Walking Tour: Lost History of Frederick Douglass & Howard University (7th Street & GA Ave)

The history of Frederick Douglass and Howard University, where he served on the Board of Trustees for a quarter-century, has been largely lost and overlooked within the history of both Reconstruction Washington, D.C. and the mythic public biography of Douglass.

Join author of the definitive book, Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C.: The Lion of Anacostia (The History Press, 2012), for a unique walk back in time to discover the sacred history of Howard University, Miner Normal School and the 7th Street Turnpike.

Tour will discuss history of local Washington City and the Shaw neighborhood following the Civil War, Reconstruction and within the past half-century. Stops on tour include Shiloh Baptist Church, Carter G. Woodson Memorial Park, African-American Civil War Memorial, Howard University Hospital, Howard Hall and several stops for the 70 bus and local history heritage markers.

Historic topics include formation of Howard University, the first generation of co-ed and integrated graduates, faculty including John Mercer Langston, Richard T. Greener, Emily Edmonson Johnson, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, as well as the local and national political support from Senators to Presidents of Howard University to Presidents of the United States.

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Tour will begin: outside at the historic home of Senator Blanche K. Bruce, 909 M Street NW

Tour will conclude: Sankofa Video Books & Cafe, 2714 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001

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John Muller, author of Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C.: The Lion of Anacostia (2012) and Mark Twain in Washington, D.C.: The Adventures of a Capital Correspondent (2013) has been a local reporter in Old Anacostia and adjacent communities and neighborhoods within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for the past decade for a variety of print and online publications.

Muller has presented widely throughout the DC-Baltimore metropolitan area at venues including the Library of Congress, Newseum, Politics and Prose, American Library in Paris and local universities. He is currently working on a book about the lost history of Frederick Douglass on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Muller has been featured on C-SPAN’s BookTV and C-SPAN’s American History TV, as well as in the pages of the Washington Post, Washington Informer (where he has been a contributor for several years) Star Democrat and the airwaves of NBC4, WPFW 89.3 FM, WYPR (Baltimore) and Delmarva Public Radio.

As a guest on the Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU 88.5 FM in July 2018 Muller joined Prof. K. McClarin of Howard University to speak about the important contributions to local Washington, D.C. Frederick Douglass made, including service to Howard University.