The Potter’s House is a cafe and bookstore located in Washington’s Adams Morgan neighborhood. Founded in 1960 by Gordon Cosby, the space is influenced by his former career as a preacher: The Potter’s House retained a faith-driven community until the late 20th century.
Currently, the store is a welcoming space for all members of the community in the Washington area. The Potter’s House has undergone many identity changes throughout the past decades and served as a safe space for the Civil Rights Movement after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The store continues to provide a safe place for marginalized and housing-unstable people in the Washington area, and the cafe gives out tens of thousands of free meals every year.
The struggle with homelessness in Washington has been an ongoing issue since the 1970s and 1980s, and according to coffee publication Sprudge, the Potter’s House was “a central meeting space to tackle the issues of mental health and homelessness in America.” During the Reagan administration, many mental health facilities and homes were shut down, and The Potter’s House “became a birthplace for social programming and non-profit operations” as well as a meeting place for people to discuss changes and intermingle.
General manager at The Potter’s House Mike Balderrama explained in an interview with Sprudge that the cafe planned to promote its historical background while continuing to address current issues in Washington by “upholding as much of the principles of the past and thinking what we can do while also offering really good food, really good coffee, and books that promote ideas and thought.”
The Potter’s House promotes social justice, equality and cultural studies, as well as endorsing traditional values and spiritual traditions. Many avid customers and general clients come into the store to read a range of traditional and cultural history books, from graphic novels to poetry.
The cafe is striving to connect with its community more than ever before. As Balderrama puts it: “We’re a community shop… I want to engage with people in the community more.”
Executive Director Leigh Tivol emphasized, “There’s no other requirement other than that folks just be kind to one another.” The cafe welcomes every guest with open arms, no matter their situation, and in trying to “pay it forward” the store created a program offering readily available free meals and comfortable spacious housing for everyone in the community.
Potter’s House barista Adam JacksonBey brings focus to the tradition that the cafe has upheld throughout its 60 year history. He explains that “you’re not just dealing with the greater, national coffee community or the D.C. coffee community—both of which I love dearly—but also with a community in D.C. that has been around for almost 60 years, so it feels great to be a part of something that large.” As new residents are welcomed into the cafe, The Potter’s House community grows and its contributions to the Washington community become greater.
As The Potter’s House Cafe and Bookstore endeavors to support larger issues in the world and support smaller issues in Washington, it strives to maintain the cultural history of the bookstore as well as create new stories along the way.
