Has the African American Civil War Museum reopened yet? The doors at 1925 Vermont Avenue NW opened on September 30. The museum's public ribbon-cutting is on November 11. The exhibit most people will ask about is expected to open formally in December. A few blocks east, the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site has its own split: a private ceremony on November 6, a public opening on November 7, and no regular schedule posted yet for the weeks after.
So Shaw's history season is a sequence of openings that runs from the last day of September into the holidays. If you live within walking distance, the best visits will come from knowing which part opens when.
One museum, three openings
The African American Civil War Museum sits at 1925 Vermont Avenue NW, across from the African American Civil War Memorial at 10th and U Streets, and the U Street/African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo station is the closest Metro stop. The museum has been a neighborhood landmark since 1999. It was closed for four years while it moved into the historic Archibald Grimke School building. On September 30, museum director Frank Smith Jr. led the reopening ceremony in front of about 100 people, according to MidCity DC News.
The building you walk into now is far bigger than the old one. The Washington Informer described 16,000 square feet with a new courtyard entrance, an elevator, a statue of Abraham Lincoln, a "Glorious March to Liberty" display, a genealogy lab, and "From Slavery to the White House," an exhibit on Michelle Obama's ancestors who served in the U.S. Colored Troops. Howard University News Service reporting, republished by the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, says the renovation added more than 200 artifacts and interactive displays.
The two outlets tell the Obama exhibit's timing differently. The Informer presents it as part of the reopening. The Spokesman-Recorder reports that guests could see it during the ceremony, but its official public opening was expected in December, after a visit from the Robinson family. If that exhibit is the reason you're going, a December visit is the safer bet.
November 11 brings two events. The museum's Veterans Day Reading of the Names takes place at the Memorial from 10 a.m. to noon and is free. Right after it, from noon to 1 p.m., the museum holds its grand reopening ribbon-cutting, a separate celebration from the September 30 opening. If you're free that Wednesday morning, you can attend both by walking across the street.
Admission is free, with a suggested $10 donation. The museum asks larger groups to reserve ahead and does not say individual visitors need to. Hours are less settled. The homepage lists Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Sundays. The admissions calendar on the visit page offers time slots only from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Plan on the earlier closing time until the museum publishes one schedule.
Woodson's opening day starts at a ticket tent in Shiloh
The Carter G. Woodson Home is at 1538 9th Street NW, and Shaw-Howard University is the closest Metro station. The effort to preserve the home and workplace of the man known as the "Father of African American history" goes back more than a quarter of a century, as MidCity DC News reported. The outlet also reported an invitation-only celebration on Friday, November 6, at Shiloh Baptist Church.
The public day is Saturday, November 7. The National Park Service event listing runs it from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is free and co-hosted with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Every tour and program starts at Shiloh Baptist Church, 1500 Ninth Street NW, not at the house. Free tour tickets are handed out first come, first served from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the National Park Service Welcome Tent inside the church, with several tours each hour. Tours go through the new visitor center and Dr. Woodson's home. The day also includes Woodson walking tours through Shaw, hands-on programs for children, music, and a chance to "Meet Dr. Carter G. Woodson."
Ticket pickup ends an hour before the event does, so if you show up at 4:30 you'll be walking past a house you can't go into that day. The visitor center is in the neighboring properties at 1540 and 1542 Ninth Street, according to the park's FAQ.
The park's regular schedule after opening day hasn't been posted. Its hours and guided-tour pages still show the site as closed or carry the schedule from before the renovation. For now, November 7 is the only Woodson date you can plan around with confidence.
The calendar, in order
| Date | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Wed., Sept. 30 | Museum reopens in the Grimke School | 1925 Vermont Ave. NW |
| Fri., Nov. 6 | Invitation-only Woodson celebration | Shiloh Baptist Church, 1500 Ninth St. NW |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Woodson Home public opening, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; tickets 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Tickets at Shiloh; house at 1538 9th St. NW |
| Wed., Nov. 11 | Reading of the Names, 10 a.m. to noon | African American Civil War Memorial, 10th and U |
| Wed., Nov. 11 | Museum ribbon-cutting, noon to 1 p.m. | 1925 Vermont Ave. NW |
| December, expected | Formal public opening of "From Slavery to the White House" | 1925 Vermont Ave. NW |
The walk between them goes past restored corners
The two sites are connected by Ninth Street and U Street, and several of the stops between them are also new this year. That matters on November 7, when you may have time to fill between picking up a ticket and starting your tour.
- Shiloh Baptist Church, 1500 Ninth Street NW. Woodson tickets and all opening-day programs start here.
- Carter G. Woodson Home, 1538 9th Street NW, with the visitor center next door at 1540 and 1542.
- Genika Cafe, 1400 Ninth Street NW, at the northwest corner of O and Ninth. Owner Gennet Tebebu cut the ribbon on August 26. The cafe serves its own specialty coffee, pastries and sandwiches during the day and becomes a tavern with beer, wine and cocktails in the evening. MidCity DC News reported that the building had sat vacant and run-down for more than two decades. Shaw-based United Investments bought it, renovated and expanded it while keeping the historic facade, and built seven residences above the cafe.
- Pho Viet WDC, 1521 11th Street NW. The second location of a 17-year-old Columbia Heights restaurant held its grand opening on September 18, with a blessing by Buddhist priests and a lion dance by the Ninth Generation Hung Fut Masters, according to MidCity DC News. Shaw Main Streets lists its hours as Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and closed Tuesdays.
- African American Civil War Memorial, 10th and U Streets, where the Reading of the Names takes place on November 11.
- African American Civil War Museum, 1925 Vermont Avenue NW, across the street from the Memorial.
Of those six stops, four opened, reopened or are set to open between late August and mid-November. Genika's corner, like the museum and the Woodson Home, is a historic building that sat for years before it came back into use.
For the days without an event
Between November 11 and the December exhibit opening, and on any day the Woodson site's schedule is still unclear, you can walk this history on your own. Shaw Main Streets publishes a Shaw Heritage Trail guide in English and Spanish. No guided trail program is on the fall calendar, so the printed guide is the way to do it.
Of the two sites, the museum is the one you can visit any weekday. It's free with a suggested donation, and individual visitors aren't asked to reserve. The Woodson Home has one confirmed public day so far, and the museum's most anticipated exhibit hasn't formally opened. Because the openings are spread out, your first visit to each site probably won't be your only one.
Chuck has spent more than 20 years working in DC neighborhoods like Shaw, where buildings change hands and come back into use. If you own near Ninth Street or Vermont Avenue and want to know what this fall's openings mean for your block, Chuck Burger can walk you through it. Request a Free Market Valuation.
