456 6th St NW

Washington, DC

Walt Whitman (b. May 31, 1819; d. March 26, 1892) is one of the most famous and revered writers in American history. Like many artists, his work was not widely appreciated during his lifetime. He made a living as a teacher, editor, reporter and printer. Now, his Leaves of Grass, a self-printed volume of poems about the American frontier, is viewed as one of the first and greatest examples of American literature. Whitman was born in Brooklyn, New York and died in Camden, New Jersey. Before settling in Camden at the end of his life, he spent many years in Washington, DC. His brother, a soldier wounded during the Civil War and sent to DC to recover, was what first brought him here. Whitman worked for the Department of the Interior, as well as area hospitals, nursing soldiers as they returned home from the war. He wrote Drum-Taps about these experiences. Whitman lived all over the city over a period of about ten years. His second home was at 456 6th Street NW, where he rented an attic room for $10 a month. That building no longer exists. In its place stands an office building housing another, more dubious American icon -- McDonald's.

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