“You adopt the universal habit of the place and call for a mint-julep, a whiskey-skin, a gin-cocktail...for the conviviality of Washington sets in at an early hour,” wrote Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1862
Meeting site of the "Saturday Nighters" the social hub of the Harlem Renaissance in the 20s and 30s. Johnson hosted weekly gatherings for Langston, Zora and other DC-based literary luminaries.
Author Zora Neale Hurston rented a room here. This is the last place she lived in Washington, DC.
In the 1920s this was known as the 12th Street Y, home to Langston Hughes. Zora Neale Hurston met Hughes while he was living here in DC. They would later become close friends and collaborators.
Populated by rural Southern transplants, in the early 20th century 7th Street was a bustling center of working class African-American culture. 7th street found its way into several poems and books.
