Howard University

About this audio guide

This guide to Howard University's library in Washington, D.C. follows architect Albert Cassell, who drew up plans for the clock-tower library years before the Great Depression swallowed the funding Congress had promised. You'll hear how the Public Works Administration stepped in to cover most of the remaining cost, and how Cassell modeled the tower on Independence Hall in Philadelphia rather than settling for a plain warehouse of books. It closes on the modern conveniences installed inside, in a building raised for a school that segregated Washington still refused to treat as an equal.