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22 THE WASHINGTON DAILY NEWS, MONDAY, JUNE 6, 1955
BRUSHING UP ON HISTORY
A Small Army Rescues a House
The home of 19th century Negro leader Frederick Douglass in Anacostia has slowly been falling into disrepair for years. But a group of citizens, armed with paint brushes and munching hot dogs, has come to the rescue.
The old house stands on a hill at 1411 W-st se, with 14 a c r e s of ground, now largely overgrown, around it. 
Mr. Douglass was born a slave but educated himself, became Recorder of Deeds and U.S. Marshal for the District, published a newspaper and was an active champion of Negro rights.
A MUSEUM
Some years after his death in 1895, his home was made a museum. It is jointly owned by a special foundation and the National Association of Colored Women.
The house is still open to the public, but few people know about it and very few go there. 
The guest book shows only a dozen or so entries in the last several Years.
JUST KIDS
"Most of those are neighborhood children," said Mrs. Gladys Parham, the caretaker. "they play on the grounds here, and they get a kick out of coming in and signing the books."
The rooms, containing Mr. Douglass' own furniture, are musty. The front steps are falling down, and rain gutters and shutters need repair.
The Co-ordinating Committee of Anacostia and Vicinity, a group of citizens' associations, has set out to get the old house back on its feet as a tourist attraction.
SOMETHING 'POSITIVE'
"Instead of throwing brickbats," said Charles E. Qualls, a pharmacist, who is chairman of the committee,

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"It will be a lovely place."-News Staff Photo.

"we thought we'd do something positive about it ourselves."
Saturday a small army of neighborhood residents converged on the house, swarmed over it on ladders and began repainting the outside.
Contractor Lawrence McKenzie supplied the ladders and donated his time. The paint was bought with money the group collected in a neighborhood convass-$5 here and 50 cents there.
Local churches supplied hot dogs for the working party.
MORE TO COME
The Group now plans to go ahead and make other repairs to the building.
"Then we plan to put some signs down on Nichols-av," Mr. Qualls said. "For years people have been passing by, and I bet most of them don't know the house is up there on the hill.
"It will be a lovely place, when we get it fixed up-the kind of place that people ought to come all over to see."