Eastland Gardens

by Eastland Gardens Flower Club

Overview

Eastland Gardens, a little-known treasure in Northeast Washington, DC, is preserved and cherished by the generations who have called it home. Though development was initiated in 1928 by a white-owned real estate investment company, black families and individuals seeking a suburb in the city were able to purchase double lots for single-family houses and gardens. They relied on the expertise of African American builders and designers—sometimes the owners themselves—to create their dream homes. The good fortune of proximity to the Anacostia River, national parks, woods, and fields has enabled Eastland Gardens residents to enjoy garden havens around their individual homes and within the neighborhood and to lay the foundation for a service-rich community. Through their organizational zeal and activism, they have been able to reduce or eliminate the impact of city and federal changes to their nurturing enclave.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738592022
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	11/21/2011
Series:	Images of America Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.20(d)

About the Author

The authors—Javier Barker, Regina King, Althia Harris, and Zerline Hughes—are officers and webmaster, respectively, of the Eastland Gardens Flower Club. With support from the Humanities Council of Washington, DC, and the DC Historic Preservation Office, they collected memories and photographs from the personal collections of residents who value the powerful history of their neighborhood.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 6

Contributors 7

Introduction 9

1 There Were Always Gardens 11

2 A Place of Our Own 23

3 Gardens of Eastland Gardens 49

4 "Our Spirits Glow in the Beauty" 57

5 Worshipping in Our Neighborhood 77

6 "From These Seeds, We Shall Continue to Grow" 85

7 At Play in the Yards and Fields 95

8 "Where Nature and Know How Join Hands" 107