Connor Smith

Named in honor of Union Gen. George H. Thomas, a Virginian slaveholder whose decision to remain loyal to the Union caused his family to disown him. The man who once enslaved Black people went on to command them on campaign, praising USCT conduct at the Battle of Nashville.

When asked by a burial detail if Confederate bodies should be interred by state after a battle outside Chattanooga, Thomas responded “Mix ‘em up. I’m tired of states rights.”

Born a serf south of Kiev in 1814, Taras Shevchenko was a painter/poet who was persecuted for satirizing Russian oppression of Ukraine. A major figure of the Ukrainian national revival, his DC statue is one in a series honoring foreign heroes who symbolize freedom in their native countries. Shevchenko spent the 1850s in exile, impressed into Russian military service. He was forbidden to write poetry or return to Ukraine until 1859, and died a week before the emancipation of the serfs in 1861.

The centerpiece of Grant Circle is the colossal Himalayan cedar.

The Oct 5, 1939 Washington Post claims, "Petworth has worked to keep statuary out of Grant Circle--preferring cedar of Lebanon."

Other than the metal grates over a Metro power station build underneath the circle in 1998, the park maintains a high degree of its original integrity.

Source: Historic Profile of Petworth's Grant Circle, Park View, D.C. Wordpress

Staff is fantastic. Office helped me locate my great-grandfather’s grave, providing maps to the site and useful information about why he was buried in a specific section. Really meant a lot that they immediately got back to me and went the extra mile to assist further in person @ the main office.

You can tell they really care about, and treat, relatives with respect. Thank you.

Well-maintained site, but super overcrowded with headstones. Be careful when walking around to find your relative so as to not trip over or disturb the closely aligned gravestones. Maintenance does a great job with trash. Barely any.