Anacostia Community Museum Archives

The Only People in Town: Frederick Douglass Dwellings Video Project

Summary

Collection ID:
ACMA.09-010
Dates:
2009-2012
bulk 2010-2010
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.15 Linear feet
1 box
14 Video recordings
9 miniDV video recordings; 4 DVD-R video recordings ; 1 CD-R data disk video recordings
Repository:

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
This is a collection of original and edited video materials created through a joint project with the Anacostia Community Museum Archives and the American University Center for Community Voice. The end product of the project is a video entitled "The Only People in Town," which includes interviews with former residents of the demolished Douglass Dwellings as well as images held in ACMA's Frederick Douglass Dwellings collection joined with stories and memories related to those images.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
Built as temporary housing for World War II workers, the Frederick Douglass Dwellings were located on land previously owned by Tobias Henson, a former slave, who, after purchasing his freedom and that of his family, purchased and developed a 24-acre tract called The Ridge. Henson added to his landholdings and by the 1870s his family was the principal landholder in the black community of Stantontown; they remained on the land until the 1940s, when the federal government condemned the community to build the Frederick Douglass Dwellings. Deemed uninhabitable in 1998 and left vacant, the Frederick Douglass Dwellings were demolished in 2000 to make way for a new mixed-income community.

Administration

Author
ACMA staff

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Some items are not accessible due to obsolete format and playback machinery restrictions. Please contact the archivist at acmarchives@si.edu.
Preferred Citation note
The Only People in Town: Frederick Douglass Dwellings Video Project, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Related Archival Materials note
See also the Frederick Douglass Dwellings collection.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Washington (D.C.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
African Americans Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
American University (Washington, D.C.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Anacostia Community Museum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Anacostia Community Museum Archives
1901 Fort Place, SE
Washington, D.C. 20020
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-4853
ACMArchives@si.edu