[RP TownTalk] Mural Idealist

Melissa Avery m.avery at rocketmail.com
Thu Apr 23 12:58:01 UTC 2009


with all due respect Chris,
the historic district on Riverdale Park is not regarded as a "hood". It is a federally recognized Historic district. 
Do you have pictures of what was approved as your mural?
Who approved?




________________________________
From: Christopher Martin <chrism at pgcps.org>
To: Sarah Wayland <sarah.wayland at gmail.com>
Cc: TownTalk <towntalk at riverdale-park.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009 7:51:08 AM
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Mural Idealist

I'm hoping to stick with the native Indian theme.  My class will be trying to follow all the leads that have been posted, as I hope others will also.   Thanks all...  

My students and I would like to stay clear of patting the riverdale / calverts on the back for that great magnificent stupendous and tremendous act of opening the Maryland Ag College ~ since it wouldn't be open to all citizens until  many years later, and was you know essentially stolen land to begin with that was then built up (made rich) on the back of slavery and southern plantation culture.  Its a history - like all american history - full of honor and shame. 

I'm thinking that with the native mural, continued respect for the mansion, and our diverse living community mingling at the town center and in the hoods- Riverdale could give props to three major epochs of history - precolony, colonial and the march toward full civil rights.  






On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 6:24 AM, Sarah Wayland <sarah.wayland at gmail.com> wrote:

Some more thoughts:

In addition to the Piscataway Indians & the Woodland tribe, there were
also the Nanchotank Indians. Indeed the name “Anacostia” is derived
from the Indian word “anaquash” meaning a village trading center.

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/anacostia/history.html

---

Regarding the notion of depicting slavery in town, I'm thinking that
the Riversdale Historical Society might be a good place to get
material about this. I know they have documented the life of one of
the slaves who worked at Riversdale - and his house is on the historic
registers of homes in town. They also have had a display at the
mansion on the utensils and implements used to maintain the house and
grounds.

It sounds like you may not be aware that Charles Benedict Calvert was
the head of the house of the second generation of residents at
Riversdale. Charles Calvert helped found the U.S. Agricultural
Society, and sold the adjoining Rossborough Farm to the Maryland
Agricultural College, which became the University of Maryland.

You can learn more about the history of our town at:
http://www.ci.riverdale-park.md.us/History/default.html

Our town has a rich history - I would love to see that reflected in the mural.

(Sorry Cranky Old Coot - I know I'm late on the discussion, but since
Chris asked for input, I'm giving it!)

-Sarah


      
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