In a city full of national monuments, an enterprising landlord is declaring the building containing the legendary Kramers bookstore “the birthplace of television,” and envisions turning the area near the Dupont Circle Metro station into a national landmark.
“Everyone in the city and half the people in the country know Kramer Books,” said Pete Hiotis, with Cadence Management LLC, who in 2016 purchased the buildings at 1517 and 1519 Connecticut Avenue in Northwest D.C. “What people don’t know is that the upstairs offices belonged to Charles Francis Jenkins and that this building is also the birthplace of television.”
Hiotis took WTOP on an exclusive video tour of the building ahead of Friday’s open house, which will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first public demonstration of television.
On the second and third floors, inventor Charles Francis Jenkins owned studios.
Walking up the stairs to what is now suites of psychotherapist offices, Hiotis said, “On this second floor is where Jenkins and his staff transmitted the first wireless motion pictures in history, on June 14, 1923.”
Hiotis said initial demonstrations of television, which at the time was described as “radio motion pictures,” were done in private, according to research at the Library of Congress about the buildings at 1517 and 1519 Connecticut Avenue.
The next day, The Evening Star newspaper described Jenkins demonstrating “the sending by wireless of actual moving scenes from life and their reproduction on a screen at the receiving end,” to a limited audience.
“This was done in private, with members of the government and military,” said Hiotis, depicting a hand waving in front of camera. “Our understanding is it was transmitted from the back of the second floor to the front, with various members of the military here to certify that it was, in fact, a wireless transmission.”
On the third floor of the building, during the tour, Hiotis pointed to a white-framed image: “This is Charles Jenkins and this is Florence Clark. And to a large extent this is their story.”
During early broadcasting experiments, the two worked closely.
“When Jenkins was directing, Florence Clark was at the camera — the first cameraman in television history was a woman,” Hiotis said.
One of the archival prints posted in the building depicts Jenkins sitting in a director’s chair, while Clark pointed the camera toward actors, captured in silhouette.
Two years later, Jenkins was ready for a public demonstration.
On June 13, 1925, to demonstrate motion, Jenkins built a small model of a Dutch windmill, and its blades turned slowly by the wind generated by an electric fan. With the cooperation of the U.S. Navy, the moving image was broadcast from the Naval Radio Station to Jenkins’ rooftop antenna at 1519 Connecticut Avenue.
“That image flew over the Potomac, over the White House, over the rest of the city,” Hiotis said. Two weeks later, Jenkins was awarded the U.S. patent “Transmitting Pictures by Wireless,” on June 30, 1925.
According to History.com, no single inventor can lay claim to inventing television, with multiple inventors deserving credit for the technology, which had its origins in the 19th century.
Could Dupont Circle building be a national landmark?
To commemorate the 100th anniversary, sculptor Perry Carsley is creating a plaque depicting Jenkins and heralding the “Birthplace of Television.”
“It’s a three-dimensional sculpture, what we call a relief sculpture,” said Carsley, standing on the sidewalk in front of the building. “When this is finished, we’ll be installing this bronze plaque on this wall over here,” replacing a smaller silver plaque listing the building’s tenants.
Hiotis said he envisions an even bigger way to memorialize Jenkins’ and Clark’s contributions.
D.C. has designed, and will soon begin construction of a walkable plaza over the Connecticut Avenue underpass to create a new, multiuse space between Dupont Circle and Q Street NW, directly in front of 1517 and 1519 Connecticut Avenue.
“You can imagine the plaza completed on a beautiful day like today, and people out enjoying coffee or dinner,” Hiotis said.
Hiotis said he hopes D.C. will share his vision of designating the new plaza as “Charles Francis Jenkins Plaza,” establishing a clear and permanent link between the site and its historical significance.
A small concrete barrier is part of the District’s plans. Hiotis said for a small amount of money, the District could engrave the plaza’s name on one side, and “Birthplace of Television” on the other.
Hiotis and Carsley said they would like the city to commission and install two bronze statues depicting a representation of the historic photo of Jenkins directing, while Florence Clark operated the camera.
“You can picture a school bus of kids from a neighboring state, getting out and standing in front of Jenkins and Clark, someone taking pictures, not of actors, but of people on the plaza,” Hiotis said. “What you’d have is a new national landmark celebrating American heritage and its role in developing television.”
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