Lydia Curtis has long been a supporter of the Anacostia Community Museum (ACM) located in Ward 8 in Southeast Washington, visiting there many times throughout the years.
However, when she heard a few weeks ago that the museum’s funding had been zeroed out by the Smithsonian Institution’s latest overall budget with the support of the Trump administration, she sprang into action. On Aug. 9, Curtis, a resident of Ward 1 in Northwest, traveled across the city to participate in a march sponsored by the ad hoc group, Save Our Museum.
“I love the museum,” Curtis, 68, said. “I come here a lot. It is an important institution. It chronicles the history of the Black community. It would be a tragedy if the museum is closed.”
Curtis was among 30 Washington area residents who showed up at the Anacostia Community Museum’s site in the Fort Stanton neighborhood of Ward 8 for the march. Most of the marchers donned black, gray, green or white T-shirts with “Save Our Museum” on the front that were distributed by volunteers of the Anacostia Coordinating Council.
The march comes as the Trump administration imposes its will on the District, to the chagrin of many residents and local leaders.
A few days earlier, the National Park Service announced that a statue of Confederate General Albert Pike in Judiciary Square that was taken down in June 2020 by Black Lives Matter activists will be reinstalled without the support of District officials.
On Aug. 11, Trump announced the federalization of the District’s Metropolitan Police Department and the use of the National Guard to fight crime in the city, even though statistics reveal that criminal activity has declined significantly the past few years.
Additionally, the Republican-led U.S. Congress has not passed a bill allowing the District to spend its own generated money, thereby leaving the local government with a $1.1 billion hole for the rest of fiscal year 2025.
James H. Walker, who also resides in Ward 1, showed up at the museum, the starting point of the march and pointed the finger at Trump for the negativity that is impacting the District.
“He is acting like a dictator,” said Walker. “The people want this museum to stay open. This museum represents my people and its history.”
March Generates Community Support
Catherine Buell, a former executive director of the St. Elizabeths East project in the District’s Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, serves as the co-chair of the “Save Our Museum” committee, which is working to inform the public about the plight of ACM.
She said the march was one of many ways the committee is working to garner more public support.
“We are starting a social media campaign about the effort to save the museum and working on spreading awareness,” said Buell, 45.
For Buell, ACM has been critical to her professional and personal life. One of the museum’s scholars, senior historian Dr. Gloria Lowe, convinced Buell that she was called to work to improve housing and living conditions in Ward 8 communities, such as Anacostia.
“I learned from Dr. Lowe that the problems Anacostia had were systemic,” Buell told The Informer. “It was the way she laid it out. I decided to get involved after that.”
While the museum’s funding is currently under question, Buell said there is language in a U.S. Senate Appropriations subcommittee legislation that would restore the $3 million cut.
Additionally, she said the office of D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) is working to restore funding to the ACM through the House processes.
“We are beating a continuing steady drumbeat,” she said.
As party of the march and rally, Buell and most of the activists walked the 1.3-mile route from ACM to the Go-Go Museum and Café near the intersection of Marion Barry and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenues SE. Onlookers cheered, offered thumbs up, and other affirmations as the marchers walked west on Morris Road SE and proceeded north on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, chanting “Save Our Museum.”
Pearl Eni, who directed the museum’s Anacostia Park Oral History Project, attended the meeting and participated in the community conversation. She was subsequently asked to become part of the Save Our Museum committee.
“The Anacostia Community Museum (ACM) is a special place and working there was a life-changing experience for me,” Eni told The Informer. “I joined the committee to spread love and awareness about this local gem. We want everyone in D.C. and beyond to know about ACM. It is a museum of many firsts and its impact is incalculable.”
After congregating at the site that highlights D.C.’s official music, marchers went one block south, for the rally to Busboys & Poets Anacostia, owned by “Save Our Museum” co-chair Andy Shallal.
“It is great to see rising stars in our community,” Shallal said of Eni, who was sitting nearby. “This highlights the best of humanity and the best of people.”
Ward 7 resident Jacqueline Stallworth walked the entire route steadily and with determination, noting “walking is invigorating.”
“I am walking because we have a right to have a say in our community,” said Stallworth, 54. “There were parts of the walk that were hilly, but I was up to it. That is just how important keeping that museum open is to me.”
Rally Reveals Museum’s Struggle Part of a Larger Picture
During the rally, held in Busboys Anacostia’s Marion Barry Room, Salim Adofo, chair of the 8C Advisory Neighborhood Commission Chair, emphasized ACM serves several purposes for Washingtonians beyond entertainment.
“This museum is a place where you can learn about Black history, purchase fresh fruits from the farmer’s market, participate in Kwanzaa activities and children can learn about their history,” Adofo, 47, said. “There is no place else like it. It is a place where people can commune. And talk about social ills.”
Shallal, speaking at the rally, said the defunding of the ACM is a part of the overall agenda by Trump and his allies to turn the clock back on civil and human rights.
“They are trying to bring back the Confederacy,” he said. “What they do is chip away (at civil rights advancements) and the more they get away with, the more they will do. I gained citizenship in this country in 1983, and I believe in the idea of America. I am working for this country to become a more perfect union.”
The entrepreneur said the closure of the museum “is about the erasure of history and the erasure of communities.”
Despite the negativity of the Trump administration, Shallal is optimistic about the amount of community support behind Anacostia Community Museum.
“This is one of the most successful marches I have been involved in,” Shallal said. “It had a handful of people who care.”