History

For many years, the brick house across the train tracks from Bowie State University was without a place in history. In 1916, educator Don Speed Goodloe, the first principal at the school’s Bowie location, hired John Moore, an African American architect, to build a five-bedroom house off Jericho Park Road for his family. Later, when his life and accomplishments were all but forgotten, the home he built became equally inconspicuous.

Many years later, a campaign was launched to raise funds to help the university purchase the historic home. In the fall of 2000, with a gift of approximately $90,000 from the alumni, the university purchased the Goodloe home. In addition, a $220,000 grant from the Department of Interior was secured in 2001.