In 1983, the circle was named in honor of Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (1858–1964), an author, educator, feminist, and influential African American scholar who once lived in LeDroit Park.

The LeDroit Park neighborhood south of Howard University was one of the first planned subdivisions in the Washington, D.C. area, when it was developed in 1873 by Amzi L. Barber and his brother-in-law Andrew Langdon.

The neighborhood, named after Barber's father-in-law, LeDroit Langdon, was initially segregated and featured dozens of homes designed by architect James H.

Developers envisioned the city's streetcars one day passing by this circle while heading north to the Armed Forces Retirement Home.

The local Advisory Neighborhood Commission asked DC Councilmember David A. Clarke to sponsor legislation that would rename the circle in honor of Cooper.