Washington Carter G. Woodson Home reopens Nov. 7: the Shaw rowhouse where Black history went mainstream becomes a museum

The National Park Service (NPS) will reopen the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site in Washington's Shaw neighborhood on Saturday, Nov. 7, with a free open house from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and no reservations required. Regular hours begin Nov. 10, Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Photo: the Woodson Home exterior, via Recreation.gov / National Park Service.)

Closed since the pandemic, rebuilt with a visitor center

The brick rowhouse at 1538 Ninth Street NW has been closed since the pandemic. The Park Service used the closure for a major rehabilitation of Woodson's home and office, and converted two adjacent properties into a museum, visitor center, gift shop, classrooms and headquarters for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).

The father of Black History Month

Woodson bought the house in 1922 and lived and worked there until his death in 1950. From it he founded ASALH and, in 1926, established Negro History Week, the observance that grew into Black History Month. Washingtonian reports that during Shaw's Black Broadway renaissance the house bustled with students, research apprentices, booksellers and stars such as poet Langston Hughes and writer Zora Neale Hurston.

Visiting details

On Nov. 7, all tours and programming begin at the historic Shiloh Baptist Church, 1500 Ninth Street NW, with free tickets issued first come, first served from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Regular tours from Nov. 10 can be booked in advance through Recreation.gov; admission is free, with a $1 booking fee for advance reservations. Sources: National Park Service news release, Oct. 14, 2026; Washingtonian, Nov. 2, 2026.