Blanche Kelso Bruce Elementary School

The Blanche K. Bruce School was an all-black school and community center during the Jim Crow era. In July 1898, the District of Columbia public school trustees ordered that a then new public school building on Marshall Street be named the Bruce School in his honor.[2] The Bruce School building was designed by architect William M. Poindexter in Renaissance Revival style of red brick with stone and pressed metal trim, with two floors of four rooms each. In 1927, a Colonial Revival style eight-room annex was constructed, designed by architect Albert L. Harris.[3] (Marshall Street later became Kenyon Street.)

For the school in Houston, Texas, see List of Houston Independent School District elementary schools.
Blanche Kelso Bruce School
Blanche Kelso Bruce School
Location770 Kenyon St, NW
Washington, D.C.
Coordinates38°55′47″N 77°1′32″W
Built1916
ArchitectWilliam M. Poindexter
Architectural styleRenaissance Revival and Colonial Revival
NRHP reference No.15000114 [1]
Added to NRHPMarch 31, 2015

In 1973, the Bruce School was closed and combined with the James Monroe Elementary School to become the nearby Bruce-Monroe Elementary School.

The Bruce School building became the charter Caesar Chavez Prep Middle School in 2009, named for the Mexican-American labor organizer Cesar Chavez.[4] After the teachers unionized in 2017, the school was closed by the Chavez Schools in 2019.[5]

The building was designated a D.C. historic site on November 20, 2014 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 31, 2015.[3]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Annual Report of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia for the year ended June 30, 1899. Government Printing Office. 1899. p. 36.
  3. "Blanche Kelso Bruce School". DC Historic Sites.
  4. Lerner, Mark (2009-12-07). "Chavez-Bruce's new facility". Focus DC. The Washington Times.
  5. Abamu, Jenny (2019-01-24). "D.C.'s Only Unionized Charter School Faces An Abrupt Closure". WAMU.
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