They Called Him Mister Lee

It was standing room only at the Takoma Park Community on February 26 for the screening of the film They Called Him “Mister Lee.” Jointly sponsored by Historic Takoma and the Takoma Park Recreation Department, the event featured the audience singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the Black National Anthem, led by Lorraine Gibbs and Cammille Taylor from the God Glorified Church of God in Christ on Geneva Avenue.

A panel discussion followed the screening, with community members featured in the film (Patricia Matthews (Lee Jordan’s daughter), Otis Matthews, and Cedric Boatman), oral historian Ali Kahn, and filmmaker Michel Fincham. More about this film and the African American Oral History Project can be found at historictakoma.org. The films from the Project can be viewed on YouTube at They Called Him “Mr. Lee” and Doing Oral History: An Introduction. The City of Takoma Park is producing a video of the February 26 event; a link will be posted on our website when it is available.

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Film Screening: They Called Him Mr. Lee

Join us for a screening of a vibrant new documentary about Lee Jordan—the school custodian, coach, and mentor to Takoma Park’s young people, both Black and White. Jordan founded the city’s Boys and Girls Club and organized Montgomery County’s first integrated sports teams. A tireless advocate for the Black community, he led campaigns to improve the living conditions of African American residents in the face of segregation and racial discrimination.Produced by Historic Takoma’s African American Oral History Project. Discussion to follow with filmmakers Michael Fincham and Ali Kahn, project team members, and interviewees. Event is free and open to all ages.

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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

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. 

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.”

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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Stories from Colby Avenue – Tales from “The Bottom”

On December 16, 2025, a standing room only crowd gathered at Historic Takoma to hear presentations from six graduate students from the University of Maryland Historic Preservation Program present the results of their research on the houses, people, and community of the historic African American area known as “The Bottom.” We were especially pleased to welcome a number of residents from Colby Avenue and the surrounding neighborhood./

The six presentations and the supporting research materials will be added to our research collections. We look forward to visiting and working with local residents to collect additional stories about the families and houses of Colby Avenue. This is an ongoing effort to document and understand the experiences of this and other historical African American communities in Takoma Park. Watch this space for details on access to the research materials.

If you are interested in sharing your stories of Colby Avenue and The Bottom, please let us know by sending a note to info@historictakoma.org or by leaving us a message at 301-270-2831.

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Welcome to 2026

Thanks to all our members and the Takoma Park community for your support in 2025. We’re looking forward to an exciting year in 2026. We’ve got lectures, tours, social events, and more planned for the year. And some new window exhibits at our Carroll Avenue storefront. You’ll find details here, in our monthly newsletter, posts on social media, and elsewhere. Here’s a sneak preview of some coming attractions…..

• January – Author talk by local architect Carl Elefante
• February – Happy Hour social; talk about Frederick Douglass in Takoma Park by local historian Ezra Greenspan
• March – Talk on the History of Montgomery College by Historic Takoma archivist and historian Jim Douglas; talk on architectural styles in Takoma Park by Preservation Maryland
• May – the annual House and Garden Tour

Our Reading Room remains open the first and third Sundays of each month, from 1:00 – 4:00 PM. It’s a great time to stop by to browse archives and research library and chat about local history.

Please support our work by renewing your membership or becoming a member. Your support makes it possible to sponsor these events and support research into local history. Visit our online store for more details.

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Stories from Colby Avenue – Tales from “The Bottoms”

Graduate students from the University of Maryland Historic Preservation Program present the results of their research on the houses, people, and community of the historic African American area known as “The Bottoms.” This research builds on and adds to the ongoing African African American History Project of Historic Takoma.

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The Role of History Education in Community Change – Voices of Takoma Authors

Dr. Jenice L. View
Sunday, March 17 at 4:30 PM
7328 Carroll Avenue

Dr. View will talk about the ways schools and communities can use lessons from the historic civil rights movement to bring about social justice today. She also will share her experience with disseminating these ideas locally, nationally, and across the world.

Among her publications is the award-winning book Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching, with a foreword by the late Congressman John Lewis. Her book is a featured title at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

She is Associate Professor Emerita of Education at George Mason University. After careers in academia and the non-governmental sector, she is now co-owner with her two daughters of Three Points of View (3PV), a Black women-owned consulting group focused on education policy, program development, and cultural ambassadorship.

Dr. View grew up in Takoma Park, DC, where she currently resides, and is a proud product of DC public schools. 

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Montgomery Preservation Awards – 2022

The annual Montgomery Preservation Awards for 2022 recognized two projects in Takoma Park. James and Dale Sloan were recognized for the sensitive renovation and enlargement of their early 20th-century bungalow in the Historic District of Takoma Park (on Maple Avenue). The County Executive’s Award went to Historic Takoma’s African-American Oral History Project for its efforts to preserve and share memories of life in the Black community through interviews and production of three videos.

Read more about the 2022 Awards at Montgomery Preservation’s website.

Watch the 2022 awards ceremony, held in October of 2023.

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Upcoming Screenings of They Called Him “Mister Lee”

Lee Jordan was a tireless advocate for improving living conditions for African American residents in Takoma Park during segregation and the decades that followed. The film, They Called Him “Mister Lee” draws on oral history interviews with people who grew up in Takoma Park’s Black community during the 1940s and 1950s, reflecting on their experiences and the legacy of Lee Jordan.

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Mapping Segregation in Montgomery County

For presention slides and further information about this project visit our Past Events page.

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