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Photo, Print, Drawing St. Elizabeths Hospital, Hitchcock Hall, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast / 588-604 Redwood Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC Building No. 37

View 44 images in sequence.
[ Photos from Survey HABS DC-349-S  ]

More Resources

View 4 images in sequence.
[ Drawings from Survey HABS DC-349-S  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS DC-349-S  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS DC-349-S  ]

About this Item

Title

  • St. Elizabeths Hospital, Hitchcock Hall, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast / 588-604 Redwood Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

Other Title

  • Building No. 37

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Sunderland Brothers Architects
  • Pavarini and Wyne
  • 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
  • White, William
  • Schara, Mark, project manager
  • Boucher, Jack E, photographer
  • Price, Virginia Barrett, transmitter
  • Schwartz, Leslie, photographer
  • Burian, Andrew, delineator
  • Wendt, Michael, delineator
  • Ford, Mike, historian
  • Itle, Kenneth, historian
  • Penich, Tim, historian
  • Slaton, Deborah, historian
  • U.S. General Services Administration, sponsor

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  theaters
  • -  health care
  • -  hospitals
  • -  medicine
  • -  institutional care
  • -  recreation
  • -  mental institutions
  • -  health care facilities
  • -  Renaissance Revival architectural elements
  • -  hip roofs
  • -  District Of Columbia--District Of Columbia--Washington

Latitude / Longitude

  • 38.852517,-76.997519

Notes

  • -  For an overview of the Culture and Recreation Buildings, see HABS DC-349-CA
  • -  Significance: Hitchcock Hall is significant for its association with the daily life of patients and staff on the St. Elizabeths campus. As a major public gathering space, Hitchcock Hall was the scene of social gatherings for the entire campus. Starting in the 1940s, Hitchcock Hall was also used for therapeutic purposes. The basement was retrofitted as a theater space for a treatment program referred to as psychodrama. As a major recreational and theater building, Hitchcock Hall is unique on the St. Elizabeths West Campus. Hitchcock Hall is an important component of the development of the campus after 1903 under the guidance of Superintendent William White. Hitchcock Hall is also significant for its architectural design. Although it post-dates most of the “lettered” group of buildings constructed in a quadrangle arrangement at the south end of the campus beginning in 1903, Hitchcock Hall was designed by Sunderland Brothers Architects to complement the Italian Renaissance Revival-style of the lettered building group designed by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge. Similar to the buildings of the lettered group, Hitchcock Hall incorporates brick masonry detailing, a clay tile hip roof, and exterior terra cotta ornamentation. Along with the lettered building group, Hitchcock Hall defines the perimeter of the west campus quadrangle. On the interior, the building includes a public lobby and main theater space with high quality materials and ornamentation. Later alterations to finishes and features of the interior slightly diminish the historic character of some of the interior spaces.
  • -  Survey number: HABS DC-349-S
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1910 Initial Construction
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 79003101

Medium

  • Photo(s): 44
  • Measured Drawing(s): 4
  • Data Page(s): 39
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 3

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS DC-349-S

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • dc1025

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-349-S
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

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  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • 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):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
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Access to Originals

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  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

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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, Sunderland Brothers Architects, Pavarini And Wyne, U.S. Department Of The Interior, U.S. Federal Security Agency, Education U.S. Department Of Health, U.S. National Institute Of Mental Health, et al., Boucher, Jack E, and Leslie Schwartz, photographer. St. Elizabeths Hospital, Hitchcock Hall,Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast / 588-604 Redwood Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. Washington D.C. Washington, 1933. translateds by Price, Virginia Barrettmitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/dc1025/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Sunderland Brothers Architects, Pavarini And Wyne, U.S. Department Of The Interior, U.S. Federal Security Agency, U.S. Department Of Health, E. [...] U.S. General Services Administration, S., Boucher, J. E. & Schwartz, L., photographer. (1933) St. Elizabeths Hospital, Hitchcock Hall,Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast / 588-604 Redwood Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. Washington D.C. Washington, 1933. Price, V. B., trans Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/dc1025/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by Boucher, Jack E, and Leslie Schwartz. St. Elizabeths Hospital, Hitchcock Hall,Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast / 588-604 Redwood Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. trans by Price, Virginia Barrettmitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/dc1025/>.