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Photo, Print, Drawing St. Elizabeths Hospital, J Building, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast / Willow Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC Building No. 60

View 17 images in sequence.
[ Photos from Survey HABS DC-349-D  ]

More Resources

View 3 images in sequence.
[ Drawings from Survey HABS DC-349-D  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS DC-349-D  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS DC-349-D  ]
[ pdf version of supplemental pages ]

About this Item

Title

  • St. Elizabeths Hospital, J Building, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast / Willow Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

Other Title

  • Building No. 60

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Government Hospital for the Insane
  • Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge
  • Richardson, Alonzo
  • U.S. Department of the Interior
  • U.S. Federal Security Agency
  • U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
  • U.S. National Institute of Mental Health
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • Horton and Hemenway
  • Celadon Terra Cotta Company
  • Olmsted, Frederick Law, Jr.
  • U.S. Public Health Service, sponsor
  • U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, photographer
  • Hoagland, Alison K., transmitter
  • Burns, John A., project manager
  • Schwartz, Leslie, photographer
  • Ekanem, Ita, delineator
  • Schwartz, Scott, delineator
  • Barbhaiya, Namrata, delineator
  • Ford, Mike, historian
  • Penich, Tim, historian
  • Slaton, Deborah, historian
  • Itle, Kenneth, historian
  • U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), sponsor
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  hospitals
  • -  health care
  • -  institutional care
  • -  medicine
  • -  health care facilities
  • -  mental institutions
  • -  brick buildings
  • -  tile roofs
  • -  T-plan buildings
  • -  Renaissance Revival architectural elements
  • -  hip roofs
  • -  District Of Columbia--District Of Columbia--Washington

Latitude / Longitude

  • 38.851064,-77.000174

Notes

  • -  For an overview of the Lettered Buildings, see HABS DC-349-BY
  • -  Significance: The J Building (Building 60) is significant for its association with the treatment of mental illness on the St. Elizabeths Campus. As one of the new patient residential and treatment buildings constructed on the campus in the twentieth century, the J Building formed an integral part of the function and use of the campus for the treatment of mental illness and related disabilities. The building, along with the other fifteen buildings constructed at that time, was designed with a cottage plan. The plan was developed to promote a home-like atmosphere with patients and live-in staff, which would then translate into a supportive and nurturing environment. The J Building is also significant for its architectural design. Designed by the noted architectural firm of Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge, the J Building together with the other buildings of the lettered group is a notable example of the firm's designs for institutional campuses. Constructed in the early 1900s, the J Building is a part of the campus plan as it developed during the Richardson-era expansion. The lettered building group is united by the campus layout as well as the common use of the Renaissance Revival style, demonstrating the influence of the Palladian villas. The buildings feature brick masonry, large window openings with divided lights, and overhanging roofs covered with clay tile. The Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge buildings were also unique in that they incorporated piazzas into the structure rather than constructing attached wood-framed porches. The expansive piazzas were partially enclosed, and the area of the piazzas exceeded that of the large interior sitting rooms to which they were attached. While many of the buildings have similar plans and architectural characteristics, each was customized to match the unique needs of the user group for which it was designed.
  • -  Survey number: HABS DC-349-D
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1903 Initial Construction
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 79003101

Medium

  • Photo(s): 17
  • Measured Drawing(s): 3
  • Data Page(s): 31
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 2

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS DC,WASH,221D-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • dc0365

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS DC,WASH,221D-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

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HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

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    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
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    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
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  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

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  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
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      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

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  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Government Hospital For The Insane, Rutan And Coolidge Shepley, Alonzo Richardson, U.S. Department Of The Interior, U.S. Federal Security Agency, Education U.S. Department Of Health, et al., U.S. Department Of Health, Education, And Welfare, and Leslie Schwartz, photographer. St. Elizabeths Hospital, J Building,Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast / Willow Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. Washington Washington D.C, 1933. translateds by Hoagland, Alison K.Mitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/dc0365/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Government Hospital For The Insane, Shepley, R. A. C., Richardson, A., U.S. Department Of The Interior, U.S. Federal Security Agency [...] U.S. General Services Administration, S., U.S. Department Of Health, E. & Schwartz, L., photographer. (1933) St. Elizabeths Hospital, J Building,Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast / Willow Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. Washington Washington D.C, 1933. Hoagland, A. K. M. & McPartland, M., transs Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/dc0365/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by U.S. Department Of Health, Education, And Welfare, and Leslie Schwartz. St. Elizabeths Hospital, J Building,Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast / Willow Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. trans by Hoagland, Alison K.Mitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/dc0365/>.