People

Washington, D.C. has been the birthplace, home, and final resting place for many influential Americans. Learn about some of these people and how they shaped the local and national landscape.

Featured People

• 

  Frederick Douglass

  Formerly enslaved man who became America's foremost abolitionist. He was also a suffragist, publisher, and author.

• 

  Nannie Helen Burroughs

  In addition to founding the National Training School for Women & Girls, Burroughs also advocated for greater Black civil rights.

• 

  Charles Hamilton Houston

  Houston has been called “The Man who Killed Jim Crow” for his work in helping to end segregation.