Aberdeen Gardens: A New Deal Community for Black Families
Thursday, October 21, 6:00pm
Join us for a virtual event to learn about Aberdeen Gardens (formerly known as Newport News Homesteads). Aberdeen Gardens was built under the umbrella of the Resettlement Administration during roughly the same time period as Greenbelt, Maryland. The most significant difference between the communities, however, is that Aberdeen Gardens was specifically built "by blacks, for blacks." Greenbelt, sadly, was only open to white families though both Black and white workers labored on its construction. The Aberdeen Gardens community was designed by prominent Black architect Hilyard Robinson and everyone involved in the project from Robinson, to the lead architect, to the community manager were Black. We are thrilled to welcome Mrs. Margaret Wilson, Aberdeen Gardens resident and historian, to speak about the history of this important community.
To register, please visit the Eventbrite page for the event. Thank you.
PLEASE NOTE: This virtual event will begin at 6pm, earlier than our normal lecture series start time. Also, we will NOT be recording this event as we do not have permission. Please register by 3pm on the day of the lecture. Participants will then be emailed a link by 4pm, two hours before the lecture starts. This event is free! Sponsored by the Friends of the Greenbelt Museum and the City of Greenbelt.
Photo above: "Community manager Walker with applicant. Newport News, Virginia," by Arthur Rothstein, November 1937. Courtesy Library of Congress
Retro Town Fair
Sunday, September 5, 1-4pm
Retro Town Fair is back and in person!
Want to participate? Click below to download the form.
See the list of winners here!
This event is free! Sponsored by the Friends of the Greenbelt Museum and the City of Greenbelt.
Exploring Greenbelt's Pride
Movement
Thursday July 15, 7:30pm
Join us for a virtual event exploring Greenbelt, Maryland's Pride movement. Hear from some of the founders of GreenBeLT Pride, one of the community's most visible LGBTQIA organizations. Following an interview with founders and Board members, stay for an informal discussion about gay pride and life in Greenbelt.
Greenbelt, Maryland, a National Historic Landmark planned community, was built in 1937 as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. The town was designed as a garden city that would be a model of modern town planning and cooperative living in America. Despite its progressive history, though, was it always welcoming to gay people? Have attitudes changed over time in the community?
This is a virtual event. Please register by 5pm on the day of the lecture. Participants will be emailed a link approximately two hours before the lecture starts. This event is free! Sponsored by the Friends of the Greenbelt Museum and the City of Greenbelt.
The North End: Greenbelt's WWII Community
Thursday June 17, 7:30pm
Take a virtual stroll through the North End and discover what made - and continues to make - this area so important in Greenbelt's history.
When the federal government built defense housing at the planned community of Greenbelt, Maryland, it ended up with a town divided into two neighborhoods, with two different populations that lived in two kinds of housing, old and new, defense and nondefense. The two neighborhoods bonded through the home front experiences of World War II and the cooperative nature of Greenbelt’s municipal, social, and economic institutions. However, one section of defense housing physically and sociologically separate from the planned community, managed to create their own identity and spaces within the built environment provided to them. This area became known as the North End.
Come take a virtual stroll through the North End with volunteer docent Stephen Oetken and discover what made - and continues to make - this area a unique part of Greenbelt’s history. This is a virtual event. Please register here. Participants will be emailed a link shortly before the lecture starts. This event is free! Sponsored by the Friends of the Greenbelt Museum and the City of Greenbelt.
How the New Deal Transformed Greater Washington
June 6, 4pm
Join the Greenbelt Museum for a virtual panel talk that explores how the New Deal transformed the greater Washington area through parks, buildings, bridges, art, housing, and more!
Speakers: Richard Walker, executive director of the Living New Deal project, Isabelle Gournay, Architectual Historian, and Brent McKee, Living New Deal, Project Historian. The Living New Deal has published a map showing the immense contribution of the New Deal to Washington DC. A large-format map that folds to pocket size, it locates over 500 New Deal public works sites around the District of Columbia and highlights 34 notable sites, with descriptions on the back. Hear about several of the sites in the greater Washington area.
Offered in conjunction with the Living New Deal Project and cosponsored by the Art Deco Society of Washington. Free! Pre-registration required. To register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-the-new-deal-transformed-greater-washington-tickets-153698318809
Black History Month Event
Desegregating Greenbelt: Family Histories of the Community's First Black Residents
Thursday, February 25
7:00pm
Did you know that Greenbelt began as a segregated community? Despite the fact that it was built by both Black and white relief workers, only white families would be accepted as residents and it would remain segregated for several decades after its founding in 1937. Join the Greenbelt Museum to learn about the community's first residents of color.
Watch the prerecorded interview here!
Offered in conjunction with the City of Greenbelt's Black History Month Celebration
