by Burnell K. Irby

The house on T Street in Washington, D.C. was the center of family life for many years. Bought by my great-grandmother and her husband, it was a stopping place for family coming from New York and going to Virginia, and a destination for family coming to visit or needing a place to rest while traveling north.

In 1905 my great-grandmother came to Washington, D.C., from Virginia to live with her eldest sister. Their house was three blocks away from the one on T Street. My great-grandmother would live there until she was able to buy her own home.

The house on T Street was purchased about 1922. The woman who owned the house would not allow my great-grandmother to come inside. She had to view another house with a similar layout up the street. When she purchased the house, she paid $2000.00 for it. My great-grandmother put in hardwood flooring, French doors, and wallpaper.  She lived there until her passing in 1977.

Family members continue to live there.

My mother has told me many stories about growing up on T Street in Washington, D.C. In one story, she is walking to the Safeway with her mother. On the way, they would pass a former nightclub at the corner of 14th and T Streets. In those days, it was also a gathering spot for the locals. She was not allowed to walk that way alone.

One evening while walking past the club, her mother stopped and spoke with a blind man holding a cup and a cane. They talked for several minutes. When the conversation was over, they continued on their way to the grocery store. My mother was perplexed about who her mother would know on that corner and asked, “Who was that”? “That is your cousin from Williamsburg,” she was told. My mother could hardly believe that her mother had stopped to talk to anyone, and was even more astounded that he was a relative.

Making contact, keeping lines of communication open, and passing the family story on were characteristics of my grandmother. By the time they got home, my mother knew just whose child he was and who his people were.

I have been told that this was typical of my grandmother.  If she was not taking pictures, she was visiting not only her family, but my grandfather’s family also. She hosted family cookouts on the 4th of July during the summer in Virginia, providing us with  a wonderful picture of family and neighbors.

The house was a brick “row house” with four levels.  While they were growing up my mother says the children were rarely allowed in the living room; it was for holidays and company.  And don’t put your hands on the wall coming down the stairs.

It was from the house on T Street that my grandparents would organize their fight to get my deaf uncle educated in D.C. At the time, he was attending school in Philadelphia.

It would be from here that my great-grandmother would organize the family’s response to the family farm being taken in Magruder, Virginia.

The house in Grove was acquired in James City County in 1943, after the community was evicted from York County to build Camp Peary. It was a 2-bedroom bungalow, with a wood stove and no running water. Every generation of our family has spent summers in Grove staying in the house on Magruder Avenue.

It has enabled family living in Washington to stay connected to family in Williamsburg, to attend family functions from reunions, weddings, funerals and birthday celebrations.

I would hear those and other stories, not realizing the family history behind the stories she was passing on. As I grew older, those places, stories, pictures, and artifacts began to make sense. When a memory was triggered, my mother would share the how, when, and where of its place in family lore. I would say to her, “You need to write it down”—and her response was always, “I just told you.”

Objects I had grown up with and used in my great-grandmother’s houses in D.C. and the Grove area of Williamsburg began to reveal themselves to me. An example of family artifacts coming to life would be two chairs. The story is that they were purchased about 1900 by my great-great-grandparents to celebrate the marriage of one of their daughters.  They were always in the house in Grove. They are another example of household furniture moving from one household to another: they are now in DC.  At 125 years old, I have taken them to school to share with my students. I asked them, “What have these chairs seen?”

Make every effort to support your family’s story with documents and dates. Then put them on a timeline with major events in United States history. What you will begin to see is how your family responded during these national events.

Where was your family during the Civil War? During World War I, the Great Depression, World War II? How did they fair during the Civil Rights Movement?

It gives a broader context and meaning to your family’s journey.

Be patient, this will take time. Some leads will prove to be false; double check names. Names will also be repeated. You will have to visit libraries, historical societies, and museums.

Start with one notebook. There will be more.

A Descendant Community member, Burnell K. Irby is a Howard University graduate, and an educator in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. As a youth, he spent his summers in Williamsburg at his great-grandmother’s house in Grove.