Brookland Celebrates 125th Birthday!

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the D.C. Compensated Emancipation Act, which is celebrates the document that put an end to slavery in the District of Columbia more than eight months before President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

On top of that, however, our local Brookland neighborhood in Northeast D.C. is celebrating its Quasquicentennial (125th anniversary) this very month.  The heart of Brookland today is the product of subdivisions of land owned by Colonel Jehiel Brooks and other adjoining farms.  The first subdivision was platted by Benjamin F. Leighton and Richard E. Pairo and recorded with the District of Columbia Surveyor in September 1887.

To celebrate, the community will be hosting a variety of events to honor the neighborhood’s history. The Brookland Neighborhood Civic Association will be hosting a community picnic on Saturday, September 29, from noon to 2:00 p.m. It will be at the Turkey Thicket Recreation Center Playground, 1100 Michigan Avenue, N.E.

Catholic University is celebrating both of these anniversaries with a two-part lecture-series put on by the School of Arts and Sciences. The first will be Tuesday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m entitled “The Changing Faces of Brookland.” The speakers will be John J. Feeley Jr. and Rosie Dempsey, authors of Brookland (Images of America). 

The second will be Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m entitled “The African-American Catholic Experience in Washington, D.C.” The speaker will be Rev. Raymond Kemp, director of Faith in the City at Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University. Both lectures will be hosted at CUA: the first at the Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center in Great Room B, and the second at Father O’Connell Hall, in the Great Room. Both events are free and open to the public.

Casey Trees will be joining in on the celebration as well – we have a tree tour currently in the works that will be scheduled for the end of the month – check back next week on our social media sites (Facebook :: Twitter) and the “Classes & Events” section of the website for updates.

Happy Birthday, Brookland!

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