October 8, 2025

Black History at the Vassall Estate Special History Study

For the last several years, NCPH has worked with the National Park Service and a team of researchers (Caitlin DeAngelis, Carla D. Martin, Rayshauna C. Gray, Aabid Allibhai, and Eshe Sherley) on a Special History Study (SHS) of Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters Historic Site examining the lives of the early Black residents of the site.

The final Special History Study is now complete and available at https://ncph.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/LONG_BHVE_2025.pdf.

The research team also delivered a public presentation on their findings and their research and engagement process last week, which can be viewed on the Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZyvZvf-qWg. This report is a powerful example of ethical public history practice and descendant engagement, congratulations to the project team on its completion!