Freedman's Bank Building | |
 Freedman's Bank Building as viewed fromPennsylvania Avenue | |
 Interactive map showing the location for Freedman Bank’s Building | |
| Location | 701 Madison Place NW Washington, D.C. |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°53′56.8″N77°2′5.3″W / 38.899111°N 77.034806°W /38.899111; -77.034806 |
| Built | 1919 |
| Architect | Cass Gilbert |
| Architectural style | Beaux-Arts |
| Part of | |
| Significant dates | |
| Designated NHLDCP | August 29, 1970 |
| Designated CP | January 12, 2017 |
| Designated DCIHS | November 8, 1964 |
TheFreedman's Bank Building, previously known as theTreasury Annex, is a historic office building located on the corner ofMadison Place andPennsylvania AvenueNW inWashington, D.C. It sits on the east side ofLafayette Square, a public park on the north side of theWhite House, and across from theTreasury Building. The adjoining properties include theHoward T. Markey National Courts Building to the north and the formerRiggs National Bank to the east.
The current building is the third constructed on the site. The first, a house built in 1831, was later seized by the federal government during theCivil War. It was demolished and replaced with the elaborately decorated headquarters ofFreedman's Savings Bank, established byCongress in 1865 forrecently emancipatedenslaved people andfreedmen. Despite the bank's initial success, the combination of mismanagement, fraud, and thePanic of 1873 resulted in the bank's failure and closure in 1874. Over 60,000African Americans collectively lost the equivalent of $75 million. This caused a distrust of the government and banks for many generations.
The third and present building to be constructed on the site was the Treasury Annex, designed byCass Gilbert in theBeaux-Arts style and completed in 1919. It was the first large building planned as part of a massive redevelopment of Lafayette Square. TheMcMillan Plan, which called for the demolition of all buildings on Madison Place andJackson Place, was only partially completed in the Lafayette Square area. The other completed building, theU.S. Chamber of Commerce Building, was also designed by Gilbert.
The initial plan of eventually expanding the Treasury Annex toH Street NW never happened due to several factors. The construction ofFederal Triangle, the work of early historic preservationists, and assistance from PresidentJohn F. Kennedy and First LadyJacqueline Kennedy meant several of the historic buildings on Madison Place were never demolished, and the Annex was never expanded. The Annex was renamed the Freedman's Bank Building in 2016 to mark the importance of the site's history.
The Freedman's Bank Building is acontributing property to theLafayette Square Historic District, aNational Historic Landmark, and theFinancial Historic District. It is also listed on theDistrict of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites. TheOffice of Foreign Assets Control, theTreasury Library, and the main branch of theTreasury Department Federal Credit Union are housed in the building.
Present-dayLafayette Square, a public park sited just north of theWhite House inWashington, D.C., was initially planned byPierre Charles L'Enfant as part ofPresident's Park. PresidentThomas Jefferson later divided President's Park, with Lafayette Square becoming a separate park area north of the White House andThe Ellipse south of the White House. During the 19th century, elegant houses built for prominent individuals were constructed along the western, northern, and eastern sides of Lafayette Square.[1]
Soon after politicianRichard Cutts and his wife, Anna, builttheir house on the northeast corner of the square, the one-block streetMadison Place was created in the 1820s to linkPennsylvania AvenueNW withH Street NW. On the corner of Madison Place and Pennsylvania Avenue, Dr. James Gunnell built a five-story house in 1831 that was later rented to government employees. The house was seized by the federal government during theCivil War for military use.[1][2]
Real estate prices increased considerably after the Civil War, and some houses on the square were converted to office space or rental properties. After the war, Gunnell's house was demolished and replaced with theFreedman's Savings Bank, a private corporation established in 1865 byCongress for millions ofrecently emancipatedenslaved people and previously emancipatedfreedmen to deposit their savings.[1][3]
Until the building was completed in 1869, the bank's temporary headquarters was located at 19th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The new building across from the White House andTreasury Building was built for $260,000 and designed by architectsNorris Garshom Starkweather and Thomas M. Plowman. It was an elaborately decorated headquarters, withFrederick Douglass describing it as "one of the most costly and splendid buildings of the time."[3] The bank was initially successful, with around 100,000African Americans using its services.[4]
Land just east of the square facing Pennsylvania Avenue had already become a popular location for financial institutions, owing to the fact the Treasury Building stood across the street. ASecond Bank of the United States branch and adjacent cashier's house built on the northwest corner of 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue were later demolished and replaced with theRiggs National Bank andAmerican Security and Trust Company Building.[1]
The combination of mismanagement and fraud with thePanic of 1873 resulted in the failure of Freedman's Savings Bank, which had 37 branches in Washington, D.C., and 17 states.[5][6] When the bank was closed by Congress in June 1874, 61,114 African Americans and African American-owned institutions lost their savings, totaling around $3 million, equivalent to over $75 million in 2022.[6][7][8] This resulted in a deep distrust of banks and government institutions by some African Americans that lasted for generations.W. E. B. Du Bois went so far as to say the bank's failure was more damaging to African Americans than an additional ten years of slavery;John Mercer Langston noted, "Perhaps the failure of no institution in the country...has ever wrought larger disappointment and more disastrous results to those interested in its creation."[6][9][10]
Deposit insurance did not yet exist in the United States, so only around half of the bank's customers could receive part of their lost funds, which often took decades.[11][12] The bank building sat empty until it was purchased by the federal government in 1882 and used as office space for theJustice Department andCourt of Claims. The building was demolished in 1899, and the lot remained vacant for almost 20 years.[1][6]
In 1902 theMcMillan Plan was created to change the design and layout of the monumental core and park system in Washington, D.C. The plan included radical changes to Lafayette Square, with all of the residential buildings to be demolished and replaced with monumental white marble buildings that would house federal offices. The design for Lafayette Square was inspired by thePlace Vendôme inParis.[1]
At the time, this design was well-received by most people. Still, urban designerElbert Peets would later note: "Purely as a matter of design, it is surely to be regretted that the residence scale and atmosphere of Lafayette Square cannot be maintained to connect the White House with the residence district of the city. It seems an ideal location of those unofficial White Houses, the national headquarters of clubs and societies - all of red brick, to preserve for the White House its dominance of scale and color."[1]
Despite aspects of the McMillan plan being implemented in other parts of the city, changes to Lafayette Square did not occur untilWorld War I. The Treasury Department needed additional office space, and plans were made to construct the Treasury Annex on the former Freedman's Bank site. The plan was for the first phase of the Annex to be built on the corner of Madison Place and Pennsylvania Avenue, with the remaining portion that would extend along Madison Place all the way to H Street.[1][13] The building was designed to be enlarged at a later date.[14]
On September 27, 1917, anAct of Congress provided funds for the building's construction and allowed the Treasury Secretary to "secure special architectural and expert services."[14][15] The funds allocated for the new building, along with atunnel underneath Pennsylvania Avenue connecting to the Treasury Building, was $1,250,000.[15] There was much pressure to design a building worthy of its location across from the Treasury Building. SenatorFrank B. Brandegee said if the new building had "no artistic finish at all", it would be a "public calamity" since it would stand across from the "finest example of pure Grecian art."[14]
The architect chosen to design the Treasury Annex wasCass Gilbert (1859–1934), a friend of Treasury SecretaryWilliam Gibbs McAdoo.[16] Gilbert's selection was praised by theAmerican Institute of Architects (AIA).[14] After consulting with theUnited States Commission of Fine Arts, the final design for theBeaux-Arts building included several requirements: a setback of 10 feet (3 m) from the property line facing Pennsylvania Avenue, 100,000 square feet (9,290 sq m) of office space, and be no more than 85 feet (25.9 m) high.[13][15][17] The plans were sent to the Treasury Department on January 14, 1918, and approved four days later.[15] Construction began in April of that same year, and the building was completed in April 1919.[13]
The Treasury Annex was one of only two components of the McMillan Plan completed in the Lafayette Square area. The second was theU.S. Chamber of Commerce Building, also designed by Cass, that was built in 1925 on the northern side of H Street across from theDecatur House. Like the Annex, the Commerce Building was designed in the Beaux-Arts style. TheChamber of Commerce built the headquarters there, thinking the rest of Lafayette Square would be redeveloped.[18]
Expanding the Treasury Annex to H Street was still planned until the 1930s, when the federal government began constructing the massiveFederal Triangle office complex southeast of the White House. The federal government purchased all of the buildings facing Lafayette Square afterWorld War II, some of which were commercial buildings that had replaced houses. TheGeneral Services Administration wanted to raze all of these buildings, except the Treasury Annex, and replace them with a new courthouse on Madison Place and an executive office building onJackson Place. The proposal was criticized by the AIA and theCommittee of 100 on the Federal City, a private nonprofit organization that advocates historic preservation be taken into account in city planning.[1]
By the 1950s,historic preservation had become a more popular idea with locals, and with the help of local activists and the Committee of 100, redevelopment plans were delayed. During the presidency ofJohn F. Kennedy, he and First LadyJacqueline Kennedy were sympathetic to preserving the remaining historic buildings on Lafayette Square. With the assistance of architectJohn Carl Warnecke, a plan was created to preserve the remaining buildings. More recently constructed buildings were demolished and replaced with buildings like surviving historic houses. TheNew Executive Office Building was built behind the properties facing Jackson Place, and theHoward T. Markey National Courts Building was built behind the properties facing Madison Place, adjacent to the Treasury Annex. Since then, the same concept has been replicated in numerous designs in Washington, D.C., preserving many historic buildings.[1][19]
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On November 8, 1964, the Treasury Annex was added to the newly created District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites.[20] On August 29, 1970, the building was designated acontributing property to theLafayette Square Historic District, aNational Historic Landmark. Other prominent buildings in the historic district include theEisenhower Executive Office Building, theBlair House, theHay–Adams Hotel, theRenwick Gallery, andSt. John's Episcopal Church.[20][21] When the Fifteenth Street Financial Historic District was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 2006, the Treasury Annex was omitted. The historic district's boundary was later increased on January 12, 2017, and the Annex was designated a contributing property in the renamedFinancial Historic District.[22][23]
To mark the 150th anniversary of the Freedman's Savings Bank's charter, officials from theFederal Reserve Bank of Cleveland held a series of panels in 2015.[5]John Hope Bryant ofOperation HOPE, Inc. asked Treasury Department officials to rename the Treasury Annex as a way to recognize the site's historical significance to African Americans.[24] That December Treasury SecretaryJack Lew announced the building would be renamed the following month: "Naming the Freedman's Bank Building recognizes an institution that symbolized a new future for African-Americans. The legacy of Freedman's Bank also serves as a reminder that we must continue striving for greater financial inclusion for all Americans – particularly those in underserved and minority communities – so that they can share in the benefits of our growing economy."[25]
The renaming ceremony occurred on January 7, 2016, with a commemorative plaque on the building's exterior. The ceremony included remarks from Secretary Lew, civil rights activist and politicianAndrew Young, and businessman Alden J. McDonald Jr., president of Liberty Bank and Trust. Young stated: "The history of the Freedman's Bank is a significant part of our economic legacy. When we look at the history of the African American integration into America, the one thing that's been most difficult for us is to desegregate the money. To desegregate, to get the right to vote in a democracy, and not have access to capital is to only be halfway free. And we've always known that."[4]
The Freedman's Bank Building houses office space for theOffice of Foreign Assets Control, theTreasury Library, and the main branch of theTreasury Department Federal Credit Union.[26][27][28] Security for the property and surrounding area in the White House vicinity is provided by theSecret Service.[29]
The building was designed in theBeaux-Arts style, which complements the Treasury Building'sneoclassical design and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Building's Beaux-Arts design, though the latter features more ornate exterior details.[13][17] The main entrance to the building is located on Madison Place. When it was built, there was a street grade difference of 9 feet (2.7 m) between Pennsylvania Avenue and H Street.[13]
Since the original plan was for the Annex to eventually be expanded north to H Street, the first floor facing Pennsylvania Avenue was built higher. A granite terrace was built along the sides, adding to the setback required by planners. The southern and western faces of the building are made ofIndiana limestone. The windows on the first floor featurewrought iron grilles; the third-and-fourth-floor windows display ornamental ironspandrels between them.[13]
There are six floors in the building. The fifth floor is at the same level as theentablature, resulting in the top two floors being obscured from street level by that and aparapet. The basement level includes offices, mechanical rooms, and a tunnel connecting the Treasury Building across the street. It originally included segregated bathrooms for African American cleaning staff.[13]
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| Lists by state |
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| Lists by insular areas | |
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| Related | |
| Deputy Secretary of the Treasury |  | |
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| Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs |
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| Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance |
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| Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence | ||
| Treasurer of the United States | ||
