I was invited to attend the ANC5b04 meeting hosted by Commissioner Ra Amin over at Right Proper last night. I used the time I had leading up to the meeting to knock on a few more doors and hopefully meet a few more neighbors. The smiles that greeted me at the door were both surprising and touching. I didn’t reach as many houses as I wanted because of the long conversations I had with some neighbors, but that’s ok.
Quality over Quantity.
We chatted about why I was running, their gardens, home renovations, halloween customs, and the long history of their home. The pride was evident.
I love design (went to design school in NYC), architecture and the history, so these topics are a sweet spot for me. And while I fully embrace that change is in inevitable, I am glad to live in an area that marks and celebrates history by the homes that were built marking distinct decades – and the people who contributed to our special neighborhood. Last night I sure did learn some history from Kathleen on Hamlin.
She shared with me that her home was the home of Senator Edward Brooke’s and that his mother sold the house she is living in currently to her own mother. Senator Brooke made history as the first Black Senator to be elected directly by the voters by popular vote. Not only did he graduate from Dunbar HS and Howard University, he was a decorated Army Captain in WW2 and earned his law degree from Boston University School of Law. He was also the first African American State Attorney General in the United States. He co-authored the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2008.
I’m proud to be the 5th owner and current steward of my own 1919 home built by George Shinn. Its first owners were Mr. & Mrs. Roller. Frank worked for the Government Printing Office and served as a prominent Past Master in DC's Masonic community. They then sold to another Masonic Member: Frank Sebring, a 33rd-degree Mason of the Scottish Rite community who served as a long-time trustee for the local temple. It then sold to the Knoxes who were part of the major demographic and cultural shift of Brookland. Erick and Audrey Knox were highly active in D.C.'s Black civil rights, municipal, and local labor circles.
Which brings me to my house and Shirlynn Hallum Fields – who was its last owner before I bought it.
Shirlynn was a DCPS teacher, and an adult educator who focused her career on adult literacy and neighborhood equity. She was a fiercely independent woman with exceptionally high morals. She was also a whistleblower revealing that a ward-level grant was being mismanaged and withheld by the leadership. She resigned demonstrating her strong commitment to community and her deep sense of personal integrity. I heard from some neighbors that she was also an avid gardener. And I know she planted the camellia sasanqua (a cousin to the tea bush) outside my dining room window that blooms right on my birthday every fall. It must also be noted that Shirlynn was a woman who owned her home – with her name only – on the deed. Not her husbands.
An ancestor of mine was a Mason for a while; I’m half Scottish (Edinburgh); I believe in education (hence my platform) have been an adult educator and I’ve done community civic service for 14 years consecutively. I’m also an avid gardener, sell tea (camellia sinensis) and my name is the only one on this deed.
Woven into this neighborhood are the unsung often unknown stories of those who came before us and built the community we now call home. Do you ever wonder who lived in your home, what part they played in helping build the neighborhood and if you have any links or similarities to the past owners? Did it play into any part of why you chose to move to Brookland?
Maybe you have a story about the history of your home. If so, I’d love to hear it – and listen and learn about the issues that are important to you while living in this special place called Brookland.
I will be over at Right Proper at 11a – 12p for anyone that wants to come meet me this morning.
–Elise for ANC5b03
Rooted in Community