Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building

The Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building is a historic building at 330 Independence Avenue, Southwest, Washington, D.C., United States.^[2] Originally known as the Social Security Administration Building, it is recognized for its architecture.

Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building in 2008
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Location	330 Independence Avenue. SW
Coordinates	38°53′14.64″N 77°1′.84″W
Area	3 acres (1.2 ha)
Built	1939
Architect	Charles Zeller Klauder; Office of the Supervising Architect
Architectural style	Egyptian Revival
NRHP reference No.	07000639[1]
Added to NRHP	July 6, 2007

History

The building was designed by Charles Zeller Klauder and the Office of the Supervising Architect under Louis A. Simon, in the Stripped Classical style in 1939. The building has Egyptian elements as well.^[2]

Construction was completed in 1940, but Social Security did not become the building's first occupant.^[3] Instead, the threat of war created a need for space for defense agencies, and the building was made available to the War Department and the National Defense Commission. After the war, the Federal Security Agency, under which the Social Security Board had been placed in 1939, moved into the building. In 1953, FSA's successor, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, part of which became the Department of Health and Human Services in 1980, became the primary occupant.^[2] Voice of America was headquartered in the building beginning in 1954.^[4]

On April 28, 1988, the building was renamed the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building in honor of the Social Security Board's first professional employee and the former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.^[5] On July 6, 2007, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Voice of America (VOA) and the U.S. Agency for Global Media were the building's principal occupants.^[2]

In 2020, the General Services Administration notified VOA that the agency would have to leave the building by 2028.^[3][6] At the time, VOA's offices there were described as "highly inefficient".^[6] Under the second presidency of Donald Trump, in May 2025, federal officials agreed to expedite the sale of the building.^[7][8] This prompted concerns that the building could be demolished, as the cost of renovations would likely be prohibitive.^[3] Preservationists advocated for saving the building's murals, which included works by Seymour Fogel, Philip Guston, and Ben Shahn.^[9][10]

Gallery

• 
  North side oblique view
• 
  North entrance - with the relief "The Growth of Social Security" by Henry Kreis
• 
  East entrance - "The Benefits of Social Security" by Kreis
• 
  South entrance - "Family Group" by Emma Lu Davis
• 
  West entrance - "Unemployment Compensation" by Davis
• 
  Cornerstone

See also

• Railroad Retirement Board Building on the same block
• National Register of Historic Places listings in central Washington, D.C.