Our Mission

The Humanities Council of Washington, DC transforms lives through the power of the humanities. As a far reaching community catalyst, we build bridges between multiple and diverse neighborhoods to affirm and enliven the human spirit, promote cross cultural understanding, enrich the quality of life, and foster intellectual stimulation.

Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and public and private partners, we support local humanities projects and Council initiated programs.

Welcome to the 2010 Deanwood Heights Oral History Summer Project!

By Deidre Gantt and the Students of the Deanwood Heights Oral History Summer Project

This summer we will produce a documentary video on the history of the Deanwood Heights community using primary and secondary sources. Our primary sources will consist of interviews with five senior citizens, ages 80 and up, who live in Deanwood. We will conduct Internet research and take occasional trips to the library to locate secondary sources that will expand our knowledge of Deanwood’s history.

Fun fact: “Deanwood is one Washington, D.C.’s oldest African American suburbs.” (Source: “Deanwood: A Model of Self-Sufficiency in Far Northeast Washington, DC” (brochure), 2005, p. 1)

Did you know that Deanwood has two possible boundaries? The first one is a triangle shaped area sectioned off by Eastern Avenue, Kenilworth Avenue and East Capitol Street.  The other is a rectangular area enclosed within Sheriff Road, Eastern Avenue, Division Avenue and Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue.

Fun fact: Nannie was not the real first name of the woman who started the National Training School for Women and Girls. Her birth name was Helen. She received the title “Nannie” because she was a motherly figure to less fortunate women and girls in her community. (Source: Melvin Deal oral history, Ward 7 Community in Bloom Project, 2009)

Meet the Participants! Ashley, 19; speaks her mind. Ebony, 17; likes to connect with everybody. Raven, 16; likes to think before speaking. Vera, 16. likes to think before speaking. Project coordinator: Deidre Gantt; likes to do things right (based on results of DiSC behavior assessment).

Oral history team member, Ebony and Humanities Council consultant, Jerome Paige engage in a self-knowledge assessment

This Week in Deanwood…During the first week of the project, we read Washington D.C.’s Deanwood, a brochure called “Deanwood: A Model of Self-Sufficiency in Far Northeast Washington, DC” and the Deanwood heritage trail guide. We also watched a video about Washington during Duke Ellington’s time, discussed similarities and differences between uptown D.C. and Deanwood during the early 20th century, and compared D.C. now to D.C. then.

Fun fact: Duke Ellington was one of many talented African American entertainers who stepped out of the U Street spotlight to perform at Suburban Gardens, the city’s only amusement park. Located in Deanwood at 50th and Hayes Streets, this beautiful site was open from 1921 through the 1940’s.

Oral history team members (L to R): Ashley, Raven and Vera

Did you know that Deanwood has a heritage trail that marks important historical locations? It has 15 stops. The first stop is located on Division Avenue and Foote Street NE at Watts Branch/Marvin Gaye Park. The trail turns at Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue, goes up 49th Street, turns again at Sheriff Road, detours down 45th Street at the former Deanwood School (now IDEA public charter school, which is also our project location) then continues down Sheriff road until it ends at Minnesota Avenue Metro Station.

Elizabeth Hill, Director of Programs and Communications describes programs at the Humanities Council during her visit to the oral history project site at IDEA Public Charter School.

We are really looking forward to learning more about the seniors and their experiences living in Deanwood, and we can’t wait to share our finished project with the community. Stay tuned for more pictures, updates and other details about the 2010 Deanwood Heights Oral History Summer Project!

Links:

Get your own copy of Washington, DC’s Deanwood at Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Washington-D-C-s-Deanwood-Images-America/dp/0738553506/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279015775&sr=8-1

Learn more about the Greater Deanwood Heritage Trail at Cultural Tourism DC’s website:http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/things-do-see/trails-tours/neighborhood-heritage-trails/self-reliant-people-greater-deanwood-heritag

View the Deanwood history brochure online (and print your own copy!): http://www.planning.dc.gov/planning/lib/planning/Deanwood_brochure.pdf

Support the Humanities Council of Washington, DC:http://www.wdchumanities.org

This project is made possible by a Neighborhood Investment Fund Grant (NIF).

Wide Enough For Our Ambition

New Online Exhibit Explores the History of DC's Segregated Schools

The 2010 Washington, DC Big Read has come to a close, but the final product will be a permanent part of the Humanities Council's Resource Center. On Wednesday, May 26, Kim Roberts unveiled her online exhibit of DC's historic segregated schools entitled, Wide Enough for Our Ambition. The exhibit functions as a walking tour, a photo essay, and an engrossing story of Washington's historic struggle for racial equality in education. Roberts' text, like most meaningful humanities narratives, touches on provocative issues, and questions conventional knowledge. Specifically, Roberts explores the paradoxes that characterized the DC segregated school system during the early 20th century; a time when a substantial proportion of educators in African-American schools held the highest degree in their fields. During this time period, Washington, DC's segregated African-American schools ranked as some of the best in the nation, regularly outperforming their white counterparts.

The images for the exhibit are a combination of historic photos culled from collections at the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution, and modern photos provided by photographer, Sam Vasfi. Vasfi's images reveal the architectural character of the historic school building in stunning detail. Vasfi's unique approach to digital photography allows viewers to more of each building in a single two dimensional image than would typically be possible. There are images of schools in every DC Ward which allows the exhibit to function as an expansive survey of the city's architectural history.

The images and the text are compiled using open source museum and archival software developed by the George Mason University's Center for History and New Media. The program, called Omeka, allows a database of properly tagged images or artifacts to be seamlessly arrayed as an online exhibit. The layouts are fully expandable and customizable, which will allow for updates to the exhibit as more images or information become available.

(Above Image Courtesy of the Scurlock Collection at the Smithsonian Institution)