New! African Americans in the White House Neighborhood: Grades 7-12

Students examine the history and evolution of Lafayette Square through perspectives of the African American community, free and enslaved, and the interactions of the communities—white and black—in the President's Neighborhood. During the program, students have an opportunity to explore the Decatur House slave quarters, the only lasting physical evidence that African Americans were held in bondage in sight of the White House. Additionally, students design and create an exhibit using primary source documents that trace the story of real residents of the neighborhood in different historical eras.

Image: Decatur House Courtyard, Slave Quarters (on left). Historic American Building Survey, 1937