The police call box art project continues to make its way through Capitol Hill. Starting in 2000, Cultural Tourism DC identified 1,100 call boxes all across the city, and from then until 2009, the Art of Call effort restored about 700 of these, with 145 of them eventually having art added. Thereafter, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities took over the project.
Most recently, members of the Manor House chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution were out painting the call box at the corner of 7th and Massachusetts Avenue, NE. They are one of a number of DAR chapters who have taken on a call box for painting and eventual artwork across the Hill. Right now, they are prioritizing the painting, as their permit to do so expires next week.
Once this is completed, they will look to figuring out what artwork should be placed inside. The obvious choice would be something referencing Casualty Hospital, especially as it is right on the corner. The hospital certainly has had its share of history, treating not only those injured in the January 1953 train crash at Union Station, but also at least one of the congressmen shot during the attack on the House of Representatives in 1954. In an article written by Representative Alvin M. Bentley, he noted that it is a “rather plain, small hospital [that] happens to be located in a section of town where shootings and knifings occur frequently. As a result, its medical staff knows a great deal about handling patients who have been shot.”
Another possibility the Manor House DAR were looking into was dedicating the artwork to the many nurses who had worked there over the years. Unfortunately, a quick search for images that might be useful came up empty.
The biggest issue that they will be facing is that current rules regarding call box art does not allow for any text, beyond saying which artists created it. This means that any art will have to stand on its own, which sharply reduces what can be explained in the call box. They will, however, be allowed to add a QR code, so anyone who wants to learn more can have an opportunity to do so.
They are, however, also willing to look beyond the corner on which the call box stands, perhaps to the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company that used to be a block down Constitution Avenue. In this case, they’d create artwork that references the switchboard without any text to explain— which might be more confusing than anything.
Another possibility would be to honor Laura L. Dodge for her importance in one of the great scandals in Congress in the late 19th century, as she lived a block south on A Street NE. However, we imagine that we might be entirely alone in supporting this particular idea.
In short, if you have any ideas, feel free to contact them. The DAR chapter members are keen to get neighborhood input, and there may well be someone, one of those unsung heroes, who deserves a little more renown.