Commitment to Square 102
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With Woodhull's death in 1921, his large two-story brick Italianate house was bequeathed to the University. The Woodhull family had resided in this house from 1855, the year of its construction, until 1921. In acknowledgment of his contribution to the school , Elmer Kayser wrote, "General Woodhull' s place in the history of the University will always be recalled by Woodhull House... because around the house has grown the great University of the present which he brought to G Street to be his neighbor." A bronze plaque displayed on Woodhull House commemorates the general's long association with George Washington University.
That same year, the Board of Trustees focused their attention on the Law School, which had been renting the upper floors of the Masonic Temple at 13th and New York Avenue. Developer and University trustee Harry Wardman encouraged the school to purchase the former Department of Justice building at 1435 K Street, facing McPherson Square. At the same time, plans were made and presented to the Board for the construction of a new building on Square 102 facing 21st Street. The bequest of the Woodhull House and the prospect of new construction on a nearby lot seemed to confirm the long-standing, but informal, commitment to Square 102, while the purchase of the property at 14th and K Streets would seem to contradict that policy. The Board delayed its decision, until finally it determined to purchase the K Street property strictly as an investment. They took the stand that the purchase did not affect their position on the University's commitment to its G Street location:
The Board, therefore, inserted in its resolution those very plain and positive words, 'that the passage of this resolution does not change the permanent policy of the University to locate ultimately all the activities [of the University] as far is practicable in the vicinity of the present buildings.'
As Kayser puts it, "The decision had been made."
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Author or Source: Application for Historic Buildings Registry/RG0031; Kayser, Bricks Without Straw, p.311
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 21, 2006
Prepared by: G. David Anderson, University Archivist and University Historian
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