The Riot of 1835: Washington, DC

Black and Education

In the summer of 1835 Arthur Bowen was on his way home in the evening, when he reached the front door of his owner’s residence. Bowen was about eighteen years old and he was owned by Anna Thornton, who was the widow of William Thornton—the first Architect of the Capitol. Dr. William Thornton was born in the British West Indies and his proposed design for the U.S. Capitol was accepted by George Washington, in 1793. He was awarded $500 and a lot in the city of Washington for his work. He moved to the city in 1794 and George Washington appointed him to a position as one of the city’s commissioners. Thomas Jefferson, later, appointed him head of the Patent Office, in 1802.