools was 11,241 and in the white private schools, 6,837, making a total white school population for Washington and Georgetown of 18,078.
The public schools at this time were divided into nine grades, of which the first eight comprised the courses ordinarily pre- scribed for elementary schools, and the ninth the work usually assigned to high schools. The classes in the latter grade were re- tained in the grammar schools as there was then no high school. The normal schools had been established in 1873.
The colored schools in 1875 had a total enrollment of 5,489, and consisted of ten buildings, one of which was used as a high school.
The construction of school buildings, both white and color- ed, proceeded vigorously, each year witnessing more or less ex- tensive additions to the number.
The most prolific years were 1883 when six new buildings were constructed; 1887 with seven; 1889 with fourteen; 1891 with six; 1896 and 1897 with five each; 1898 with seven; and 1904 with six. In other years the number built ranged from two to four. A total of 174 buildings for white and colored schools have been erected, all except one, since 1864. With the exception of the Franklin and Wallach schools little attention was paid to the architectural features of the school buildings, which were usually designed in the office of the Inspector of Buildings, un- til, as a result of the efforts of Commissioner Black in 1897, the present system of obtaining competitive designs from architects was inaugurated.
The first white high school building was the Central, at 7th and O Streets, which was constructed in 1883. In 1890 the Curtis building in Georgetown was dedicated to high school pur- poses as the Western, and in 1891 the Eastern High School was constructed at 7th and C Streets, southeast. The Business High
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School was organized in 1890 in the old Thompson building. The following two years it was located in the Franklin building and for three years occupied the old Minor building which had for- merly been used for the colored normal school. In 1896 it was established in the building owned by Thomas W. Smith on 1st Street between B and C Streets, northwest, which had for some years been occupied by the District Commissioners.
The new Western High School at 35th and T Streets was built in 1898 and destroyed by fire on the night of April 24, 1914. The Mckinley Manual Training or Technical High School at 7th and Rhode Island Avenue was built in 1902, and the present Business High School at 9th and Rhode Island Avenue in 1904. The purchase of the site for the new Central High School on Clifton Street between 11th and 13th Streets, was authorized by Congress on March 2, 1911, and its construction authorized in Act of March 4, 1913.
The High School Cadets were organized with two com- panies in 1882. In 1884 a battalion of four companies was or- ganized; in 1890 a company each from the Business and Eastern High Schools was added; and in 1893 a company from the West- ern and an additional company from the Central High School were added. The organization first paraded as a full eight com- pany regiment at the second Cleveland inaugural on March 4, 1893. Additional companies have brought the present strength of the regiment to eleven companies organized in three battalions. The first competitive drill was held in 1888, and in 1894 the cus- tom of holding the drill out of doors was inaugurated.
The colored High School on M Street between 1st Street and New Jersey Avenue was erected in 1890. The purchase of the new site on 1st Street between N and O Streets, northwest, was au- thorized by Act of March 2, 1911. The first company of colored High School Cadets was organized in 1890.
By Act of July 1, 1882, the membership of the Board of Trustees of Public Schools, which had been created in 1871, was reduced from nineteen to nine. On March 1, 1895, the number was increased to eleven in order to allow the Commissioners to appoint two women members. By Act of June 20, 1906, the con- trol of the public schools of the District was vested in a Board
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of Education to consist of nine members to be appointed by the Judges of the Supreme Court of the District. This Act required that three of the members of the Board should be women and that all should have been for five years preceding their appointment bona fide residents of the District of Columbia.
Since the close of the Civil War the development among the colleges and Universities of the District has been such as to con- stitute a distinctive and highly important feature of the local history.
In 1865 Columbian College was the recipient from Mr. W. W. Corcoran of a building for a medical school on the present site, and that department, which had been discontinued following the conversion of the old infirmary back of the City Hall into a military hospital, was reestablished. In the same year the old Trinity P. E. Church property on 5th Street between D and E Streets was purchased and occupied by the law department. By Act of Congress of March 3, 1873, the name "Columbian Col- lege" was changed to "Columbian University."
A movement to furnish the colored youth of the country op- portunities for education comporting with the status in which they had been placed as a result of the Civil War resulted in the establishment of Howard University under a charter granted by Congress on March 2, 1867. The chief actors in this movement were a circle of prominent members of the Congregationalist de- nomination, notably General O. O. Howard, for whom the insti- tution was named, and Mr. B. F. Morris of Cincinnati. The new- ly erected building at the head of 7th Street was occupied in November, 1868. The law department was opened on January 1, 1869, and the medical department on October 6 of the same year.
Georgetown University opened its law department in Octo- ber, 1870, occupying temporarily a number of locations until the erection of the present building on E Street beteween 5th and 6th Streets in 1891. The magnificent main building of the College, known as Healy Hall, was commenced in 1877 and com- pleted in 1879. In 1882 the medical department was permanent- ly housed in its newly erected building on H Street between 9th and 10th Streets.
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In 1882 Columbian University established its preparatory school at 14th and H Streets and the following year sold its property at 14th and Euclid Streets and erected its new college building at 15th and H Streets. The Corcoran Scientific School was established in 1884 and the dental department in 1887.
The National University was incorporated in 1879 and at once commenced instruction with its law department. In 1884 it established medical and dental departments which after some years were discontinued. The Catholic University was incorpor- ated in 1887 and commenced instruction in Caldwell Hall in 1889 Georgetown University established its hospital in 1898, its dental department in 1901 and its training school for nurses in 1903.
In 1897 Columbian University discontinued its preparatory school and established its hospital in the building at 14th and H Streets which the preparatory school had occupied. In 1898 it erected a handsome three story building in the rear of its main building at 15th and H Streets for its law department and its newly created School of Comparative Jurisprudence and Diplo- macy. In 1900 its new medical building was erected on the site of the old one and the main hospital building was erected in the space between the medical building and the old hospital. In 1904 the name was changed to George Washington University. In 1910 the policy which for some years had involved encroachments upon the principal of certain of the University's endowment funds resulted in a reorganization and a sale of the property at 15th and H Streets, the law department being housed in the Masonic Temple at 13th and H Streets and the college depart- ments in a building on I Street between 15th Street and Vermont Avenue. In 1912 the present quarters of the college department on G Street between 20th and 21st Streets were rented and the following year were purchased by the University.
The Catholic University, following its establishment in 1887, has grown rapidly. Caldwell Hall, the pioneer building has been followed in the order named by McMahon Hall, Albert (formerly Keane) Hall, and in 1912, by Gibbons Hall.
The American University was incorporated under the laws of the District on June 3, 1891, under the auspices of the Metho. dist Episcopal Church. The site, embracing ninety-two acres at
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Nebraska Avenue and the Loughborough Road, was acquired at about this time, but the buildings were not completed until the present year. The dedication ceremonies, participated in by President Wilson and Secretaries Bryan and Daniels were held on May 27, 1914.
The last thirty-five years have seen many notable develop- ments in church lines, not only in the establishment of new churches, but in the erection of new, larger and more beautiful structures for the older congregations, and in several cases their removal to more appropriate locations.
The year 1881 was signalized by the dedication of four prominent churches the Church of the Reformation (Luther- an), Tabernacle Congregationalist Church, St. Andrew's Church (Episcopal), and Plymouth and Lincoln Memorial Con- gregational Churches (Colored).
The Church of Our Father (Universalist) was dedicated in October, 1883. The first steps looking to the formation of this congregation had been taken in 1867. Previous to the erection of the present building the congregation had wor- shipped in various halls. The Vermont Avenue Christian Church, in which President Garfield had worshipped, was after his death replaced by the present building, erected as a memo- rial to the Martyred President, which was dedicated in 1884. In that year also the new building of St. Patrick's Church was dedicated, and St. James' Episcopal Church was erected suf- fciently for occupancy. The Church of Our Redeemer (Luth- eran) was dedicated in 1885; Grace M. E. Church (South) was organized in 1886 and the building completed soon after; St. Paul's Catholic Church and Independent M. E. Church were dedicated in 1887, the Fifth Congregational Church organized with its place of worship in Milford Hall at 8th and I Streets, and the original Metropolitan Baptist Church was completed in 1888; and the new St. Mark's Episcopal Church was complet- ed in 1889.
The present marble structure of St. Peter's Catholic Church and the new First Baptist Church were erected in 1890. Twelfth Street Methodist Church, St. Joseph's Catholic Church Maryland Avenue Baptist Church, the new building of St.
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Mary's Catholic Church, Keller Memorial Church (Lutheran), Grace Baptist Church, and the new First German Reformed Trinity Church were erected in 1891. The Church of the Cove- nant was first occupied in 1885, but not completed until 1892, and the Church of the United Brethren of Christ in the same year. St. Thomas Episcopal Church was organized in 1892 and its building erected soon after.
In 1893 the congregation of Unity Presbyterian Church, which had occupied a brick chapel the site of the present buildings since 1884, erected their new structure under the name of Gunton Temple Memorial Church. In 1896 the Church of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian) which had been organized in 1846, and had occupied a number of loca- tions including a church building on north Capitol Street which was burned in 1889, erected its present Gothic structure on the Avenue of the Presidents. The Church of the Sacred Heart was dedicated in 1900. St. Margaret's Episcopal Church was organized in 1897 and constructed soon after.
In 1904 the new building of Foundry M. E. Church on the Avenue of the Presidents was dedicated, the old structure at 14th and G Streets being replaced by the Colorado Building. Ingram Memorial Church was dedicated in 1910. The Chapel of the Nativity, the first portion of the Protestant Episcopal Catheral to be constructed, was dedicated in 1912, as was also the new building of the Metropolitan Baptist Church. In 1913 St. Matthew's and St. Martin's Catholic Churches and the First Church of Christ, Scientist, were dedicated. The Central Presbyterian Church was dedicated in 1914.
The local branch of the Young Men's Christian Association was organized in 1852 by William J. Rhees, Rev. Thomas Dun- can, and Rev. William C. Langdon. It was incorporated by a special Act of Congress in 1864. Various locations were oc- cupied from time to time until 1900, when the building of the Columbia Athletic Club on G Street between 17th and 18th Streets was purchased. This proving inadequate to the needs of the Association, the adjacent property was acquired and the new building erected in 1905 adjoining the old. The Association
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has established a branch for railroad men at the Union Station, and branches for soldiers at Fort Myer, Washington Barracks, and Marine Barracks. A branch for colored men is located at 1816 12th Street, northwest. It has a total membership, in all branches of more than six thousand five hundred.
The regulation of the practice of medicine appears to have remained chiefly with the Medical Society of the District of Columbia until 1874. By an Act of June 23 of that year Con- gress directed the Board of Health to make regulations look- ing to the recording of vital statistics. One of the regulations so established required all persons practicing medicine in the District to be registered with the Board of Health; and the Commissioners by an order dated August 28, 1874, provided that physicians who should be entitled to registration should include such as had received licenses from some medical society or those holding diplomas from medical schools or institutions. No further regulation of practice was attempted until the enact- ment of the so-called Medical Practice Act of June 3, 1896, which was passed in recognition of a demand from physicians that some more stringent regulation than had formerly existed be estab- lished. This Act provided for the creation of three boards of medical examiners representing respectively the regular, the homeopathic and the eclectic schools of practice, which should examine applicants for licences to practice and report to the Board of Medical Supervisors consisting of the presidents of the three boards of examiners. The Board of Dental Examiners had been created by Act of June 6, 1892. By Act of May 7, 1906 a Board of Pharmaceutical Examiners was created and its president merged with the former Board of Medical Supervisors in a Board of Supervisors in Medicine and Pharmacy. An Act of April 29, 1902, created an Anatomical Board to regulate the distribution of bodies among the various medical schools of the District.
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