Note to Reader: Please join be in Chapters 6 to 20 as we go back in time to read and study the life and story of Sonny Williams (The owner of the little Cape Cod style house on Lebaum Street).
Sarah could not remember exactly how she made it. She was stumbling along a main road, weighted down by her heavy bag with Sonny in her arms, shivering in the stinging cold rain. Would a Trailways bus come her way? She knew she didn’t have to go to a bus terminal like for a Greyhound bus. Anyhow, the Greyhound was not permitted -- the more comfortable, convenient ride was only for whites. She was tired of being forced to give up her seat to white riders and stand by until seats became available at the back of the bus.
The blacks had to make do with the Trailways which had no specific stops, halted wherever and whenever, picking up passengers near gas stations and by the wayside, jamming them packed, making each seat count
Forty minutes later she sat at the end of a crowded Trailways bus, embracing Sonny. She couldn’t help the tears that tumbled down her cheeks. What now? The question rolled like the forest and foothills over and over in her mind. She thought of her two sisters Edna and Angie who had made their lives in Washington DC. She had grown apart from them for long years. Would they accept her now? Would they take her in and offer her sisterly love? If she were in their place, she would do it, but would they? There was little else to do but to throw herself at their mercy. Not for too long though, just until she found her feet over there and would be ready to run.
As it happened, her fears were needless. When she was reunited with her sisters and cried peacefully in their arms, they hugged her warmly and promised to be be by her side. For the first time since she married Leo, Sarah felt pampered and cared for as her sisters bought her clothes and fed her and Sonny nourishing, home-cooked meals.
Sarah took a few days to adjust to her new life and to get her bearings straight. She walked the streets of DC trying to understand her environs, to gauge what type of job would be available for some one like her, hardworking but inexperienced. She went for several walk-in interviews for store-hands. Somehow none of them worked out. They never called back, didn't even show a faint of interest. Sarah would not be discouraged, however. Something would work out somewhere, she thought determinedly.
(Photo Courtesy of Shoppy.com)
One evening in the midst of chatting, her sister Edna told her about a job at Wardman Park Hotel located in the upscale Woodley Park neighborhood on Connecticut Avenue in North West DC. The position was for an elevator operator and the recruiting officer seemed taken up with the plight of this soft-spoken, elegant young woman. She was hired on the spot, and so Sarah began working in the plush, elegant environs of this boutique-style hotel built in 1916, complete with glossy parquet flooring and gleaming French antiques. It brought her in contact with a world she had never before even had a chance to look at from the outside.
From Wikipedia: "Harry Wardman"
A large portion of rowhouses in DC were built by Harry Wardman, in neighborhoods including Columbia Heights, Bloomingdale, Eckington and Brightwood. Wardman’s first houses, designed by architect Nicholas Grimm, included those located at the 900 block of Longfellow Street, NW. To this day, his homes are renowned for their high-quality construction and materials. In 1907, he embarked on a project to build 750 rowhouses in Columbia Heights, which included new design elements, most notably the front porch. However, most real estate agents and homeowners incorrectly assume that their house is a Wardman house simply based on its design; dozens of other developers such as Lewis Brueninger, Harry Kite, Francis Blundon, and David Dunigan built massive rows of townhouses in the District.
Apartments
Wardman quickly rose through the ranks and began building luxury apartments — most which were designed by architect Albert H. Beers. His numerous apartment buildings, located along 16th Street, NW, Connecticut Avenue, Columbia Heights, and elsewhere, include:
- The Chastleton - 1701 16th Street, NW
- The Wardman - 1916 17th Street, NW
- The Dresden - 2126 Connecticut Avenue, NW
- The Maxwell - 1419 Clifton Street, NW
- Northumberland Apartments - 2039 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
- Rutland Court - 1725 17th Street, NW
- South Cathedral Mansions - 2900 Connecticut Avenue, NW
- Wardman Court (formerly, Clifton Terrace) - 1312 Clifton Street, NW
- Wardman Row - 1416-1440 R Street, NW
- Copley Plaza - 1514 17th Street, NW
- Cavanaugh Court - 1526 17th Street, NW
- Apartment Building at 2225 N Street
Hotels: In 1916, he built the 1200-room Wardman Park Hotel (now the site of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel and Conference Center) along Connecticut Avenue in Woodley Park. The hotel was successful, meeting the strong demand due to an influx of government workers after World War I. In 1984, the Wardman Tower, an apartment building located on the hotel site, was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[1] In 1928, Wardman built the Hay-Adams Hotel, designed by Turkish architect, Mihran Mesrobian, and located across from Lafayette Park. Other landmarks built include the British Embassy.
During his career, Wardman had accumulated a fortune of $30 million and was living extravagantly in Washington and abroad. His prosperity vanished with the 1929 stock market crash, though he managed to continue building middle-class homes. Wardman died in 1938 from cancer and is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery.
The romantic splendor of affluent females in glittering, shimmering expensive dresses with escorts in smartly tailored obviously expensive suits became a common sight. The easy sophistication of the celebrities who breezed in and out to attend functions at the hotel almost took her breath away. It was all so novel to her. She watched with wonderment as beautiful young women in shimmering white bridal attire gazed at their bridegrooms with love-misted eyes. A sudden pain would twist in her heart as she watched their lips meet with joyous passion. Very often she would watch young couples in love, oblivious to the world around them, lost in their own sweet world of youthful love.
Gay laughter and warm endearments twisted the knife further with a deep heartache and twinges of envy. She passionately desired the good life she saw around her, but none of it even brushed her life. She yearned so deeply for a love of her own and a blissful family life. Right now there was only the chirpy endearing warmth of Sonny to fill her hungry heart. She loved Sonny with all her might but her heart yearned for a different sort of love. Oh, to feel the throbbing passion of a lover’s kiss, to enjoy the pleasures of love she never had the chance to in her miserable marriage. One day, she promised herself fervently, one day………I will find my true love………
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