Historic Takoma

African American Oral History Project

In 2019, Historic Takoma launched an initiative designed to collect and preserve the reflections of older African Americans who had been longtime residents of our city’s historically Black neighborhoods – which centered around the “Hill” (Ritchie, Geneva, and Oswego Avenues) and the “Bottom” (Cherry and Colby Avenues off of Sligo Creek Parkway), along with smaller settlements such as the one at the foot of Lincoln Avenue at Maple Avenue – to elevate their voices and stories and share them with the larger community.

Residents Susan Schreiber (Historic Takoma board member) and Denny May reached out to local folklorist and oral historian Ali Khan and documentary filmmaker Michael Fincham and assembled a project team including community advisors Patricia Matthews, Dale Jones, Gaynell Catherine, Dianne Bradley (joined later by Joan Francis), and secured initial funding from the City of Takoma Park’s Community Grants Program.

Over the past three years (with some time out for pandemic delays) the project has conducted and filmed oral history interviews with individuals who shared their reflections on growing up in Takoma Park from roughly the 1940s through the early 1960s, and how parents and community leaders came together to build a vibrant and resilient community for their families in the face of racial and economic challenges. Both the filmed interviews and written transcripts will be accessible to researchers, students, and the general public through Historic Takoma’s archives, along withl links for each of the project films. Read More

Ali Kahn interviewing Samuel “Pete” Redixx

The principal focus of the project has been the production of documentary films based on these oral history interviews. Completed recently, They Called Him “Mister Lee,” tells the story of the legendary Lee Jordan, the school custodian who had a huge influence on Takoma Park youth, both Black and white, as mentor and coach, including breaking racial barriers by organizing the first integrated sports programs in Montgomery County and founding the city’s Boys and Girls Club. Lee Jordan’s advocacy on behalf of African American residents sheds light on the challenges faced by the Black community during segregation and the decades that followed.

*Dale Jones describing life on the Hill*

The initial public screening of “They Called Him “Mister Lee” will take place Sunday, February 26, 3:30-5:00 in the auditorium of the Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Avenue in an event co-sponsored by Historic Takoma and the Takoma Park Recreation Department.

Following the screening, Ali Kahn who conducted the oral history interviews, and Michael Fincham, who created the film, as well as individuals who shared their oral histories will be on hand for a discussion and questions and answers.. This event is co-sponsored by Historic Takoma and the Takoma Park Recreation Department.

After viewing “They Called Him “Mister Lee,” Tracy Oliver-Gray, Social Studies Supervisor for Montgomery County Public Schools decided to circulate the film to educators across the county as a resource for Black History Month, saying “One of our goals in social studies is to help students to become change makers. Mr. Lee’s commitment to social action is a fantastic example of what it means to be a change maker.”

*Lee Jordan (upper right) with the Takoma Hawks*

The project has also produced Doing Oral History: An Introduction, in collaboration with the media department at Montgomery Blair High School, which has been shown in secondary school classrooms across the county for over a year. Currently under production, a third film focuses on community life, including daily activities, work, the importance of Parker Memorial Baptist Church and the Black school funded in part by the Rosenwald Fund, both up on the Hill, and the transition to white schools beginning in 1955.

And be sure and stop by our building at 7328 Carroll Ave. to see the exhibit in our window about the Takoma Park African American Oral History Project, featuring a 1954 photograph of the young Roland Dawes (longtime businessman, former city council member, and owner of Roland’s Unisex Barbershop up in the next block) and his wife Catherine, along with other images of people and neighborhoods.

Historic Takoma’s African American Oral History Project has been made possible by generous support from the City’s Community Grants Program, Maryland Humanities, Preservation Maryland, and the Takoma Foundation.

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