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Box #22
Box Location:
SW corner 15 & Corcoran Sts.

View Box Location
on Map

The Dupont Circle area has always been racially and economically mixed. The Dupont Circle Citizens Association, predominantly white established in 1922, and the Midway Civic Association, predominantly black established in1939, served their communities with overlapping boundaries. Among the area’s eminent African Americans was Dr. Laura Killingsworth, a gynecologist, who lived in the 1500 block of S St. Barred from practicing medicine in all but the Freedman’s Hospital and some small clinics, Dr. Killingsworth operated a clinic for black women at 13th and T Sts.

Nearby, at 1530 15th St. (left), stands the modest home of noted African American artist and teacher, Alma Woodsey Thomas, who lived there from 1907 to 1978. In 1987 the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

 

This call box is sponsored by:
The Kimpton Hotel Group

 

Originally from Liberia, West Africa and currently living in Dupont Circle, Ricks is a self-taught artist experienced in many art forms such as photography, painting, bookbinding, clothing and handbag design. His work is “a form of self expression that allows communication without words.”

For more info: Artist Website

Fire Fact | Sunday February 7, 1904

Great Baltimore Fire, several DC fire companies  answered Baltimore Chief’s urgent telegram,  “Desperate fire here. Must have help at once.”   DC, responding by railway flatcar, was accompanied by New York City, Philadelphia and other cities.

FIRE ALARM BOXES such as this one (originally painted red) were installed in the District after the Civil War. Telegraphs transmitted the box number (on round topper sign shown above) to a fire alarm center. This system was used until the 1970s when the boxes were converted to a telephone system. By the 1990s, the callbox system had been replaced by the 911 system and was abandoned.
Typical Steam Pumper of the era.

Fire Department information and images courtesy of Capitol Fire Museum
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Art on Call is a program of Cultural Tourism DC with support from DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development District Department of Transportation.

This community project is also supported by Dupont Circle Citizens Association and The Dupont Circle Conservancy, Inc. and generous donations from community residents and businesses.

©2005 Dupont Circle Call Box Project No reproduction or distribution of any site content without consent of author.Links to this or any other page on the site are permitted. No hyperlinks to pictures are permitted, query info@dupontcirclecallbox.com for copying permission.