Holding court in a sea of concrete—surrounded by the stomach-turning smells of diesel fuel and other chemicals in the midst of the historically black community of Ivy City (1873) in Northeast Washington, DC—stands the Alexander Crummell School. Named after the black priest who was the first rector of St. Mary’s, Foggy Bottom—the first black Episcopal church in DC—and who later founded St. Luke’s, DC, the building was built in 1911 as a segregated elementary school.

The school served Ivy City residents until it was closed in 1972. Over the subsequent decades, the building fell into neglect and disrepair, a faithful and convicting reflection of the problems that many black communities also faced.

Rather than remaining silent and letting outside developers dictate what would happen with the land, Ivy City residents, many of whom attended as children, began a drive to revive Alexander Crummell School, to resurrect and restore the site to its former glory for the black residents of the community, for the children and the elders. For over twenty years, community members and EmpowerDC, a grass-roots organization, have fought for the community and the preservation of the school. The DC chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians has been part of this fight for the past 10 years.

One step in reclaiming this important landmark and history occurred on Friday, March 13, 2024 when Gallaudet Street—on which the school sits, named for Thomas Henry Gallaudet, one of the owners of the land purchased to build Ivy City and founder of the College that bears his name—was rechristened Alexander Crummell Way.

More is to come for Alexander Crummell Way. The site is undergoing redevelopment to become a community center. Ivy City residents look forward to breaking ground on the project and the prospect of attending the opening ceremony upon its completion.

The evolution of this street and the school Northeast DC are testament to the Rev. Dr. Alexander Crummell’s dogged insistence on education and scholarship and his fight for equity for black people in this city, this country, this church, and the diaspora.