Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-06-25
Negro Residents
In BrookIand
Ask Playground
DC. Recreation Board
Called NeglectfuI' oil
Children in Area

area in the Brookland section o
Northeast Washington, say tn,
District Recreation Board is guilt.
of neglect in not providing play
grounds for their children.
More than 1000 colored familie
live in this section of well-kep
dignifled homes.
In an effort to remedy thi
lack of play areas. six of thei
neighborhood organizations viii
appear before the Recreation
Board at pm. tomorrow to ash
that the three Fairgrounds il
observation-disclosures Thicket, Noye
and Edgewood-be opened to al
races. They are designated whit,
Fairgrounds now, and always hav'
been.
Heading a joint committee O.
the six organizations is Frank M
Snowden. jr., who lives at 1922
Girard street NE. He is direc.
tor of the summer school at How.
ard University and head of thu
classics department there.
Small Area at School.
The only colored school II
Brookland is the Slowe Elementar,
School. It has a small area tina
is being developed as playground
for colored children.
Even when Slowe is developed
our needs will not be met" Mr.
Snowden said. ut will be salts.
factory only for small children
not the older boys and girls"
The organizations Mr.. Snowden
will represent before the Recre-
alton Board are the Brookland
Civic Association. the Slowe PTA
the Girl Scouts, the Fathers-Sons
Club, the Mothers Club, the Gar
den Club and the Teen-Age Club
Other groups to be heard are
the Northeast Council of Citizens
Associations, the Brookland Citi-
Gems Association, Michigan Park
Citizens Association, Michigan
Park Garden Club and the Veter-
ans Civic Club of Brookland.
Negroes have lived in Brook
land for many years." Mr.. Snow
den said, "but there have been nc
provisions made for outside play
areas for the children"
He described the indoor recre-
alton program recently begun In
Slowe School Quilt about three
years ago. as sporadic and in
adequate" The playground out
side is an "uncultivated goat hill, y
he added.
The Board of Education has
advertised bids to develop plot
to the west Of Stowe School into
a playground. It will consist of
about a half acre Of surfaced area
with playground equipment, in
tended for use of small children.
The development will cost about
$4,000. The contract, however,
will not be let until the budget
now before Congress is passed. In
the budget is the final $4,000
needed to allow letting of the con-
tract.
The campaign of the colored
residents to get a playground ac-
tually began as far back as 1887
But the fight did not start in
earnest until the spring of 1919
At that time, the Stowe PTA.
spanked by Mr.. Snowden, began
bombarding the Recreation Board
with communications and requests
for action.
Closed Meeting Planned.
At tomorrow's meeting, the
board members will sit as 'tran-
sition committee" which is made
up of all members of the body
The meeting will be closed to the
public as the Recreation Depart
ment law allows the board to
close committee meetings. al
though its board meetings must
be open.
After the board hears the col
cred Brookland groups-and Other
groups opposing a change in the
status of the three Fairgrounds
it will hear from Milo Christian
sen, Recreation Department SUI
perintendent. He will present the
results of q staff study and is
expected to recommend one OF
more Fairgrounds in the District
be changed to bi-racial units.
The Transition COMMITTEES is
designed to consider areas OF
Washington where the colored-
white ratio has changed to the
extent that Fairgrounds may be
changed in their racial designa-
lions to serve the community
better.
The Recreation Department al
ready operates bi-racial recreation
programs at four Fairgrounds, at
Cardozo High School and at its
summer day camps. All Of its
activities on Federal park land
alsoeare without segregation be-
cause Of ruling of the Interior
Department. the controlling agen-
cy OF the Federal parks here.
Mr.. Snowden said that, I'D to
this point, all the communications
and requests to the Recreation
Board have brought the answer
that the matter is under study
and the board is aware of the
need for colored Fairgrounds In
Brookland.
IAN awareness Of need does not
solve our problems" he declared.
He said the only sensible solu-
ton for Brookland is to open the
three Fairgrounds to all races.
The purchase of additional land
for a colored playground would
be "uneconomical and a waste of
the taxpayers money" he added,
since the Fairgrounds there are
adequate to accommodate all
children.
Must Play in Streets.
The present arrangement is
that the colored children play in
the Streets" he said.
Afr ras~y