It currently houses a small museum, a research room, art exhibits, and the archives of the District of Columbia Public Schools.

[4] The school was named for Charles Sumner, a prominent abolitionist and United States Senator from Massachusetts who fought, among other things, for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and for the right of black citizens to use streetcars in that city.

At that point, separate superintendents were appointed to administer the education of white and black children in the city.

Led by Richard Hurlbut, citizens of the district raised the $5 million necessary to renovate the building, a project that lasted two years, from 1984 to 1986.

The newly renovated building, renamed the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives, was used to house a museum, of which Hurlbut himself was curator,[3] as well as the District of Columbia Public School Archives and associated reading rooms and meeting space.