Building Sign, “Southeast Neighborhood House Program Center”

Object Details

Date

Between 1970 and 1980

Medium

paint, metal

Dimensions

24 × 36 × 1/8 in. (61 × 91.4 × 0.3 cm)

Cite As

Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Caption

This metal sign once hung on the front of 2263 Mount View Place, SE in Washington, DC’s Anacostia neighborhood. A white border frames matching lettering on a rectangular sign that announces, “SOUTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE PROGRAM CENTER.” Founded in 1929 by physician and public health activist Dorothy Boulding Ferebee (1898-1980), the community center provided services for working class African American families, including childcare and recreational opportunities for youth. Originally called Southeast Settlement House and located in Capitol Hill, the nonprofit followed residents displaced by urban renewal campaigns to Anacostia in 1942, revising its name to Southeast Neighborhood House (SNH). It evolved into a hub for grassroots community organizing, expanding its offerings along with its buildings; the Program Center was among five along Mount View and Maple View Place.

In the 1960s, SNH rose to national prominence as an epicenter for urban activism during the War on Poverty. Its leadership training transformed residents into advocates. The youth-led “Rebels with a Cause” and welfare rights-focused women of “Band of Angels,” not only catalyzed local change, but set national reform agendas. Long-time staff members John Kinard and Zora B. Martin became the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum’s first director and director of education, respectively, in 1967.

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Accession Number

2017.1.1

Type

sign

See more items in

Anacostia Community Museum Collection

Data Source

Anacostia Community Museum

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Metadata Usage

Not determined

GUID

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dl8c3c3b635-6b13-40e9-892f-2871641c1d3b

Record ID

acm_2017.1.1