The Integration of African Americans
The DC Fire and EMS Department today has one of the highest percentages of African American employees of fire departments across the country. The uniformed workforce is 48% African American; nationally, 8% of firefighters are African American. But it was not always this way. This page tells the story of the journey taken to get to today’s place of pride in the Department’s diversity.
John S. Brent:
First African American DC Firefighter
John S. Brent
John S. Brent was the first African American firefighter in Washington, DC. He was hired in August of 1868 and was assigned to Union Engine Company No. 1, three years before the volunteer and paid fire companies in the District of Columbia were combined into the DC Fire Department, a fully paid career department.
Engine 4: The Hornet’s Nest
Source: Washington Informer
About 48 years later, three African American firefighters - Privates Charles E. Gibson, Frank Hall, and Richard J. Holmes (grandfather of DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton) - petitioned the Chief Fire Engineer and Fire Commissioner to organize an all-African American unit in the Department. They did so because they were denied command opportunities and career advancement on the basis of their race.
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That petition was granted on April 13, 1919. The first African American unit was Engine Company 4, which started as the South Washington Fire Company in 1870 before the creation of the modern DC Fire Department.
In 1940, Engine Company 4 – nicknamed the Hornet’s Nest – relocated from New Jersey Avenue and B Streets, SE, to 931 R Street NW, where the company was responsible for overseeing the protection of U Street, then referred to as “the Black Broadway.”
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Engine 4 was moved to its current location at 2531 Sherman Avenue NW in 1976.
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In 1943, Gordon Parks – a prominent African American photojournalist, author, and film director – spent time at Engine 4. His visits resulted in a photo essay containing 88 photos that are currently housed at the Library of Congress. The following (below) is a sample of the Parks collection. This collection demonstrates that while the Department’s technology, equipment, and protocols have significantly advanced in the decades since, much of firehouse life and culture remains the same.