As North Brentwood Mayor Petrella Robinson gazed across the new exhibit at the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center, she could only think of the steps her parents took to seek a better community.
“We lived. We lived good and we had a vision,” she said, regarding African-Americans’ success in establishing North Brentwood as the first African-American municipality in Prince George’s County. “We needed education. We needed a good home. This is what this is all about.”
Robinson said she was “thrilled” to see PGAAMCC’s “A Space of Their Own,” an exhibit to highlight and celebrate the four original majority African-American townships in Prince George’s County — North Brentwood, Eagle Harbor, Fairmont Heights and Glenarden.
The exhibit opened Jan. 14 and will run through June 2.
Yolanda Evans, PGAAMCC’s public programs coordinator, said the exhibit speaks to people such as Robinson, who has lived in North Brentwood over 50 years and can understand what her parents sought when coming to the town.
“The townships are so important. To them, they wanted exactly what white people had,” she said. “This was so important during that time. We felt like this [exhibit] needed to be done.”
Chanel Compton, PGAAMCC’s arts educator, said the museum wanted the exhibit to be open through Black History Month, noting she has many tours scheduled throughout February.
“We wanted to create scenes that were iconic for each township and show what made them successful towns and what makes a community,” Compton said.
The exhibit showcases historical tidbits, model scenes and artifacts from each of the townships when they were first established between the 1920s and 1930s.
For North Brentwood, which was incorporated in 1924, the exhibit shows a re-creation of a school classroom to show the townships establishment of African-American schools with improved lighting and equipment and more space.
Eagle Harbor was incorporated in 1929 and the exhibit shows a model of a wooded pier and historic photographs to represent the resort community style of the town.
Incorporated in 1935, Fairmont Heights was featured in the exhibit with a re-creation of a living room in a common African-American home.
Compton said the townships were founded for many reasons, most notably to receive better services and recognition from the county and the state as well as to build lasting economic and community opportunities such as schools, churches and businesses.
Compton said many African-American’s didn’t have the opportunity to buy or own their own homes at the time, so the Fairmont Heights community made that a possibility.
A historic town ledger to document the property taxes is part of the display for Glenarden, which was incorporated in 1939. The display is paired with historical photos of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad that ran through the town, which provided job opportunities.
Evans said most of the items in the exhibit were either donated from residents, purchased from antique stores or loaned from historical societies.
Compton said each of the towns are linked concerning town government, education, housing and religion.
“It’s all interconnected,” she said. “By learning about the first African-American townships, we’re inspired to celebrate our own communities and our own towns.”
Robinson said it was great to see that the museum’s exhibit was so well done.
“It’s important to know the value of coming together,” Robinson said. “We grew together.”
djgross@gazette.net
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