Blog | Greenbelt Museum

Aug 12, 20211 min read

The North End: Greenbelt's WWII Community

When the federal government built defense housing at the planned community of Greenbelt, Maryland, it ended up with a town divided into...

141 views0 comments

Megan Searing Young

Jun 18, 20212 min read

Celebrating Juneteenth

Juneteenth, a combination of the words June and nineteenth, is a holiday that celebrates freedom from slavery in the United States. Many...

92 views0 comments

How the New Deal Transformed Greater Washington

Megan Searing Young

Jun 14, 20211 min read

How the New Deal Transformed Greater Washington

On June 6, the Greenbelt Museum hosted a virtual panel talk that explored how the New Deal transformed the greater Washington area...

52 views0 comments

Sheila Maffay-Tuthill, Education & Volunteer Coordinator

May 27, 20212 min read

China and the University of Maryland

Just a few miles down the road from Greenbelt at the University of Maryland in College Park, there exists a rich history of connection...

158 views0 comments

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Month

Megan Searing Young

May 4, 20211 min read

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Month

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI). As award-winning Asian American educator Elizabeth Kleinroc stated in an article she...

36 views0 comments

Sheila Maffay-Tuthill

Apr 22, 20212 min read

Earth Day in Greenbelt

Earth Day’s origins can be traced back to peace activist John McConnell. Attending a UNESCO conference in San Francisco in 1969, he...

43 views0 comments

Black History Month #21 - Newspaper Documents Discussion of Racism in Greenbelt in 1939

Sheila Maffay-Tuthill and Megan Searing Young

Mar 1, 20211 min read

Black History Month #21 - Newspaper Documents Discussion of Racism in Greenbelt in 1939

In the November 16, 1939, issue of the Greenbelt Cooperator, a short editorial statement appeared (see above). The statement was...

43 views0 comments

Black History Month #20 - Sarah Boone's Modern Ironing Board

Megan Searing Young

Feb 27, 20212 min read

Black History Month #20 - Sarah Boone's Modern Ironing Board

This blog post was updated with corrected information 10/17/22. Did you know that our modern-day ironing board was invented by a Black...

4,928 views2 comments

Black History Month #19 - Regina's Black History Artifacts Pop-up Museum

Megan Searing Young

Feb 27, 20211 min read

Black History Month #19 - Regina's Black History Artifacts Pop-up Museum

Did you have a chance to see Regina Shaw Small's Black History Artifacts Pop-up Museum that was on display in the Greenbelt Community...

30 views0 comments

Black History Month #18 - Desegregating Greenbelt Interview Now Viewable

Megan Searing Young

Feb 26, 20212 min read

Black History Month #18 - Desegregating Greenbelt Interview Now Viewable

Desegregating Greenbelt: Family Histories of the Community's First Black Residents is a Black History Month program offered by the...

379 views0 comments

Sheila Maffay-Tuthill

Feb 26, 20211 min read

Black History Month #17 - Baseball

In the 1930s, '40s and '50s, in a segregated Prince George’s County, local Black communities developed and supported their own...

26 views0 comments

Black History Month #16 - Melba L.C. Moore

Sheila Maffay-Tuthill

Feb 19, 20211 min read

Black History Month #16 - Melba L.C. Moore

We are watching the inspirational journey of the Mars rover today. Good luck, Perseverance! Black History at our neighbor, NASA Goddard,...

34 views0 comments

Black History Month #15 - African Americans and the Great Depression

Megan Searing Young

Feb 16, 20211 min read

Black History Month #15 - African Americans and the Great Depression

Watch this short film about African Americans and the Great Depression. To learn more about why FDR didn't support anti-lynching laws,...

89 views0 comments

Black History Month #14 - Greenbelt Women Visit Nannie Helen Burroughs' Cooperative in D.C.

Stephen Oetken

Feb 14, 20212 min read

Black History Month #14 - Greenbelt Women Visit Nannie Helen Burroughs' Cooperative in D.C.

Did you know that there was a thriving black cooperative movement in Washington DC in the late 1930’s? The woman at the center of this...

153 views0 comments

Black History Month #13 - National Public Housing Museum

Megan Searing Young

Feb 14, 20211 min read

Black History Month #13 - National Public Housing Museum

Did you know there is a National Public Housing Museum based in Chicago? We've followed the progress of this fascinating organization for...

12 views0 comments

Black History Month #12 - Desegregating Greenbelt

Megan Searing Young

Feb 12, 20211 min read

Black History Month #12 - Desegregating Greenbelt

Did you know that Greenbelt began as a segregated community? Despite the fact that it was built by both Black and white relief workers,...

60 views0 comments

Black History Month #11 - Jacob Lawrence and the WPA

Megan Searing Young

Feb 12, 20212 min read

Black History Month #11 - Jacob Lawrence and the WPA

Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) is often described as the most widely acclaimed Black artist of the 20th century. Did you know that he...

1,496 views0 comments

Black History Month #10 - The WPA and the Collection of Narratives of Enslaved People

Sheila Maffay-Tuthill

Feb 12, 20211 min read

Black History Month #10 - The WPA and the Collection of Narratives of Enslaved People

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his WPA (Works Progress Administration) commissioned the Federal Writer’s Project to interview...

22 views0 comments

Megan Searing Young

Feb 12, 20211 min read

Black History Month #9

Here are another couple of photos from the Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration Collection. These were taken by Arthur...

12 views0 comments

Black History Month #8 - 1940 Census Shows 3 Black Families in Greenbelt Area

Megan Searing Young

Feb 8, 20212 min read

Black History Month #8 - 1940 Census Shows 3 Black Families in Greenbelt Area

Joseph Arnold in his book, The New Deal in the Suburbs: A History of the Greenbelt Town Program 1935-1954, writes that there were several...

40 views0 comments