Images from Lakeland: African Americans in College Park

Plat of property lines in Lakeland showing developer Edwin Newman's grand plan for his new subdivision.

Lake Artemesia was initially dug in the mid-nineteenth century by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to retrieve gravel for use as ballast. It was later developed for recreational use by Edwin A. Newman in the 1890s. The lake was a center of recreation for the community, with swimming and fishing in summer and skating in winter. The lake was also the site of breeding ponds for the Baltimore Goldfish Company and later the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries.

Railroad tracks at Lakeland looking south. In 1835, the Washington Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opened and bisected the area that would become Lakeland, becoming an important part of the landscape. By the early 1900s, the railroad was a major source of communication, transportation, and employment for the residents of the area, including Lakelanders.

Joseph G. Brooks was born in 1871 and married his wife Rosa in 1896. As of 1910, he was living in a mortgage-free home on Lakeland Road with his wife and seven children. According to oral history, he lost his arm while working with a rail switching operation. Around the opening of the 20th century, the Brooks and Johnson families moved from the eastern section of Lakeland to the central section, an area populated by whites.

Located directly across from Lake Artemesia and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad tracks, the Gray family home was for more than 60 years the site of many gatherings for family and friends. It hosted elementary school students in 1909 when the space in the schoolhouse became inadequate. From 1909 to 1917 a post office and rail stop operated from it as well. Today, Paint Branch Elementary stands on the property.

James Henry Gray, born 1865 in Calvert County, MD, moved to Lakeland in the late 1890s after the birth of his eldest son. He was noted for his pious attitude - his granddaughter recalls him making the family pray before going to church on Sundays!

Eliza E. Gray, James Henry Gray's wife. They lived in Berwyn, where their eldest son was born in 1896, after which they moved to Lakeland and became active church members.

Alfred Gross and Horace Brooks are pictured with a horse believed to be owned by Ferdinand Hughes, an uncle of Gross.

George Randall, Ellen Hunter Randall, and their three eldest children--Lucy, Dessie, and Victor, left to right--in about 1913.

James Johnson and Nannie Walls Johnson, two of Lakeland's earliest African American residents. They migrated with family members from Westmoreland County, Virginia. This image is from 1890-1900.

George Isaac Walls moved to Lakeland from Westmoreland County, VA at the turn of the 20th century, ca. 1900. He married Hattie Dyce on November 18, 1904 at Embry AME Chapel, one of the first marriage services held there. The house they built in 1911 on Navahoe street still stands today. This image of him dates to 1915. He died in 1916. He was the father of George, John, Anderson, and Mary Weems and related to the Giles and Randall families. Many direct descendants through Anderson and Mary presently reside in Lakeland.

The home of Benjamin Hicks and his wife, Annie L. Terry Hicks, was located on Washington Street (now Lakeland Road) next to the old Lakeland High School. The Hickses rented rooms to those in the community and welcomed visiting ministers. The house was demolished during the early 1960s.

Annie L. Terry Hicks, wife of Benjamin Robert Hicks. Both were born in 1973. She was a homemaker and laundress.

Benjamin Robert Hicks, born in Calvert County, Maryland in 1873. He moved to Lakeland in 1900 and married Annie L. Terry. They raised three children--Ethel, Madeline, and Maurice. Hicks was a founder and deacon of Embry AME Church. He was employed as a member of the maintenance and repair crew for the nearby B&O Railroad.

Between 1910 and 1918, the Guss family moved from St. Mary's County in Maryland to Lakeland by way of the District of Columbia. Shortly after they arrived, Cornelius and Carrie Guss bought the property from its white owner. They were one of the Roman Catholics in the community and raised their children in that faith.

This formal portrait of Amos Guss in spats, with his signature cigar, was taken around 1925. Guss was one of Lakeland's longest-surviving World War I veterans. In January 1919, at the age of 22, he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army. For the next 70 years, he spoke proudly of his military service and was an active member of the American Legion.

The home of Charles Hamlett and his second wife, Nettie Edwards Hamlett. It was located on Cleveland Avenue near Lake Artemesia. Originally a single home, over time more units were added for use as rentals.

Charles Hamlett and his first wife Eva in 1930. He moved to Lakeland from New Jersey. Eva was the daughter of two of Lakeland's earliest African American residents, John and Maggie Brooks. The house was demolished during urban renewal.

Community leaders of the 1940s left to right include Benjamin Briscoe, Sr., George Brooks, Sr., Arthur Brooks, and J. Chesley Mack.

Charles "Duck" Russell moved to Lakeland in the early 1900s to raise a family. After being widowed, he remarried and raised a second family. Russell worked for the City and Suburban Railway of Washington on the streetcar line that passed through Lakeland.

Lakeland's original one-room school building remained in use until 1917, when it was replaced by a two-classroom structure. This photograph shows students at the school with one of their teachers, George G. Waters, circa 1915.

From 1917 to 1932, the Rosenwald Fund contributed to the building of approximately 5,000 schools for African-American children in southern states. The Rosenwald program provided state-of-the-art school plans along with partial funding. Communities were required to provide cash or in-kind contributions; the remainder of the school costs was borne by local school boards. Lakeland had two such schools. Lakeland Elementary (shown here) was built in 1925, replacing the earlier school, and Lakeland High School was built in 1928.

Lakeland High School, the community's second Rosenwald School, was built in 1928. The Lakeland community joined with their neighbors in Bladensburg, North Brentwood, Ammendale, Muirkirk, and Laurel to request that the school board approve construction of a high school for African Americans. Lakeland was selected as the site for the new high school due to its central location and the availability of train transportation. Shown here are the young women of the 1930 student body of Lakeland High School.

Dessie Randall, James Edwards, Jr., and George Arnold are pictured here with other members of the 1933 graduating class of Bowie Normal School. Randall was one of the first Lakelanders to seek a post-secondary education. She was a member of the first graduating class of Lakeland High School in 1931. Edwards later moved to Lakeland and raised his family in the community. Arnold taught at Lakeland High School and died in a car accident after attending a picnic at Carr’s Beach with friends from Lakeland.

Born in 1902, the youngest child of John C. Johnson, Ruth Johnson Taylor-Lancaster earned a teaching certificate from Bowie Normal School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Delaware State College. During the 1930s, she led efforts to bring educational opportunities such as preschool, after-school, and adult education to Lakeland. In 1936, Lancaster taught Lakeland's first adult education classes. She also penned the first written history of Lakeland.

Principal Edgar A. Smith is pictured here with the 1938 senior class of Lakeland High School. Smith was appointed principal of Lakeland High School when the school opened in 1928. He held the position until 1966, through its transition to a junior high and later to an elementary school. During much of this period, he also served as a classroom teacher. Even with these responsibilities, Smith completed his master’s degree at Temple University.

Coach Estee B. Wells and co-captains Robert Moore and Elijah Norris led the Lakeland High School football squad to a second undefeated season and the state football championship in 1946. Pictured on the field at Lakeland High School are the coach and members of the football team.

For more than thirty years the first school attended by most Lakelanders was Lakeland Elementary School on Winnipeg Street. It had two classrooms heated by a potbelly stove, and an outhouse in the rear. In 1944 the primary class, grades one through three, was taught by Margaret Wills

The upper class, grades four through six, was taught by Anita P. Smith in the second classroom. Lakelander Bessie Mack often worked as a substitute teacher at the school.

The 1943 freshman class of Lakeland High. By this time, the county school buses were bringing students to Lakeland from the other African-American communities along the US Route 1 corridor, from Mount Rainier to Laurel. After 1946, students also were bussed from the Highland Park area of the county until Fairmount Heights Junior -Senior High School opened in 1950.

Members of the Lakeland High School Dance Group in 1946. Group President Mary Day and secretary LaVerne Tolson are pictured, as are other members. They are shown in the school hallway. Dance, music, and athletics were offered at the school. Teachers donated time to the community and often taught extracurricular programs after school. Educators defined their roles as providing more than classroom learning; they worked to expand the cultural horizons of students, as well.

Edwina Herald Buckner stands with her fourth- and fifth-grade class in 1953, in front of the Lakeland Elementary and Junior High School. The third through sixth grade classes were housed in metal-clad temporary buildings behind the older brick building. Buckner taught both classes and offered free ballet lessons after school.

Lakeland schools supplemented academic activities with variety shows that helped children develop performance skills and confidence in public speaking. In 1953, students at Lakeland Elementary School performed a Tom Thumb wedding, inspired by the song “The Wedding of the Painted Doll,” from the 1929 film The Broadway Melody. The school’s presentation included Lakeland boys and girls, as well as those who attended the school from other communities along U.S. Route 1.

School girls, from left to right, (first row) Pamela Sharps, Pearl Lee Campbell; (second row) Mary Ann Campbell, and Pamela Randall wave their Fairmont Heights Hornets pennant as they prepare to leave Lakeland to support their team during the school’s 1960 homecoming game. Lakeland High School was replaced by Fairmont Heights Junior-Senior High School in 1950. The new school served the African-American students from widely scattered areas of Prince George's County. As a result of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the school board abandoned its earlier, race-based school assignment plan and instituted a system based on residential boundaries. At the time, housing in Prince George’s County was segregated. African Americans resided in single-race communities, many out of custom and by choice, and others due to housing discrimination. The result of the new boundaries plan was a school system with mostly single-race schools. There was a policy, however, that allowed students to seek assignment to other schools. Few sought that option. In the 1960s, Lakeland students were assigned to the closer, predominantly-white Northwestern High School in Hyattsville and High Point High School in Beltsville.

In 1960, Dervey and Thelma Lomax sought to enroll their son Gregory in a nearby, predominantly white elementary school, but the school board denied his admission. After a second denial a year later, the Lomax family, with the assistance of the local NAACP, appealed to the state board of education. The local board settled by admitting Gregory as a second-grader to the predominantly white College Park Elementary School. The following year he was joined at school by his younger brother Elston and a few other young Lakelanders. Gregory Lomax is shown as an elementary school student.

The 1966 fourth-grade class of College Park Elementary School is shown below. Elston Lomax is seated in the first row, third from the left. Fellow Lakelander Romonia Sellers is next to him. Wayne Claiborne is standing in the last row, second from the right.

The annual May Day celebration was a high point of the Lakeland school year for many decades. Parents came to witness the day-long festivities, which included sporting matches and a musical program. The day’s highlight was the children dancing around the May Pole. Here, the May Queen was crowned circa 1960.

Lakeland’s first kindergarten classes were taught during the 1930s by Ruth Johnson Taylor Lancaster. Kindergarten was then discontinued at the school, until the 1960s. Here, the 1965-66 kindergarten class poses during the school’s May Day celebration. (Courtesy of the Gross family.)

For most of a century, only African-American students attended school in Lakeland. In 1956, two years after the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional, the Prince George’s County Board of Education enacted a plan to impede the integration of schools. The first white students did not attend Lakeland Elementary School until the late 1960s. They were few in number. The board of education resisted desegregation for decades, despite the struggle by Lakeland residents and others for integrated schools and public facilities. Nevertheless, desegregation progressed intermittently until court-ordered programs began in 1973. Pictured in this photograph taken during the 1966-67 school year is Lakeland Elementary School’s fourth and fifth grade class with Mr. Ford.

Miss Davis's first grade class at Lakeland Elementary School in 1965-66. The photograph was taken in the school library,

The historic Lakeland High School began as a six-classroom high school in 1928. It was expanded in the 1940s to add additional classrooms, and again in the 1950s for a multipurpose room. That building served the community’s school children from 1928 until 1972. It functioned as a high school until 1950, as an elementary and junior high school until 1962, and as an elementary school until 1972. The school board later used the building as a special education center. This structure, relatively unchanged, is still standing.

African Americans could not attend the University of Maryland until 1954, and few undergraduates of color were admitted until the 1970s. Lakelander Constance Sandidge graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1969. About her graduation she wrote, “I had no idea that I was doing anything out of the ordinary. Our parents instilled in my sisters and me that we could be successful at anything, and they made unbelievable sacrifices to ensure that we would get a firm academic foundation.”

Jeffrey Briscoe, Douglas Few, James Gray, and George Randall were Lakeland’s favorite sons in 1971, when they led Parkdale High School’s Panthers to a state basketball title. Briscoe, Gray, and Randall were members of the first class of Lakeland students to attend the new high school. They had sharpened their skills in Lakeland’s schoolyard and as teammates at Greenbelt Junior High School.

As a freshman at Morgan State University in Baltimore in 1974, Robert Peterson participated in the Maryland Marathon, completing the Olympic distance of 26 miles, 385 yards in 3 hours, 19 minutes, 31 seconds. The next spring, Peterson ran the Boston Marathon. He is still a runner and can be seen out for a run any day.

Students walk into Paint Branch Elementary, the result of lobbying for an integrated elementary school by Lakelanders and other community members.

Miss Norris's pre-kindergarten class of 1974-1975, at Paint Branch Elementary School

Taken in the late 1890s/early 1900s, this is a photo of some of the congregation of the First Baptist Church of Lakeland. This church came to be from meetings held in the 1890s in Lakelanders' homes.

The oldest Church in Lakeland was organized in 1891. Congregants purchased a building, renovated it, and it became the First Baptist Church of Lakeland. Services were held in the homes of various community members during and before the construction of the church.

This flyer advertises the 1925 Union picnic. For many years the First Baptist Church and Embry African Methodist Episcopal Church sponsored a joint annual Sunday School picnic. It was held at Suburban Gardens in the Deanwood neighborhood of the District of Columbia. Unlike others, the seven-acre amusement park welcomed African-American visitors to enjoy the roller coaster, Ferris wheel, swimming pools, and picnic grounds. Suburban Gardens opened in 1921 and was in operation until 1940.

Embry A.M.E. Church was founded in 1903 in the home of Samuel and Georgianna Stewart. The congregation built a chapel in 1905 in a low-lying section of the community. In 1918 the building was moved to a site on Lakeland Road. In 1920, a new church on the same location replaced the chapel.

On a summer Sunday morning in 1942, from left to right, Martha Edwards, Evelyn Giles Tyner, and Tyner’s sister, Lucille Giles, ushers for Embry A.M.E. Church, walked to church with Tyner’s daughters, Edna and Shirley. The Edwards garden is visible on the left; the Giles house is off to the right.

In 1901, the First Baptist Church purchased a parcel of land from church deacon John C. Johnson, and the church was relocated to its current location on Lakeland Road. This move proved beneficial to the community when the church was able to provide needed classroom space for the overcrowded Lakeland Elementary School. Here, members of the Junior Choir posed in front of the church with their pastor, Rev. J. A. Franklin, center, circa 1945.

The Reverend Jessie Williams and the Embry Choir gathered for this photograph on April 27, 1948. Members of the choir are, from left to right, Mary Daisy Briscoe, Mattie Johnson, Evelyn Tyner, Agnes Gross, Willa Mae Smith, James Edwards Jr., Dora Robinson, Annabelle Stroud, Leon Robinson, Amy Potts, Ellen Briscoe, Emma Harrison, Maggie Mack, Ila Mason, and Hazel Thomas.

Mock weddings such as this one at Embry A.M.E. Church, circa 1949, were popular dramatizations and fundraisers for churches. The church’s youth played the parts of bride, groom, minister, and wedding party. Embry maintained an active Sunday School, providing a Christian foundation and a social outlet for many children in the community. Embry also was active in the A.M.E. Church’s Potomac District Sunday School Council.

Mock weddings such as this one at Embry A.M.E. Church, circa 1949, were popular dramatizations and fundraisers for churches. The church’s youth played the parts of bride, groom, minister, and wedding party. Sunday School superintendent Dessie Randall Thomas loaned her wedding dress for this activity. Jean Gray and Ellsworth Dory, both about age fifteen, are the bride and groom, and Yvonne Thomas and Betty Smith are among the attendants.

Communal meals are a traditional part of celebrations at Lakeland’s churches. Members of Embry A.M.E. Church have lunch in their parish hall following a Sunday service in 1943. Among those at the table are the pastor, Rev. Jesse A. Williams (wearing the collar), and his wife, seated to his right; and former pastor Rev. Herman R. Curtis and his wife (far side of the table, first and second from the left). At the head of the table to the right is Leon Robinson, a longtime church member and trustee.

in 1951, Reverend Milton A. Covington took over First Baptist Church. Under the 47 years of his leadership, the church repaid its debt, greatly increased its membership, and rebuilt its edifice.

Ladies at First Baptist Church posed for this photo during the Church's Anniversary celebration in the late 1950s. The ladies are, from left to right, (first row) Mamie McCorkle, Mary Brooks, Alice Briscoe, and Maria Dory; (second row) Lucy Gordon, Mary Johnson Weems, Rose Cager Adams, Patricia Barber, June Jackson,, Harriet Smith, Mary Rustin, unidentified person, Jeanette Brooks, and Julia Pitts; (third row) Alice Branson, Mattie Cameron, Emma Conway, and Patty Hawkins.

In 1956, Rev. Preston Britton and members of Embry AME Church were the Annual Ushers Day guests of Macedonia United Methodist Church in Odenton, MD. Britton gave the sermon, and Embry's Youth choir performed under the direction of Dessie Randall Thomas.

Robert Fields, a familiar face at musical religious events in the community. Photographed in 1958, he was noted for his incredible singing voice, perfect for gospel music.

Due to the need for major renovations, Rev. Milton A. Covington and the congregation of the First Baptist Church decided to erect a new edifice. In 1959, the old church was demolished. Services were held at Lakeland Hall while the new church was erected by Pastor Covington, a mason; James Claiborne; Harold Pitts; and other dedicated parishioners. Members marched to their new church when it was completed in September 1962.

Rev. Milton Covington of the First Baptist Church is pictured here with parishioners on Women’s Day in the 1960s. Seated from left to right are (first row) Elsie Moody, Mary Brooks Brewer, Rev. Covington, Mary Arthur Brooks, unidentified, and Maria Dory; (second row) Alberta Tolson, Viola Gross, Harriet Lee Morgan, Charles Adams, Mr. Peale, Phoebe Fair, John Fair, and Rosie Cager.

A 1960 photograph of members of the Senior Usher Board of Embry AME Church. The ushers acted as official greeters and doorkeepers for church services.

The Gospel Choir of Embry A.M.E Church was organized by James Edwards, Jr. in the early 1960s. Members of the choir, pictured from left to right, are (first row) Amy Potts, Marie Brown, organist Rosetta Brooks, and Ethel Wilson Brown; (second row) James Edwards, Jr., Willa Mae Smith, Amy Brooks Hart, and Franklin Brown Jr. In the background is Rev. Robert H. Baddy. (Courtesy of Pearl Lee Campbell and James Edwards III.)

Embry A.M.E. Church’s Junior Choir is shown here circa 1965 with their pastor, Rev. Robert H. Baddy. The group served under the direction of Dessie Randall Thomas and was accompanied by Janet Randall on the piano. A member of the group recalls, “The recollection of those old hymns I learned as a child has helped me through many difficult times. Their lyrics have been a continual reminder of God’s love and promises.”

Dessie Randall Thomas served as the Sunday School superintendent of Embry AME Church for 32 years. Through her dedicated teaching and fine example, she guided the religious education of generations of Lakeland's youth. She's pictured here in September 1962, with Sunday school students and staff at the time. She is third from right in the center row. Rev Robert H. Baddy is in the back row, on the far left.

The churches of Lakeland have always been the true soul of the community. Gathering for dinner on the lawn of Embry A.M.E. Church has long been a summer tradition in Lakeland. In this 1962 photograph, William Sharps is shown wearing chef’s whites preparing the day’s meal. Seated in the foreground is Dora Robinson, third from the right, along with some friends, including Jacob Johnson, wearing the hat.

In addition to good, home-cooked food and the opportunity to visit with friends and family members, on this day in 1963 there was the added attraction of pony rides. On the left is Avis Matthews on a pony led by her uncle, Lester Gray; her sister Carol is riding a pony led by Ronald Brooks.

Built in 1926 as Lakeland Elementary School, this building in 1958 became home to Little New Zion Fire-Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas. A portion of the building contained an apartment, where the family of James and Anna Smith lived for years. Both the family and congregation were displaced with the coming of urban renewal. The congregation, now Greater New Zion Fire-Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas, is located in West Lanham, Maryland.

Sunday School picnics were a summer highlight for Lakelanders. Everyone would pack a lunch and meet on the third Saturday in July at an amusement park or beach for a day of fun in the sun. The community’s two churches regularly came together for the outing. In 1962, the Embry A. M. E. Sunday School outing took place at Carr’s Beach in Annapolis, Maryland. From left to right are John Webster; Mary Weems Braxton; and Wilmer, Delphine, and Maxine Gross. (Courtesy of the Gross family.)

On March 28, 1969, an event was held to honor Rev. Robert H. Baddy’s nine years as pastor of Embry A.M.E. Church. Baddy was born in the Hillsdale area of the District of Columbia and was ordained in 1935. A variety of church, community, and religious leaders made congratulatory remarks during the tribute, including former Lakeland School Principal Edgar A. Smith; civic leader J. Chesley Mack; former Embry pastor Rev. James R. Gibson; and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photograph ©2008 Joanne M. Braxton.)

On December 29, 1967, Embry AME Church hosted a dinner to honor two prominent parishioners: church clerk Pauline Gray and church treasurer Arthur Brooks. The program featured testimonials and music, and a festive meal in the parish hall. lol

Rev. Dessie Carter, Spencer Briscoe, Betty Greene, Dessie Thomas, Shirley Anderson, jean Matthews, Lester gray, Thomas Randall, Janet Gillians, Bubby Brown, Florence Lee, Vera Matthews, fanny Douglas, James. Clemens

Rev. Dessie L. Carter (far left), pastor of Embry A. M. E. Church, is shown here with members of the Embry Senior Choir. Pictured from left to right are (first row) Spencer Briscoe, Betty Thomas Green, Dessie Randall Thomas, Shirley Randall Anderson, Jean Gray Matthews, Lester Gray, and Thomas Randall; (second row) Janet Randall Gillens, Franklin Brown Jr., Florence Wethers Lee, Vera Johnson Matthews, Fannie Mae Randolph Douglas, and James Clemons.

First Baptist Church of College Park crowned Gwen Williams Miss First Baptist during a fund-raising pageant held at the church in the summer of 1970. Williams won by raising more money for the church than the other competitors. The Young People's Volunteer Choir provided music for the evening. (Courtesy of Thelma Lomax)

Youth of First Baptist Church; also shown is Pastor Covington. Bottom left is Miss Sandidge teaching a Sunday School Class and next to that an image of the crowning of Miss First Baptist Church, Gwen Williams. First Baptist Church of College Park crowned Gwen Williams Miss First Baptist during a fundraising pageant held at the church in the summer of 1970. Williams won by raising more money for the church than the other competitors. The Young People's Volunteer Choir provided music for the evening. (Courtesy of Thelma Lomax.)

Reverend Dessie L. Carter, pastor of Embry A.M.E. Church for 26 years, leading it through its 100th anniversary in 2003. He left a resounding impact upon the church and the surrounding community.

The Embry Youth Choir was organized in 1979 under the guidance of the pastor, Rev. Dessie L. Carter. Pictured are, from left to right, Talaya Boardley, Kimberly Gillens, Sharon Seldon, Linda Kim Lockerman, Monique Thomas, adviser Jean Gray Matthews, Rev. Carter, Lisa Gray, Kamille Gillens, Karon Seldon, Dean Matthews, and Paul Thomas. Members not shown are Lisa Carter, Barrett Matthews, Denise Penn, Nicole Thomas, and Pamela Tolson. (Courtesy of Embry A.M.E. Church.)

The kitchen of University of Maryland around 1912 when it was still Maryland Agricultural College. It was nicknamed "Charles Dory's health resort"; pictured from left to right are Bill Dory (seated), Ferdinand Hughes, Spencer Dory, and Charlie Dory. Many Lakelanders worked here.

Airmail mechanics, couriers, pilots and groundskeepers pose in the early 1900s at the College Park Airfield's Airmail Station. Lakelanders among the crew include Charles J. Johnson, Hans Hill, Paul Hill, George Brooks, and Bernie Brooks. The College Park Airport, established in 1909 and located just beyond the boundaries of Lakeland, is the world's oldest continually operating airport.

Over the past ninety years, many Lakelanders have been employed at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, known to many locals as the government farm. In 1910, the U.S. Department of Agriculture purchased the 475-acre Walnut Grange plantation in nearby Beltsville and established a research facility. The Beltsville Agricultural Research Center would eventually expand to 1,662 acres and become the world’s largest, most diversified agricultural research complex.

Benjamin Robert Hicks was employed for years on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He was a member of a crew that built, maintained and repaired hundreds of miles of railroad track. He is pictured in the middle, the tall man in the dark jacket. Several of Lakeland's earliest African American settlers came to the community through their work on the railroad, including Benjamin Hicks, John C. Johnson, and Joseph Brooks.

Many departments at the University of Maryland provided stable employment for Lakelanders. Pictured here are, left to right, Pauline Gray and Etelka Lomax preparing meals in the kitchen at the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. Other Lakeland residents, including Saxoline Campbell, Dorothy Holman, and Hazel Thomas, also were employed as cooks and kitchen-service staff for sorority and fraternity houses.

Arlene Davis is shown in this 1950 photograph wearing early-American period clothing while working as a housekeeper at the Rossborough Inn. Built around 1803, the Inn became part of the Maryland Agricultural College (now the University of Maryland) in 1858. For several decades, from 1958 until 2006, the Inn was the home of the university's Faculty Club.

Members of College Park's Public Works Department were honored at a c.1965 city council meeting. William Gullett (far right) was the Mayor; he is shown shaking hands with the Director of Engineering Services Caulder B. Morris. The three Lakelanders in the group are Chauncey Taylor Sr. (far left), William Smith (next to him), and Paul Parker (third from right).

A member of the nationally known singing group the Ink Spots, Lakeland native Ernest Brown played guitar and contributed tenor vocals. On October 12, 1952, he was with the group when they appeared as guests on the iconic “Ed Sullivan Show.” Brown was one of the younger sons of early Lakeland resident Pleasant Brown.

Three Lakelanders worked in the physics department at the University of Maryland as data analysts; their job was to record the results of experiments performed by doctoral students, who used the data in their dissertations. In this 1969 photo are Lucille Giles Sharps, Ethel Dory Lockerman, and Pearl Lee Campbell Edwards.

Several Lakelanders worked at the U.S. Bureau of Mines office located on the College Park campus of the University of Maryland. The office was responsible for the treatment of water in cooling and heating systems within federal installations. The staff received water samples, analyzed them, and then sent out the chemicals required for proper water treatment. Pictured, from left to right, are (first row) Morris Crump and Anderson Walls; and (second row) Ike Thomas, Alfred Thomas, George Coates, Charles Smith, Charles Adams, and Charles Dory.

Clad in her hand-beaded, burgundy-and-gold team uniform, Sylvia Potts (first row, second from left) posed for this photograph with the other members of hte Redskinettes, the official cheerleaders for professional football's Washington Redskins. In 1969, Potts became one of the first African American members of the cheering squad.

George Henry Gross at a 1969 ceremony honoring him for his 45 years of service with the University of Maryland's Dining Services Department. He and other employees are being congratulated by the Maryland Governor Marvin Mandel and Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein.

Two generations of his family preceded Elwood H. Gross as an employee at the University of Maryland. In earlier years, opportunities open to African Americans were limited. With the removal of racial barriers and his hard work, Gross rose from being an automobile mechanic's apprentice to the position of associate director of the Physical Plant. In 1988, Gross (second from left) was one of several recipients of the Associate Staff Award.

Robert Ridgley Gray had a stellar career as an educator and civic leader. Born in 1910, he was the eighth child of James H. and Eliza E. Gray. In his unpublished memoir, Gray wrote: “In 1934, I had the honor of opening an eight–room school in Fairmount Heights. … At that time, this was the largest school in the state … built primarily for elementary education.” Gray served his country during World War II. In January 1946, he returned to the school and served as principal there until his 1970 retirement. In 1964, he chaired a bi-racial committee studying the problems of integration in Prince George’s County’s public schools. From 1977 to 1989, Gray was mayor of Fairmount Heights, Maryland. In 2001, a new county elementary school was named for him.

Willie Johnson worked as a food service manager at the University of Maryland. He eventually bought a home in and moved to Lakeland, where he was fondly remembered for his cooking and for his vegetable garden.

Harold Sampson became the College Park Animal Control Officer in 1971. That year's October Municipal Sceen newsletter reported, "His reputation is spreading fast. One dog from College Park Woods traveled through the rain and turned himself in at the Municipal Building this morning." That humorous report set the tone for Sampson's relationship with city residents. He was the most popular city staff member.

The "M" in the traffic circle on Campus Drive has been a landmark on the University of Maryland campus since the 1970s. Its recognition factor is second only to the University Chapel. James Adams of Lakeland was a member of the university's grounds crew for 37 years and was instrumental in the installation of this planting.

Barbara Brown Seldon is among a list of educators who were raised in Lakeland. She taught for 30 years at the District of Columbia's Harrison Elementary School. She is pictured with her fourth grade class in 1990.

Fourth-generation Lakelander Lisa Hollomand started learning to skate at the Wells Rink in College Park. Her teacher recognized her talent and her parents invested in years of private lessons. Between high school and college, from 1985 to 1987, Hollomand performed for two tours with Disney on Ice. This photograph was taken during a performance in 1985. After her tours, she taught skating at a number of area skating rinks. (Courtesy of Mary Day Hollomand.)

Willie C. Sellers, Jr. is photographed here with his wife, Salena, on the day of his graduation in 1995. A firefighter, he was awarded a bronze medal for rescuing several people from a burning building on March 4, 1996.

Joanne Margaret Braxton, the daughter of Harry M. Braxton Sr. and Mary Ellen Weems Braxton, is photographed here in 2008. Having earned her undergraduate degree at Sarah Lawrence College and her master's and doctoral degrees from Yale University, Dr. Braxton joined the faculty of the College of William and Mary in 1980. She is a widely published scholar and poet and has received numerous awards during her 29 years of service as a senior African American faculty member.

Melonie Sharps Garrett grew up in Lakeland with her parents and three sisters. Her career has flourished as a master certified coach and organizational development consultant. She has led her own company--ATG Coaching and Consulting, LLC--for 22 years.

Lakeland’s American Legion Post was named for John Henry Seaburn, a North Brentwood resident who served and died overseas during World War I. The post was active from 1940 until the 1970s. With the coming of urban renewal efforts, their meeting place, Lakeland Hall, was demolished. The post disbanded and members joined other area posts. Members of Lakeland’s post are pictured here circa 1960.

Joseph Johnson, son of John Calvary Johnson, served as a member of the U.S. Army during WWI. He was one of the first Lakelanders in service to his country. From the founding of the community, Lakeland residents worked individually and collectively to serve and defend their community and nation.

Dervey A. Lomax joined the U.S. Navy during WWII and served in the Pacific, including Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, and Okinawa. When he returned from military service, he was hired by the Department of the Navy in 1948, and rose to the position of supervisory electronic technician with the Naval Electronic Systems Security Engineering Center.

When the United States entered World War II, the Navy's African-American sailors had for decades been limited to serving as mess attendants. However, the wartime pressures of a manpower shortage, the willingness of thousands of African Americans to serve, plus political pressure, forced important changes. Though the Navy remained racially segregated in training and in most service units, in 1942 the enlisted ranks were opened to all qualified personnel. Weems sent the photograph below to his wife, Mary, while he was serving aboard a ship in the Pacific theater.

James Weems (third row, second from right) was inducted into the U.S. Navy in 1944 and went for training at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Bainbridge, MD.

Charles Carroll served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. He was called up for service after settling in Lakeland with his wife, Julia Mack Carroll. He was a teacher in the public school system of Washington D.C. and later became a draftsman for the Department of the Navy. After retiring form federal service, he was hired by the University of Maryland as its first African American personnel officer. He retired from that position after a decade. From 1973 to 1979, he represented Lakeland on the College Park City Council.

In 1942, Edward Lee Tyner was home on leave from the U.S. Navy. Here he celebrates with his wife, Evelyn Giles Tyner, next to him on his right, and friends. They are, from left to right, Eunice Johnson, the Tyners, Vera Johnson Matthews, Mary Weems, Mary Walls Weems, and unidentified.

During their 1944 New Year's celebration, compliments of the United Service Organizations, Willie Hunter Randall of Lakeland and Kenneth Davis of North Brentwood paused for this photograph. Randall served in the U.S. Navy from October 1943 to January 1949. He traveled to his duty station by sea. His daughter was named Via, meaning 'by way of', in honor of that voyage. Family members report that he had many humorous stories about his service. One niece, Pamela Randall Boardley, recalled, "He made it seem as though he single-handedly won the war."

M. Sgt Harry M. Braxton, Sr. was assigned to the Quartermaster Corps in WWII and was a driver in the Red Ball Express. When army general George S. Patton made a rapid advance across France in 1944, he stretched his supply line to near collapse. Supply trucks rolled continuously, 20 hours a day, seven days a week for 82 days across France and into Germany, often facing attack from the ground and the air. Nearly 75% of Red Ball Drivers were African Americans. Later, Braxton worked with the Graves Registration and gave Holocaust victims the respect they deserved in death by providing them with a proper burial. Sgt. Braxton was proud to have served and expressed great admiration for General Patton.

M. Sgt. Harry M. Braxton, Sr. was assigned to the Quartermaster Corps in WWII and was a driver in the Red Ball Express. When army general George S. Patton made a rapid advance across France in 1944, he stretched his supply line to near collapse. Supply trucks rolled continuously, 20 hours a day, seven days a week for 82 days across France and into Germany, often facing attack from the ground and the air. Nearly 75% of Red Ball Express drivers were African Americans. Later, Braxton worked with the Graves Registration and gave Holocaust victims the respect they deserved in death by providing them with a proper burial. Sgt. Braxton was proud to have served and expressed great admiration for General Patton.

The youngest of nine children, Clarence A. Gray Sr. was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in September 1945, at the same time his brother Ridgley was stationed overseas. Returning to his base after a visit home to Lakeland for the Labor Day weekend, Private Gray wrote to his brother: “The war is over, and if you are like me, you are glad knowing everybody will be going home shortly. I have more training to go….I don’t know where then. I hope home.” Clarence and Christine Gray reared thirteen children in Lakeland.

At home on leave from the United States Army during World War II in 1942, George “Pete” Walls is surrounded by friends. From left to right are Mary Jane Giles Fields, Amos Guss, Gertrude Davis, Pete Walls, Lucille Giles, Gertrude Brooks, and Evelyn Giles Tyner, playing the guitar. 

A single portrait of Leonard Smith, who moved from Beltsville as a young man to Lakeland. He attended Maryland State College. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant during his time in the army. Upon returning Smith became a leader for the American Legion Post in Lakeland, and in 1972 became the first African American American Legion Commander for Prince George's County, where 16 of the 19 posts were predominantly white. As county commander, he led a membership of 7,000.

Leonard Smith moved from Beltsville as a young man to Lakeland. He attended Maryland State College. Smith entered the U.S. Army in 1950. He is shown at a master gunner's course in Fort Bliss, Texas. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant during his time in the army. Upon returning Smith became a leader for the American Legion Post in Lakeland, and in 1972 became the first African American American Legion Commander for Prince George's County, where 16 of the 19 posts were predominantly white. As county commander, he led a membership of 7,000.

Elwood Harrison Gross, the son of George Henry and Agnes Gross, was born in his parents' home on Cloud Avenue in Lakeland. After attending school in Lakeland, he graduated from St. Paul's College in Lawrenceville Virginia, after which he was drafted in 1957. He served with the U.S. Seventh Army's 569th Ordnance Company in Germany as a tank mechanic.

Gray, the son of Louis Gray and Florence Wethers Gray, spent much of his Lakeland youth at the Navahoe Street home of his aunt Gertrude Corprew and with his cousins at their grandfather James H. Gray's home near the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He attended school in Lakeland until 1950, when his class was among the first to attend Fairmont Heights Junior-Senior High School.

Maseo D. Campbell, the son of Maseo and Elizabeth Hicks Campbell, grew up with his brother and four sisters on Navahoe Street. After graduating from Northwestern High School, he served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, with posts in Long Ben and later Diel Tang, where he was assigned the task of transporting jet fuel from Phu Vinh to the Mekong Delta, surviving many attacks along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Campbell was discharged with honors August 1, 1969.

Sergeant Leroy W. Pitts, the son of Harold and Julia Pitts, was born in 1941 at Freedman’s Hospital in the District of Columbia. He grew up in Lakeland and was educated in Lakeland schools through junior high school. In 1964, he married Virginia Pumphrey. They had a daughter, and he helped raise two step-children. In 1966, Pitts was inducted into the United States Army and served in Vietnam.

Corporal Thomas Reynold Randall, lovingly known as Bubby, joined the United States Marine Corps in December 1969. After completing infantry training, he was stationed at Quantico, Virginia, and later at Camp Courtney in Okinawa, Japan. After completing his term of service, Randall earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. (Courtesy of the Randall family.)

J. Chesley Mack is seated second from the left in this 1957 photograph of the College Park Town Council. He served as a member of that legislative body from 1945 until 1957. Mack was one of the first in Lakeland to complete a course of higher education. He was an influential local leader, a successful businessman, and a chef employed by the University of Maryland.

In 1965, Leonard Smith was elected to the College Park City Council. In this photograph, outgoing councilman Dervey Lomax, second from the right, is shown affixing Smith’s council pin. In addition to being a civic leader, Smith was a contractor, property developer, and entrepreneur. He served as a member of the College Park City Council until 1967.

Members of the Lakeland community have always been active in civic affairs. For many years, the City of College Park has held annual events honoring those who serve on its various citizen committees and boards. The City of College Park honored Lakelanders in 1969 at a dinner event, where certificates were presented by Mayor William Gullett (far right) to (from left to right) Hattie Lewis, Mary Weems Braxton, and George Brooks, Jr.

Dervey Lomax is shown in the rumble seat of an antique Ford as a participant in the 1974 College Park Girls and Boys Club parade. Lomax served a total of twenty-seven years on the College Park City Council.

After serving several terms as a member of the College Park City Council, Dervey Lomax was elected mayor of College Park in 1973. The event marked a milestone for the citizens of Lakeland, as he was their first native son and the only person of color to have been elected to that high office. His installation was an evening of celebration. Present for the ceremonies were the following, from left to right: (seated) Etelka Lomax, the mother of Mayor Lomax; (first row) four members of the Lomax Sisters singing group; Charles Lomax, the father of the mayor; Mayor Lomax; his wife, Thelma; and their son Gregory; (second row) William Lomax, Vera and Phillip Matthews, Valarie Smith, Delores Dotson, and Charles Dory.

Banquet in Honor of Hattie Sandidge hosted by the Lakeland Civic Association in 1975,

Banquet in honor of community leader Hattie Sandidge. Held at Paint Branch School on Pierce Ave in 1975.

Sandidge was a leader in the Lakeland community for many years. She served as president of the Lakeland Civic Association and as a deaconess of First Baptist Church. With the implementation of the Lakeland Urban Renewal Project, the Sandidge family home was slated for demolition. Sandidge, her husband Enoch, and their family moved out of the community. Below, the Sandidge family gathered during the 1975 banquet. The children standing in front are Marcus Waddy and Trina Thompson. Standing left to right are (second row) Gela Portee, Jennie Thompson, Connie Sandidge, Hattie Sandidge, Enoch Sandidge, Wiley Portee, and Myra Wood; (third row) Jean Sandidge, Cheryl Thompson, Bonita Waddy, Ronald Brooks, Gela Sandidge Brooks, and Danny Thompson.

The Lakeland Civic Association honored prominent community member Hattie Sandidge with a gala banquet on June 7, 1975 to recognize her many years of service and leadership in the Lakeland community.

Members of the 1975 Banquet Planning Committee honoring civic leader Hattie Sandidge included many steadfast members of the Lakeland Civic Association and longtime Lakeland residents. They are, from left to right, (first row) Lois Copeland, Mary Lyons, Mary Weems Braxton, and Julia Mack Carroll; (second row) Harry Braxton Sr., Thelma Lomax, Julia Pitts, and James Claiborne. The Lakeland Civic Association has been active continuously since the 1930s. George Brooks Sr. served as president for twenty-five years. He was succeeded by James Claiborne, Leonard Smith, Elwood Gross, Julia Carroll, Hattie Sandidge, Dervey Lomax, James Weems, James Adams, Fannie Featherstone, Karen Roberts, Maxine Gross, Diane Weems Ligon, Monroe Dennis, and Robert Thurston. The Lakeland Civic Association continues to work to preserve and improve Lakeland as a residential community and to protect its unique heritage.

Members of the 1975 Banquet Planning Committee honoring civic leader Hattie Sandidge included many steadfast members of the Lakeland Civic Association and longtime Lakeland residents. Pictured at the banquet are City Council member Charles Carroll and his wife, Julia Mack Carroll.

A fourth-generation Lakelander and former Lakeland Civic Association president, Maxine Gross was elected to the College Park City Council in 1989 and served until 1997. Gross graduated from the University of Maryland. Her graduation meant a great deal to her family, as family members for three generations had worked for the university but had been barred from attending because of segregation.

Members of the College Park Committee for a Better Environment, including the chairwoman, Amelia Murdoch (far left), and Lakelanders Wilmer Gross and James Adams (far right), planted trees at an Earth Day Event. The Committee for a Better Environment is made up of College Park citizens with an interest in improving the environment and quality of life in the city. The committee promotes, sponsors, and provides support for local environmental projects and activities.

Ella Falls and Maggie Brooks, two of Lakeland's early residents, were neighbors residing on the east side of Lakeland for more than fifty years. Here they are shown enjoying the lakeside view while taking a stroll with their parasols.

Around 1935, these boys were photographed in their Sunday best, which included knickerbockers. “They’re wearing knockers,” commented Leonard Smith, who grew up in the era, upon seeing this photograph. “You were dressed up then.” In the rear is Henry “Buck” Johnson, and in the front row, far right, is Charles Dory. Dory as a teen was a star basketball player for Lakeland High School and went on to work as a cook for the railroad. He was also a deacon of the First Baptist Church of College Park. (Courtesy of the Randall family.)

The wedding of Phillip "Billy" Matthews of Laurel and Vera Johnson of Lakeland in May 1939 was recalled by guests as one of the grandest events the community had seen. Members of the wedding party are, from left to right, Eunice Johnson, George Walls, the groom, Gertrude Walls Corprew, the bride, Benjamin Briscoe, Jr. and Pearl Brooks Briscoe.

As a young woman, Margaret Gross Gray moved to New York City and married; yet she still maintained ties to Lakeland. Her visits were frequent and her children and grandchildren came for long holidays “in the country.” One visit with Gray’s grandmother, Harriet Hughes of Lakeland Road (seated, center), is captured here circa 1942. From left to right, standing, are Beatrice Hughes Thomas, Cora Gross, George Gray, and Margaret Gross Gray. Seated on the ground are Jean Gray (right) and Amelia Wilson (left). (Courtesy of the Gross family.)

Lakeland girls Ruby Briscoe and Gladys Conley jitterbug on a Newark, New Jersey, street in the 1940s. They were like many others who migrated to industrial cities for the plentiful jobs that were available during World War II. Briscoe, later Ruby Tynes, made New Jersey her home. Conley returned to Maryland and was a school teacher in St. Mary’s County. Both retained lifelong ties to their family and friends in Lakeland. (Courtesy of the Gray family.)

In the summer of 1944, neighbors enjoyed a day relaxing in the rural countryside of Lakeland. In this photograph, longtime neighbors proudly show off their newest neighbor, infant James "Little Jimmy" Edwards III. Sitting in the cornfield, from left to right, are Lola Giles, Viola Brooks, Cecelia Brooks, Gertrude Brooks, and Morris Crump. (Courtesy of Mary Hamlett Harding.)

Teas were a favorite social activity for the ladies of Lakeland. These events were sometimes held in the churches as fundraising activities, but most often they were social occasions in homes. Each hostess took great pride in her ability to set a fine table. Pictured here is one such gathering at the home of George Henry and Agnes Gross. Their guests are, left to right, Maria Lomax Dory, Fannie Williams, Annabelle Stroud, Ellen Lomax Briscoe, and Ellen Randall Gray.

William Sharps of North Brentwood and Lucille Giles of Lakeland were married March 15, 1945, at Embry A.M.E Church. Rev. W. E. Mosley presided. The formal wedding reception was held at Lakeland Hall. Members of the wedding party include, from left to right, Harry Braxton, Evelyn Giles, Omega Giles, Blanche Sharps, Vera Matthews, Wallace Sharps, Mary Braxton, the bride, the groom, Lola Giles, George Walls, Cecilia Brooks, Robert Fields, Shirley Randall, Margaret Sharps, Cozette Johnson, and James Weems. The flower girls are (left to right) Patricia Barber, Shirley Tyner, and Edna Tyner.

In the 1940s and 1950s much of the organized entertainment in Lakeland was provided by social clubs. These clubs met monthly at the homes of the members. Dinners were part of the gathering and provided the host an opportunity to showcase both their cooking ability and their tableware. The Duchesses and the Counts social clubs sponsored an annual formal dance at Lakeland Hall and sometimes posed for professional photographs. The Duchesses social club was photographed here during their 1947 evening social event. They are, from left to right, Mary Walls Weems, Cecilia Brooks Stewart, Gertrude Walls Corprew, Evelyn Giles Tyner, Florence Wethers, Martha Edwards, Pearl Brooks Briscoe, and Eliza Gray.

In the 1940s and 1950s much of the organized entertainment in Lakeland was provided by social clubs. These clubs met monthly at the homes of the members. Dinners were part of the gathering and provided the host an opportunity to showcase both their cooking ability and their tableware. The Duchesses and the Counts social clubs sponsored an annual formal dance at Lakeland Hall and sometimes posed for professional photographs. The Counts appear here in formal tails and white gloves. The gentlemen are, left to right (left row) Gasson Bradford Sr., James Weems, Anderson Walls, George Walls, Charles Carroll, and Harry Braxton Sr.; (right row) Mack Allen, John Webster, William Sharps, Aubrey Corprew, Chesley Mack, and Ashby Tolson.

In the 1940s and 1950s much of the organized entertainment in Lakeland was provided by social clubs. The Counts’ escorts are, left to right (first row), Evelyn Giles Tyner, Mary Weems Braxton, Mary Walls Weems, Bernice Lancaster Walls, Julia Mack Carroll, Mary Douglas Tolson, and Dorothy Mack Allen; (second row) Pearl Brooks Briscoe, Gertrude Walls Corprew, Florence Wethers, Mary Brooks Brewer, and Elizabeth Mack.

Members of the “greatest generation” enjoy a day at Carr’s Beach in Annapolis, Maryland, during the 1940s. Carr’s Beach was a summertime retreat for African Americans from its opening in 1929 until the late 1960s. As part of the famous “Chitlin Circuit,” it attracted some of the era’s greatest African-American musical talent. The Chesapeake beaches were not racially integrated until the 1950s. (Courtesy of Pearl Lee Campbell Edwards and James Edwards III.)

Through the early 1970s, the home was the center of extended-family festivities, including Christmas dinners and Fourth of July fireworks. Pictured are, left to right, Barnett, Mildred holding Lester, Linda, DeWana, Myron, Jean holding Cheryl, and Clarence Jr. By 1954, this branch of the Gray family tree also included Tanya, Zandra, James, and Benay.

In 1947, James Henry Gray sat for this formal photo with, from left to right, his eldest son, William H. McKinley Gray (Will); grandson William H. McKinley Gray II; and great-grandson William H. McKinley Gray III (Butch). James H. Gray died in 1957. His family maintained the home on Pierce Street for two more decades. Will, following in his father’s path, was a successful interior painter and paperhanger in the District of Columbia. A World War I veteran, he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. McKinley owned PauMac Photographers in the District of Columbia and built an extensive archive of images. Butch died in childhood following surgery. (Courtesy of the Gray family.)

William and Lucille Sharps, at their home in Lakeland with Pamela, age two, welcomed baby daughter Violetta to the family in September 1948. Daughters Melonie and Joy joined the family in 1955 and 1959. Their home was the family residence for four generations until it was razed to make way for urban renewal. The family relocated to Lanham, Maryland, in February 1975.

The Christmas season served as portrait-taking time for Diane Weems and her younger brother, Donald Weems (Kuwasi Balagoon). This picture was taken around 1950 in the living room of the family home on Navahoe Street.

George Henry and Agnes Gross were married in a quiet ceremony at the home of her sister Ira, in Baltimore, Maryland. The couple chose to make a festive occasion of their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Family and friends were invited to the Gross residence on Cloud Avenue on April 8, 1950, for a reception. Left to right, are George Henry Gross, Agnes Harrison Gross, and their son, Elwood Harrison Gross.

Agnes and George Henry Gross were married in a quiet ceremony at the home of her sister Ira, in Baltimore, Maryland. The couple chose to make a festive occasion of their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Family and friends were invited to the Gross residence on Cloud Avenue on April 8, 1950, for a reception. Here the Grosses view their anniversary gifts.

Thomas Albert Randall and Agnes Serena Ross both grew up in Lakeland and were married on December 24, 1941. They had four children at the time of this 1949 photo. They are twins Janet (far right) and Jacqueline (far left), Thomas, and Pamela. The youngest child, George, was born in 1953.

James Adams and Maseo Campbell, like many young family men of Lakeland, were members of the community’s baseball team. These two gentlemen, shown in the late 1950s, were both teammates and cousins. The popularity of the games diminished in the 1970s, and Lakeland stopped fielding a team late in that decade. (Courtesy of Elizabeth Hicks Campbell Adams.)

Baseball was an important summer pastime among the African-American communities in Prince George’s County. Most of the communities had their own teams, which played each other. The baseball season was capped with a day of games and picnicking in Laurel, Maryland, to celebrate Emancipation Day, when Abraham Lincoln granted freedom to about 3,100 enslaved people in the District of Columbia, nine months before issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. Norwood Walls was one of the young pitchers who participated in these events during the 1940s and 1950s. He is shown here circa 1947. (Courtesy of Diane Weems Ligon.)

This birthday party for Hallie Adams took place at a home in Lakeland circa 1955. The guests were (left to right) Maseo Campbell, Sr., Elizabeth Campbell, Mary Brooks Brewer, Emma Dory, Calvin Adams, Peggy Folkes, Joe Harrington, June Adams, Mattie Johnson, Katie Mae Barnes, and Helen Campbell.

Many of the young people in the community used public transportation to travel to the District of Columbia to study piano under David Hines. For several years, the students presented a fundraising recital at Embry A.M.E. Church. This program on June 27, 1957, included, left to right, (first row) Reginald Keys, Rosetta Brooks, Cynthia Hines, Phyllis Smith, DeWana Gray, and Karl Alexander; (second row) Janet Randall, Jacqueline Randall, Barbara Brown, Diane Weems, and Frances Mason.

On April 5, 1953, Saxoline Briscoe married Sherman Campbell at her home on Lakeland Road. The bride’s father and siblings pose with her in this picture. From left to right, are Joseph Louis Briscoe, Spencer M. Briscoe, Mary Ruth Briscoe Jackson, George Phillip Briscoe (father of the bride), Saxoline Briscoe Campbell, and Joseph McDonald Briscoe. (Courtesy of Joseph Louis Briscoe.)

Family and friends gathered to celebrate the 70th birthday of Nellie Stewart in her Navahoe Street home. Standing from left to right are (first row) Reginald Walker, Nellie Stwart, and Vivian Marshal; (second row) Ila Mason, Sylvia Stewart, Maria Lomax Dory, Ellen Lomax Briscoe, and two unidentified women; (third row) Vila Brooks Johnson. (Courtesy of the Gross family)

In 1957, debutante DeWana E. Gray is escorted by Eugene Jordan and accompanied by her parents, Christine and Clarence Gray. The debutante ball was sponsored by The Links, an African-African women’s service organization. Gray was presented by Dr. David Hinton and ViCurtis Gray Hinton. (Courtesy of the Gray Family.)

Prince George's County African American Teen Club Queens appeared at an annual event in 1959. Lakeland’s queen was Barbara Jean Walls, far left. The Teen Club met every Friday night at Lakeland Junior High School’s multipurpose room. Chaperones included Lucille Sharps and Agnes Randall, ladies who demanded strict decorum. Diane Weems Ligon recalls the chaperones’ insistence on respectable dancing between girls and boys: “They had to see air between us.” The program was directed by Clement Martin, a shop teacher at Lakeland Junior High School.

In 1957, fourteen-year-old Wardell Thomas was Lakeland’s own teenage singing sensation. He was featured in a February 1957 Washington Star article, which applauded his ability and his winning streak at local talent shows. Thomas impressed his audiences with renderings of songs such as “In the Still of the Night” and “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” He began his musical career at the age of six when he walked on stage and performed during a show. Thomas also sang at Embry A.M.E. Church.

Violetta Sharps, Miss Lakeland 1963, greets the crowd during that year’s Elks Day Parade. Among the groups marching that day was Lakeland’s own majorettes. This parade was one of many that took place over the years in the Lakeland. The Elks’ parades promoted healthy competition between lodges throughout the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Captured in the photo below, marching down Lakeland Road, is one of several marching bands invited to participate. (Courtesy Pearl Lee Campbell and James Edwards III.) .

On a Sunday afternoon in the 1960s, sisters Eliza and Pauline Gray relax for a moment with some of their nieces and nephews: (left to right), Myron Gray, Paul Butler, Linda Gray Butler, Eliza Gray, Mildred Gray, Pauline Gray, DeWana Gray, a friend of DeWana’s, and Lester Gray. (Courtesy of the Gray family.)

In this garden wedding during the summer of 1960, Marie née Brown and William Brown were married. Pictured are Marie’s sister-in-law and matron of honor Ethel Wilson Brown, and her sister Shirley, the flower girl. The bridesmaids are local young women: from left to right, DeWana Gray, Barbara Brown, Barbara Jean Walls, and Diane Weems.

Home weddings were popular during the 1950s and 1960s. Mary Day and Samuel Hollomand were married on June 20, 1962, at the home of the bride’s parents. Rain forced the ceremony to be moved indoors to the living room. The Hollomands built their home and raised their family in Lakeland, where they continue to live. (Courtesy of Mary Day Hollomand.)

Home parties were an important part of the Lakeland social scene. In this circa 1964 photograph, Lakelander Ernest Brown, left, a former member of the Ink Spots, the popular vocal group of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, and saxophonist Samuel Hollomand treat guests to a jam session. The party took place in the recreation room of the James Weems family.

Along Pierce Avenue, adjacent to the railroad tracks and under a stand of trees was a place where gentlemen held court. Any day when the weather was fine, Luke Gray (center), having retired from the work-a-day world, could be found in his favorite spot paying witness to the passage of time. Frequently, friends George Falls (left) and Willie Laney (right) would join him. They would sit for a while and discuss the events of the day. This photograph was taken around 1965. (Courtesy of the Gross family.)

Although public education and housing were still largely segregated in 1962, there were organizations that admitted individuals regardless of race. One such institution was the College Park Boys Club. In their sports programs, boys were able to learn, play, and compete with peers from neighboring communities. Several Lakelanders are included in this photograph of the club’s track and field program.

Photo of the 1964 wedding of Pearl Lee Campbell to James Edwards III at Embry AME Church. When the church sanctuary was renovated in the 1980s, the Edwardses saved a stained glass window and hired an artist to use some of the glass to frame their marriage certificate to form a unique keepsake.

On October 15, 1966, Pamela Randall became the bride of James Boardley at Embry A.M.E. Church. Their wedding party included from left to right, (first row) flower girl Secethia Boardley and ring bearer Robert Fields Jr; (second row) Sandra Randall, Sandra Douglas, Pamela Randall Boardley, James Boardley, and Sylvia Mizell. (Courtesy of the Randall family.)

Lakelanders George Smith and Mary Ann Campbell began their married life on Saturday, June 5, 1965, at Embry A.M.E. Church. The bride chose to honor her grandmother, Ethel Hicks Claiborne, by selecting her birthday as the date for her nuptials. During the reception in the church parish hall, the wedding party assembled for the photograph above. Theirs was the perfect June wedding held on a fine sunny day, and the parish hall was filled to capacity with well wishers. Below, many of the ladies were crowned in lovely spring hats.

Lakelanders George Smith and Mary Ann Campbell began their married life on Saturday, June 5, 1965, at Embry A.M.E. Church. The bride chose to honor her grandmother, Ethel Hicks Claiborne, by selecting her birthday as the date for her nuptials. During the reception in the church parish hall, the wedding party assembled for the photograph above.

Edward Jefferson and Amy Brooks Potts (seated, middle) are pictured with their children. Seated from left to right are Beverly, Patricia, Iris, and Sylvia. The children standing are, from left to right, Anthony, Edward, Shirley, LaVerda, William, and Gerald. Wallace was not present for this photograph, which was taken at the Potts family home on Navahoe Street circa 1968. Potts was a granddaughter of Samuel and Georgianna Stewart, founders of Embry A.M.E. Church.

Newlywed Mary Ann Smith tosses her bouquet from the steps of Embry A.M.E Church. The recipient was her maid of honor, Yvonne Dorsey, a former classmate of the bride at Fairmont Heights High School.

Duckpin bowling was a popular pastime, enjoyed by the people of Lakeland. The awarding of trophies and annual banquets were eagerly anticipated by the bowlers. This photo was taken circa 1969-1970 at College Park's Fairlanes Bowling Center. The bowlers pictured are, left to right, James Hill, Helen Swan Hill, Lois GIlbert, and Thomas Randall.

Embry A.M.E. Church was the site for the wedding of Kathleen Campbell and James Tyrone Kennedy on September 9, 1972. The pair grew up in Lakeland, attended church, and went to school together. Their clothing and hair styles reflect the height of fashion for that period.

As a young man, Lakelander Donald Weems was so moved by the racism he experienced while in the United States Army, he developed a new way of looking at his role in the world. Weems took the name Kuwasi Balagoon, which in Yoruban means “son of the warrior god born on Sunday.” The name mirrors the way in which he saw himself: as a solider in the army for Black liberation. Balagoon was a leader in the Black Panther Party and an internationally published poet and essayist. (Courtesy of Diane Weems Ligon.)

Here is the central section of Lakeland Road around 1965. Embry A.M.E. Church is on the right and First Baptist Church is to the left, just out of view.

The intersection of Rhode Island Avenue, Lakeland Road, and Navahoe Street was the hub of Lakeland. Electric streetcars connected the community with the District of Columbia from 1895 until 1962. Mack’s Market, Black’s Store, the Elks Home, Lakeland Hall, and Miss Waller’s Beauty parlor were located near the streetcar stop. Black’s Store, shown here circa 1969, was owned by Charles Black. It had four apartments, a dry cleaners, and a beauty parlor, along with a store that sold groceries and snacks. With a lunch counter and juke box, the establishment became a popular place for teens to gather, eat, dance, and enjoy being together.

J. Chesley Mack, sometimes referred to as the unofficial mayor of Lakeland, operated Mack’s Market on Rhode Island Avenue. It was a general store with an ice cream counter and billiard parlor on the main floor, and rental apartments on the second floor. Mack also worked as a chef at the University of Maryland and served as Lakeland’s City Council representative from 1945 until 1957.

With the limited access African Americans had to public spaces until the 1960s, this building on western Navahoe Street was forced to serve a multitude of functions. It was designated “Lakeland’s Hall” because it served as an informal community center as well as a place for public meetings, dances, wedding receptions, and church services. On Saturday, it became a movie theater. The building is shown here circa 1965. This hall replaced an earlier structure that was located in the central section of the community.

Located in the western section of Lakeland, the Elks Home, seen here circa 1965, was owned and operated by the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, an organization created in 1899 in answer to the exclusion of African Americans from the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. The group was a social and charitable fraternal organization. To raise funds, it hosted regular events that were open to those living in Lakeland and the surrounding communities. Most fondly remembered are the annual carnivals held on the grounds of the building, and the parades through the streets of Lakeland.

In the 1940s, Stewart’s Tavern opened in Nellie Stewart’s home on western Navahoe Street. In the 1950s, her son Henry Conway, a brick mason, and some of his friends built a separate structure next door for the establishment. They renamed it Four Brothers Tavern. When the business was sold to Leonard Smith in the mid-1960s, it became known as Lakeland Tavern. The building was razed in the 1970s, not long after this photograph was taken, to make way for Lakeland’s federally funded urban renewal project.

One of Lakeland’s larger houses is pictured above. Located on western Navahoe Street, it was purchased by Richard and Mary Walls in 1925 and used as a rooming house. Property records note this parcel as being a multi-living unit on multiple lots. This part of Lakeland between U.S. Route 1 and Rhode Island Avenue was the most densely populated area and was frequently challenged by flooding. In the early 1960s, community leaders sought help from their city government to solve the flooding problem and to help some residents renovate their homes to meet modern standards.

In 1935, Nancy Gross Tabbs built this house on Augusta Avenue (now Navahoe Street) for her daughter, Janine, and herself. Viola Gross, and Margret Gross Gray, Tabbs’ nieces, later inherited the home as it is pictured here in the 1950s. In 1989 a great-great niece of Tabbs purchased the home from her great-aunt’s estate.

The Dory family home. It was moved in the early 1900s from College Avenue in Old Town College Park to its current location on Navahoe Street. In the 1940s, they were the first family on the street to have a telephone, and they took calls for the whole neighborhood.

In 1946 Maseo Campbell built this house on Navahoe Street, where he and his wife Elizabeth Hicks Campbell raised their six children. Campbell's first cousin Willie Campbell lived in the house to the left. Their other cousins Mary and Wilbur Brower lived to the right, just out of view. After the death of Mr. Campbell, Elizabeth married James Adams. The couple made their home at the Navahoe Street residence. James was also a cousin of Maseo.

This Navahoe Street residence was built around 1900 and is believed to be one of the original houses built by Lakeland developer Edwin Newman. This house was once home for Leonhard and Elizabeth Exel, German immigrants who were the last white family to leave the community in the late 1940s. The home was purchased by Thomas and Agnes Randall in 1951. Since that time it has sheltered three generations of their family. The home was a frequent gathering place for the youngsters of Lakeland.

George and Jeanette Brooks built this house in 1955 on Lakeland Road. It was a new and modern home for a growing family. They lived here for only about twenty years, as the house fell victim in the late 1970s to the urban renewal project in the community.

James Walter Edwards Jr. moved his family into this home on Albany Avenue, east of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad tracks, in 1940. After the Christmas holiday that year, Edwards planted the Christmas tree used in his living room, along with one used in a friend’s celebration. These transplanted trees dwarf the Edwards’ house in this 1960s photograph. The home was demolished in the mid-1970s as part of the urban renewal project.

In 1970, Prince George’s County officials reported that only a few of Lakeland’s streets were paved, lighting was inadequate, and home values lagged behind those of neighboring white communities. The report failed to mention contributing influences, such as the disparity in economic prospects and the lack of financing opportunities for residential and commercial properties. African Americans were primarily dependent on unregulated private lenders; bank mortgages were rarely granted. Here are two homes on Pierce Avenue circa 1965. On the left is the home of Willie Laney and his wife Arlene; to the right is the home built by Elwood Gross and his wife Wilmer in 1962. (Courtesy of Thelma Lomax.)

In 1970, Prince George’s County officials reported that only a few of Lakeland’s streets were paved, lighting was inadequate, and home values lagged behind those of neighboring white communities. The report failed to mention contributing influences, such as the disparity in economic prospects and the lack of financing opportunities for residential and commercial properties. African Americans were primarily dependent on unregulated private lenders; bank mortgages were rarely granted. Here are two homes on Lakeland Road circa 1968.

Once the City of College Park adopted the Urban Renewal plan in 1970, two thirds of the community's households--mostly in the eastern and western sections of Lakeland--had to vacate their houses. After families had moved out, several of Lakeland’s homes were burned as training exercises for the local fire department. Here is a photo of one such incident.

Harry M. Braxton, his wife, Mary, their children, and his mother, Emma Harrison, shared a home in the Lakeland community. Harry Braxton was head of the local Human Relations Council, a racially integrated social change organization. He was also director of public relations for the Prince George’s County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Family members were deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement and all aspects of community life. One Sunday morning when Braxton’s wife and mother were alone at home while Braxton attended church services, two youths from a nearby white community fired forty-four bullets into the family’s home. (Photograph (c) 2008 Joanne M. Braxton)

On the left of the street was the only area storm drain. It emptied into Navahoe Street. The western section of Lakeland frequently flooded after a heavy rain, as shown in the photograph. On June 23, 1972, tropical storm Agnes devastated Lakeland and much of the region. Flood waters covered the entire community, damaging many homes and destroying several others. Following the storm, efforts to obtain effective flood control and redevelopment were taken up with a new urgency. Finally, a flood control project by the Army Corp of Engineers was approved, and the Lakeland Urban Renewal Project began to receive necessary governmental approvals for work to begin.

Located in the eastern section of Lakeland, this home was lived in by Marcelino Cordove and his family, who had immigrated from Cuba. The house occupied prime property on the banks of Lake Artemesia. For several years, the family operated a lodging business with modest "tourist homes" located adjacent to the house. Like all the other homes on Lakeland's eastern area, it was demolished to make way for urban renewal efforts.

In 1961, College Park officials recognized the need to improve and renovate some of Lakeland’s homes, many of which had been damaged by the frequent flooding. To carry out the improvements, city officials adopted an urban renewal plan in 1970. It mandated redevelopment of Lakeland’s eastern and western sections, about two-thirds of the community. Residents of the affected areas vacated their homes in the mid-1970s. They were compensated for the value of their homes and promised an opportunity to return to new housing units when construction was completed. The project was expected to take a few years. However, it took much longer because problems plagued the project, due to changes in regulations and policies within the federal government. Over time, economic forces and other issues produced vast changes in the redevelopment plan, with consequent delay after delay. The ruins of homes, such as those along a section of Lakeland Road, pictured below, blighted the community for more than five years.

In 1961, College Park officials recognized the need to improve some of Lakeland's homes, many of which had been damaged by frequent flooding. An urban renewal plan was adopted in 1970. Residents vacated their homes in the affected areas in the mid-1970s. They were compensated for the value of their homes, and promised an opportunity to return to new units. Expected to only take a few years, redevelopment efforts dragged on much longer than expected. The new units for Lakeland families never materialized.

Neighbors helping neighbors to build and maintain their homes is a tradition in the community of Lakeland. Above, James Clemmons is shown in the central section of Lakeland, on Pierce Avenue, preparing the foundation for the new home of friends Julia and Harold Pitts. The Pitts had lived on the western section of Lakeland Road but were displaced by the urban renewal project.

By 1981, the rebuilding of Lakeland was at last underway. A process that was expected to take a few years was plagued by bureaucratic problems and policy changes. In fact, rebuilding took decades. Single-family homes were ultimately replaced with high-rise apartment buildings and townhomes. The lake in the eastern section was enlarged, and that area became Lake Artemesia Park. Only a few single-family homes were built. (Courtesy of the City of College Park, Maryland.)

Photograph of Lake Artemesia Natural Area. The 38-acre park opened as a public facility in 1992. Located in what was once the eastern section of Lakeland (between the B&O railroad tracks--and now also the Washington Metrorail Green Line--and Berwyn Heights), it features aquatic gardens, fishing piers, and trails. The new Lake Artemesia is the product of builders dredging for gravel to elevate the rail bed that would carry commuter trains along Washington Metrorail's Green Line. Once the excavation was finished, the area was redeveloped and given to the local parks authority. The park stands on the former site of 30 Lakeland homes.

At the end of the urban renewal process, Lakeland had its first park. Developed along the south side of Lakeland Road, it includes a pavilion, basketball and tennis courts, and a playground. There are trail links to Lake Artemesia, the Paint Branch Trail, and Anacostia trails. On opening day, July 30, 1983, participants came from all parts of the community to celebrate, including members of St. Andrew Kim Catholic Church, which had purchased the historic building that once housed Lakeland High School. Members of the church’s performance group posed with other event participants. In the rear are, from left to right, State Delegate James Rosapepe, Mayor Alvin Kushner, College Park City Councilmembers Joseph Page and Anna Owens, and event organizers Thelma Lomax and Michael Middleton.

At the end of the urban renewal process, Lakeland had its first park. Developed along the south side of Lakeland Road, it includes a pavilion, basketball and tennis courts, and a playground. There are trail links to Lake Artemesia, the Paint Branch Trail, and Anacostia trails. The photograph shows Rose Adams (left center), Thomas Randall (center), and George Stewart (right) engaged in a game of horse shoes in the park. The other individuals are unidentified.

James Adams Park is located on Navahoe Street and Rhode Island Avenue, in the heart of the Lakeland community. This tranquil spot was dedicated in 1995 in honor of one of Lakeland’s avid ecologists and landscapers. Adams was a past president of the Lakeland Civic Association and an active member of the city’s Committee for a Better Environment.

With the leadership of their coaches, Ambrose Green and Spenser Briscoe Sr., the Lakeland Stars baseball team won their league championship in 1986. This was one of the last years the community fielded a team. Team members are, left to right (first row) George Johnson, Eugene Briscoe, Spenser Briscoe Jr., and Louis Briscoe; (second row) Guy Weems, Abby Pennell, Francis Smith, Hubert Nickerson, George Tyrone Mondel, Warren Hill, George Smith, Sherman Campbell, and Herbert Hill.

Photograph of the members of the Lakeland High "last class" of 1950, pictured in 2000 on their trip to Wildwood, New Jersey. These classmates have maintained lifelong friendships. The group enjoys evenings out, picnics, and trips together. They also sponsor the Edgar A. Smith Scholarship--named for Lakeland High School's longtime principal--an award given to graduates of local high schools.

On November 8, 2002, the City of College Park honored former mayor and city councilman Dervey A. Lomax for his twenty-seven years of service to the community. A fountain outside of Paint Branch Elementary School was dedicated to him. Lomax was elected to the city council in 1957 and served as mayor from 1973 to 1975. Present for the November 9, 2002, dedication were, from left to right, Rev. Stephen L. Wright, Elston Lomax, Thelma Lomax, Dervey A. Lomax, Gregory Lomax, and College Park Mayor Stephen Brayman.

The 2007 Smith family reunion was held in Lakeland Community Park, as it is every other year. In alternate years, the family reunion is held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Several members of the family continue to live in Lakeland, and many others still consider Lakeland their home. Family members traveled from as far as Texas to attend the 2007 reunion. (Courtesy of Julia Pitts.)

The congregation of the First Baptist Church of College Park gathered for this photograph in June 2006, during the celebration of their 116th year anniversary. Their pastor, Rev. Stephen L. Wright Sr., is second from the left in the second row. His wife, Linda, is to his left. (Courtesy of Eleanor V. Holt)

The Voices of Embry Choir performing during Sunday service as part of Lakeland Heritage Weekend on September 22, 2008. Choir members are, from left to right, Valerie Hill, Jeanette Williams, Abigail Cohen, Ethel Lockerman, and Diann Sims-Dwight. (Photograph courtesy of Christopher Anderson/The Gazette)

On Sunday, September 22, 2008, more than 200 people gathered at the “heart of Lakeland,” the intersection of Lakeland Road and 51st Avenue, between two historic churches, for Lakeland Heritage Day, a time of celebration and remembrance. The focus for that year’s celebration was the importance of religious life in the heritage of Lakeland. The featured event of the festivities was an outdoor worship service with participants from all of Lakeland’s churches: the First Baptist Church of College Park, the Embry African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Washington Brazilian Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the Salvation African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Pastor David Barrozo of the Washington Brazilian S.D.A. Church and the Rev. Dr. Edna Canty Jenkins of Embry A.M.E. Church were photographed during the event.

The Lakeland Community Heritage Project worked with The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission to produce the exhibition, “A View from the Lakes: A History of the African American Community of Lakeland.” The exhibit was mounted at Montpelier Cultural Arts Center in Laurel, Maryland, in February 2009. Photographs and memorabilia were used to tell the community’s story, including the strong religious, educational, and cultural ties that evolved and have sustained the community for nearly 120 years. Photographs from the exhibition can be viewed in the Lakeland Room of the College Park Community Center, 5051 Pierce Avenue.