By Thelma D. Jones and Carolyn Swope
Join the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly’s (SWNA) Subcommittee on Black History in celebration of Black History Month on Monday, February 24 at 7:00 p.m. The annual event will be held at Arena Stage and this year’s focus is on urban renewal and its legacy in the community.
In the 1950s, Southwest was a majority-Black, mainly working-class neighborhood with lively businesses and strong social institutions. However, most of Southwest was deemed a “slum” and razed to the ground during urban renewal. More than 23,000 people and 1,500 businesses were displaced, and most of the new housing built targeted middle- and upper-income residents instead. The new community that emerged would look very different from the old Southwest. Today, nearly 75 years later, urban renewal casts a long shadow as its legacy continues to shape the neighborhood’s built and social environment.
The event will feature a panel discussion on “Perspectives on the Legacy of Urban Renewal” moderated by Gottlieb Simon, ANC Commissioner, SMD 6D02, and Chairperson ANC6D. The panel will include long-time Southwest residents, activists, and advocates who experienced the effects of urban renewal and who will share their perspectives on its long-term effects. Panelists include civic activists and advocates Carl Cole, Paul Taylor, and O. Delmar Weathers.
The program will also include a musical performance by local students. Staff from the DC History Center will be in attendance to share information with residents about how to access historical evidence about the city’s past.
The program will be accompanied by a photo exhibit showing life in Southwest before urban renewal, the neighborhood’s destruction in the 1950s, and the early days of the new neighborhood being built. Building on a successful debut at Summer in Lansburgh, an annual summer event organized by Paul Taylor, Executive Director, SW Comm-Unity Forum, the photographs can help residents compare places in the neighborhood before and after urban renewal, see how residents found joy and community amid difficulties, and explore how Southwest was far more than a “slum.”
We hope that residents and friends of Southwest will learn something new and come away thinking about actions we can take to address urban renewal’s legacy. Newcomers to Southwest and others who may be unfamiliar with the history of urban renewal can become more familiar with what happened and how it affected the community. Meanwhile, long-time residents and others with personal and family connections to the neighborhood can discover new details or images that bring the past back to life. Regardless, we hope that the event can inspire reflection and conversations among residents about why these legacy matters in the present day, and how it can help us understand and respond to current issues in Southwest, such as redevelopment. As Carter G. Woodson, the father of the study of African American history, remarked, “Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from teaching of biography and history.”
For more information on the event, please email thelma@tdjbreastcancerfund.org or call (202) 251-1639.
Thelma D. Jones is a community activist serving in various leadership roles for more than four decades with the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly. A 17-year breast cancer thriver, she is also the founder of the Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Fund, an award-winning grassroots nonprofit in Southwest DC.
Carolyn Swope, MPH, is a PhD candidate at Columbia University researching recent gentrification and redevelopment in Southwest, how it relates to Southwest’s longer history, and the implications for Black residents’ health and well-being. Her ongoing research is based in both archival work and discussions with Southwest residents and leaders.