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DELIBERATE DESTRUCTION BY PURPOSEFUL NEGLECT

Graphic sign of active water migration on the interior cellar wall where Holt House legend says that slaves were once held. The buildup of water along the foundation is caused by the deliberate removal of all gutter by the National Zoo in the early part of 1998. Since the Holt House, like many other building build in the late 18th and early 19th century, was constructed with wood beams resting directly on the earth, water damage soon leads to structural damage, and is one of the fastest methods to deliberately destroy the building.

Digital photograph by Mignon Erixon-Stanford for the Smithsonian Institution.