Blanche K. Bruce and Josephine Beal Willson Bruce Residence

AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE TRAIL, WASHINGTON, DC

2010 R Street, NW

Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce (1841-1898) and his

wife Josephine Beal Wilson Bruce (1853-1923),

leaders of Washington's "aristocrats of color," lived here

from 1890 to 1898. Born in Virginia, Blanche escaped

slavery during the Civil War, attended Oberlin College,

and became the first African American to serve a full

term in the U.S. Senate (1874-1880), representing

Mississippi. Later he was appointed DC recorder of

deeds and register of the U.S. Treasury. Josephine

helped found the National Association of Colored

Women and the Book Lovers Club, which organized

the city's first YWCA. After Blanche's death she served

as lady principal of Tuskegee Institute.

Cultural Tourism DC
https://www.culturaltourismdc.org/portal/african-american-heritage-trail