A historical dig at the Stephen Decatur House across Lafayette Square from the White House has unearthed two fireplaces used in slave quarters in the early 1800s.
“It confirms what a clear and close presence slavery was in this White House neighborhood,” said Katherine Malone-France of the National Trust for Historic Preservation which controls the house with the White House Historical Association.
The excavation of the Decatur House slave quarters, which run along H Street between Connecticut Avenue and 17th Street, has moved into high gear after being ignored through the whole civil rights era. “This remarkable building has told us so much,” she said, “and will tell us more.”
Officials are unclear when the wing housing slaves was added to the formal home. What is know, said Maline-France, is that hotelier John Gadsby, who owned the house in the 1840s, not only had several slaves but also bought and sold slaves at the house one block from the White House. Drawings of the neighborhood shown at a conference Monday suggest that other houses on the square also had slave quarters.
The timing of the excavation is remarkable considering the president just last week broke ground on the new National Museum of African American History and Culture on the Mall. The Decatur slave house, once restored, is likely to be one of Washington’s other key sights on the slave trail.
