Albert H. Small, real estate developer, collector, and philanthropist died on October 3, 2021, in his Bethesda, Maryland home, less than two weeks before his 96th birthday. Mr. Small’s legacy lives on in the built environment of the city and region, where he developed apartments, condos, single-family houses, and office buildings. He also leaves a rich legacy of support for the humanities, including financial gifts, donations of historical collections, and active participation on non-profit boards including the DC History Center’s.
Mr. Small believed in inspiring the next generation to care about history. He served on the Board of Trustees of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. (now the DC History Center) for ten years. In 1999 he agreed to share leadership of what was then the society’s most ambitious project to date: renovating the dilapidated Carnegie Library to house a newly conceived City Museum. With co-chairs Austin Kiplinger and Walter Washington, Small enthusiastically helped raise $20 million for the project, including his own substantial donation. As historian and past president of the Board of Trustees Kathryn Schneider Smith noted, “Albert was a champion of Washington history. He was always promoting it and working to make the city’s history better known. His excitement was catching.” The City Museum opened in 2003, and closed a year later. Despite the success of its initial fundraising, the project proved unsustainable due to the condition of the Carnegie Library and a business plan that required paid admission at a time when most city museums were free. But the efforts of Mr. Small and his colleagues contributed to the DC History Center’s continued presence in the Carnegie Library.
A third-generation Washingtonian, Albert H. Small was born at Columbia Hospital for Women on October 15, 1925. His grandfather Isadore owned and operated a hardware store on Seventh Street NW, where his father, also named Albert but sans middle initial, worked before becoming a real estate financier. The elder Albert Small and his wife Lillian raised their two children, Albert H. and Carolyn Small (Alper), in the Chevy Chase, DC neighborhood. Albert H. graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School and from the University of Virginia in 1946 with a degree in chemical engineering. At UVA he enrolled in an officer training program to prepare for service in World War II.
Mr. Small found a niche in the booming housing market as returning veterans, armed with low-cost GI Bill mortgages, eagerly sought housing. In 1950 he co-founded Southern Engineering Corporation, a Washington-based real estate development company that produced more than 12,000 apartment units and 5,000 single-family homes in the mid-Atlantic region, as well as over a million square feet of office space on K Street and in Greenbelt, Maryland. He was particularly proud of having built the Parc Somerset condominiums in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Mr. Small began his collecting journey on a trip to New York City in the late 1940s, where he discovered an old scrapbook about the boundary stones that define Washington. From there, his business success enabled a passion for collecting and sharing American history. He pursued rare books, letters, and other historical items. His love of hometown led to his expansive collection of Washingtoniana: maps, prints, and other collectibles. In addition to displaying Washingtoniana at the Southern Engineering offices in Bethesda, he showed the overflow from his expansive toy car collection, which has been donated to the Smithsonian Institution.
In 1999 Mr. Small began donating collections to the University of Virginia, including the Declaration of Independence Collection, contextual materials (and an original printing of the Declaration) on the nation’s founding. With substantial support from the Smalls, the university opened its Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library in 2004. His Washingtoniana materials are now available to the public at the Albert H. Small Center for National Capital Area Studies, a research center that is part of the George Washington University Museum and the Textile Museum.
As a philanthropist, Mr. Small aided local, regional, and national organizations that promote history, civic awareness, and the humanities. In 2011 he established the Albert H. Small Normandy Institute, which educates high school students about the D-Day campaign and then sends them to Normandy, France, to visit historic sites. He also served on the boards of numerous organizations, including the Aspen Institute, U.S. State Department Rooms, University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors, National Symphony Orchestra, National Museum of the American Indian, the National Archives Foundation, Folger Shakespeare Library, Tudor Place Foundation, National Gallery of Art, James Madison Council of the Library of Congress, and Life Guard Society of Mount Vernon. Mr. Small also participated in various national business organizations, including Young President’s Organization, Chief Executives Organization, National Association of Homebuilders, and Urban Land Institute.
In 2009 President Barack Obama recognized Mr. Small’s outstanding cultural philanthropy with the National Humanities Medal. In 2016 George Washington University awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and staff of the DC History Center, Trustee Chair Julie Koczela extends sincere condolences to Shirley Schwalb Small and the extended Small family.