The Smithsonian Institution’s Anacostia Community Museum in Ward 8 has a new online exhibit on the Barry Farm-Hillsdale neighborhood and its role in the fight for civil rights.
The exhibit, “We Shall Not Be Moved: Stories of Struggle from Barry Farm-Hillsdale,” serves as a part of a yearlong emphasis on housing equity and justice in the District, WTOP reported. The exhibit can be viewed on the museum’s website through the end of the year.
Barry Farm-Hillsdale was created after the Civil War as an area for Blacks. The neighborhood became a thriving Black enclave that contained churches, schools, civic organizations, and residents such as the son of 19th-century civil rights leader and Anacostia resident Frederick Douglass.
“It developed into a strong African American community that was very active in several very important events in Washington,” said curator Alcione Amos, who authored the book “Barry Farm-Hillsdale in Anacostia: A Historic African American Community,” WTOP reported.