Sections
  • News & Politics
  • Food
  • Things to Do
  • Washingtonian Events
  • Home & Style
  • Editors’ Picks
  • Events Calendar
  • Health
  • Longreads
  • Parenting
  • Real Estate
  • Shopping
  • Travel
  • Weddings
Reader Favorites
  • Subscribe
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
Washington’s Best
  • Apartment Rentals
  • DC Travel Guide
  • Dentists
  • Doctors
  • Financial Advisers
  • Health Experts
  • Home Improvement Experts
  • Industry Leaders
  • Lawyers
  • Mortgage Professionals
  • Pet Care
  • Private Schools
  • Real Estate Agents
  • Restaurants
  • Retirement Communities
  • Wedding Vendors
More
  • Subscribe
  • Manage My Subscription
  • Digital Edition
  • Shop
  • Contests
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
© 2022 Washingtonian Media Inc.
Privacy Policy
All Rights Reserved
 Rss
Skip to content
Washingtonian.com
  • Search
  • Subscribe
  • Menu
  • News & Politics
  • Things to Do
  • Food
  • Health
  • Shopping
  • Home & Style
  • Real Estate
  • Weddings
  • Travel

  • Subscribe
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
  • Trending Now in News & Politics
  • Roe v. Wade
  • People
  • garden party
  • Hulu
  • Features
News & Politics

Here’s Where You Can Pay Tribute to Toni Morrison in DC

The revered writer has died at the age of 88.

Written by Katrina Schmidt
| Published on August 6, 2019
Tweet Share
Image courtesy of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.

After news broke this morning that Toni Morrison—one of the 20th century’s greatest novelists and most prominent voices on race and gender in America—has died at 88, devoted readers of her work shared messages of how Morrison’s writing inspired and changed them. 

Toni Morrison was a national treasure, as good a storyteller, as captivating, in person as she was on the page. Her writing was a beautiful, meaningful challenge to our conscience and our moral imagination. What a gift to breathe the same air as her, if only for a while. pic.twitter.com/JG7Jgu4p9t

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 6, 2019

Morrison, whose novels include The Bluest Eye and Beloved, has roots in Washington. The Ohio-born author may have lived much of her life in New York, but she attended Howard University and graduated in 1953. The author returned to Howard in 1957 to teach, and it was there that she joined a group of writers and wrote the short story that later became The Bluest Eye. 

If you want to pay your respects in DC, you might consider stopping by the National Portrait Gallery, where a painting by Robert McCurdy is part of the 20th Century Americans exhibit. The portrait is in McCurdy’s signature style, in which the subject faces the viewer directly and appears to lock eyes with observers. 

The lifelike painting is on a colorful wall in the center of a third floor room, where it will now be marked with a small sign in her honor, according to a National Portrait Gallery spokesperson. Typically, if a painting of a person who recently died is not on display, the Portrait Gallery moves it to an “In Memoriam” wall on the first floor. But because Morrison’s portrait is already in a prominent location within the museum, the plaque serves to commemorate her legacy.

More: Howard UniversityNational Portrait GalleryRobert McCurdyToni Morrison
Join the conversation!
Share Tweet
Katrina Schmidt
Katrina Schmidt
Editorial Fellow

Katrina Schmidt joined Washingtonian as an editorial fellow in 2018. She is from Baltimore, Maryland, and currently lives in Burleith.

Most Popular in News & Politics

1

Roe v. Wade Was Overturned. These Protests Are Happening Around DC.

2

Anti-Abortion Clinic Protests Are Getting Bigger and More Aggressive

3

A Massive Asian-American Led Protest Is Happening Saturday. Here’s What You Need to Know

4
Joe Biden 1974 Profile Kitty Kelley

Death and the All-American Boy

5

PHOTOS: DC’s British Embassy Caps Off Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee

Washingtonian Magazine

July 2022: Summer Music Guide

July 2022: Summer Music Guide

View Issue
Subscribe

Follow Us on Social

We'll help you live your best #DCLIFE every day

Follow Us on Social

We'll help you live your best #DCLIFE every day

Related

Reese Witherspoon Took a Whirlwind Trip to DC This Week—Here’s Where She Went

A DMV Sportsfan’s Guide to the NCAA Tournament

How the Human Voice Can Help Get Us Through Hard Times

The Obama Portraits Will Stay Out on Tour Till the Fall

More from News & Politics

Devastation, Joy, and Fury: Reactions From the Supreme Court

Roe v. Wade Was Overturned. These Protests Are Happening Around DC.

PHOTOS: DC’s British Embassy Caps Off Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee

Photos from the Supreme Court: Roe v. Wade Has Been Overturned

50 Years After Title IX: Why Survivors Still Need More Protections

Anti-Abortion Clinic Protests Are Getting Bigger and More Aggressive

“Reading Lolita in Tehran” Author Azar Nafisi on How Freddie Mercury of Queen Helped Her Survive Life in Iran

This Maryland Start-Up Is on the Brink of Winning a Prestigious XPRIZE

© 2022 Washingtonian Media Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Washingtonian is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Privacy Policy and Opt-Out
 Rss
Get the best news, delivered weekly.
By signing up, you agree to our terms.
  • Subscribe
  • Manage My Subscription
  • Digital Edition
  • Shop
  • Contests
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs