What Was Nannie Helen Burroughs's Trades Hall?

A school built through Black community support

Nannie Helen Burroughs founded the National Training School for Women and Girls in 1909. The National Park Service describes a broad program combining academics, vocational work, public speaking, music and physical education. The school newspaper and on-campus laundry offered practical experience. Students came from the United States and from places including Canada, Africa, Haiti and Puerto Rico. This was an international educational project rooted in Washington, not simply a trade school for local girls.

Burroughs proposed the school to the National Baptist Convention and raised money within Black communities. NPS notes that many contributions were small, including gifts from women and children. This financing matters: the school was an institutional answer to exclusion and to limited educational choices, and its buildings represented accumulated community investment. At the same time, Burroughs's program had religious and moral expectations; visitors should describe these accurately rather than projecting today's idea of an open secular school onto it.

The phrase 'trades' can mislead if read too narrowly. Burroughs wanted students to have ways to earn a living, but also to speak, lead and think. NPS lists dressmaking, handicrafts, power-machine operation, public speaking, music and physical education among subjects. Learning a trade and developing a public voice were linked in the curriculum. A visitor should ask what each course offered students in its own period, rather than ranking practical skills beneath classroom subjects.

What the hall contained

Trades Hall replaced an older classroom building in 1928. NPS records twelve classrooms, three offices, an assembly area and a print shop. Its dedication included Mary McLeod Bethune, then president of the National Association of Colored Women. The assembly room and print shop are especially revealing: the school taught students to address an audience and produce text, both tools for public participation. Yet the building's plan alone cannot tell us what a particular student experienced. School records, student publications, photographs and oral histories are needed for that level of detail.

Carter G. Woodson supported Burroughs's work, according to NPS. His presence is a useful connection to Black historical scholarship, but the school's story should remain centered on Burroughs, students, teachers and the women whose small contributions kept it operating. Well-known visitors and supporters can otherwise crowd out the people who used the classrooms every day.

The building's later life

Burroughs died in 1961. The school was renamed for her in 1964. Trades Hall later served as a private elementary school, which closed in 2006. NPS says the building now houses the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Because this is an organizational building, historic-landmark status should not be read as a standing offer of tours. Ask the present occupant about access; otherwise plan only a respectful exterior view from a public place, subject to current conditions.

The NPS calls Trades Hall the last physical legacy of Burroughs's lifelong educational work. That is a statement about surviving built heritage, not a claim that her influence ended at the property line. The school trained women whose later paths require individual research. Its print shop, curriculum and funding model can inform a richer understanding of Black institution-building beyond the hall itself.

How to research before a DC trip

Begin with the NPS place page and linked National Historic Landmark nomination. Note the distinction between the school's founding in 1909 and the hall's completion in 1928. If a tour or article says 'Burroughs taught here in 1909,' ask whether it means the campus or this particular building. Confirm the address and any marker with the current steward. Look for student-produced publications and school records where available; these can show how students described their own education rather than relying only on institutional summaries.

A useful itinerary could pair the hall's documented history with Mary McLeod Bethune's Council House or with public collections about Black women's education. But the institutions had different purposes, time frames and access. Allow travel time and avoid treating a living organization's office as a museum. If planning a group, seek permission in advance and be clear about educational purpose, group size and photography.