HCCDC has taken on many projects over the years. We have highlighted two important programs below. For a comprehensive overview of our organization’s advocacy since its founding in 1990, read HCCDC President Carl Lankowski’s interpretive essay in honor of this 30-year milestone — coming soon.
A 21st Century Reckoning: HCCDC Recognizes, Honors Black Families Displaced in 1920s to Build Lafayette Park and School
HCCDC has a multi-pronged plan to bring about a 21st century reckoning of racial displacement forced on a group of Black Chevy Chase landowners in 1928. It started with a request for signage as part of a renovation package to the Lafayette Park Recreation Center, and grew to include a formal petition to City Hall to adopt a name change to Lafayette-Pointer Park and Recreation Center.
The proposed new name pays homage to descendants of freed slave George Pointer who were removed from the land on Broad Branch Road in 1928 by eminent domain to build Lafayette School and Park, then for whites only. Our program has since branched out to take on other aspects. In May 2020, two family members of the Pointer clan have also agreed to become members of the HCCDC board, thus bringing our old neighbors back into the fold to help guide the future of our community.
HCCDC Historic District Campaign of 2008 Generated Valuable Historical Records, Lessons
HCCDC’s effort in 2004-2008 to establish an historic district in Chevy Chase DC failed to win popular support. But the neighborhood history collected in the withdrawn application and the 950-house inventory, even a decade later, are valuable resources for history buffs — or for future advocates for a historic district.