Cook campus of the Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School.

In addition, this was followed up by a separate May 1862 Act, "An Act Providing for the Education of Colored Children in the Cities of Washington and Georgetown, District of Columbia",[7] which officially established a system of public schools for African American children in DC.

African-American educator, politician, activist, and philanthropist John F. Cook Jr., was at the time teaching at Union Seminary, a school for black students in D.C., which he had previously led until his younger brother George succeeded him.

[5] A 1908 report by the United States Schoolhouse Commission concerning the schools of Washington DC argued that the original O St. NW building "should be destroyed, and a modern building-erected either on the same site enlarged, or at a different adjacent location on a considerably larger lot".

The proposed closure generated complaints from parent and neighborhood groups who claimed they were not consulted.