In 1974, rows of 19th-century townhouses, a church, the famed F Street Club and the Lenthall Houses were slated for demolition. To stop it, three George Washington University students helped bring together the neighborhood association, preservation groups, the Washington Post and Star, and key individuals, including local politicians and GW faculty. This coalition confronted university leadership, the World Bank and developers, while navigating federal agencies, court hearings and a local government newly established under home rule. Today GW celebrates the buildings’ preservation. Learn how student activism kept them standing.