2026 Museum Lecture Series

Greenbelt Before Greenbelt: Histories and Mysteries

The archeological and historical record documents thousands of years of human presence on the land we now call Greenbelt, most intensely in the past 400 years. This slide talk by historian, Alan Virta, will present a broad overview of the black, white, and Native American people who lived here before the New Deal green town was built and how they made a living off the land, with stories about representative individuals and families, including colonial tobacco planters, the enslaved, and those who came after them. The talk will answer some basic questions and raise others on the pre-Greenbelt history of Greenbelt.

About the Speaker: A former resident of Greenbelt, Alan Virta was one of the original board members of the Friends of the Greenbelt Museum. He also served on the Greenbelt 50th Anniversary Committee. Long active with the Prince George's County Historical Society, he is the author of the book Prince George's County: A Pictorial History and served as the first chairman of the county's Historic Preservation Commission. Alan Virta grew up in Prince George's County, attended DuVal Senior High School, and has degrees in history and library science from the University of Maryland. Now retired and living in Boise, Idaho, he worked as an archivist at the Library of Congress, University of Southern Mississippi, and Boise State University.

This is a virtual event. Please register in advance via Eventbrite. An email with a Zoom link will be sent prior to the date of talk. This event is free! Sponsored by the Friends of the Greenbelt Museum and the City of 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. Though segregated when it opened, today Greenbelt is a thriving, diverse community. To learn more, please visit GreenbeltMuseum.org. To make a tax deductible donation to the 501(c)3 nonprofit that supports the Museum click here.