Collection

Group with Rev Preston Britton 1955-56. Usher Day Macedonia A.M.E. Church preached by Rev Britton.

At Turner Memorial AME Church

Image by Mr. Nesbit studio was on Navahoe Street

During prom at Fairmont Heights High School

Ready for a prom

Estimated to be taken in late 50s, near Lakeland Elementary School

Estimated circa late 50s. Likely taken on a vacation.

Page 2 only

Track and Field gold medal awarded to Carl Cager 100 yard dash

Embry AME Church visit to Macedonia United Methodist Church for Usher’s Day

unknown

VYAC Indoor Games Mile College Relay

met. Ass'n Athletes Development AAU Mile Relay 1956

Standing is Wallace Sharps to his left is Violetta Sharps, and Lucille Sharps. Seated are Janet Christian, Pamela Sharps and friends of Mr. Sharps

Gold Awarded to Carl Cager

Woodbury NJ

Woodbury, NJ 7-4-56 220 YD Relay

US Army

On the porch of their home on Easter are Pamela Denise Sharps, Melonie Blanchette Sharps Garrett and Violetta Cornelia Sharps Jones

College Park and area

Track and Field gold medal awarded to Carl Cager back reads 1957 220 Eastern

Transport Germany during US Army Service

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.

age 2

Cast photo is found in collection

Wilmer Gros on the grounds of the home of her in-laws, George Henry and Agnes Gross on Cloud Avenue

Sunday Star February 3 1957 Singer Wardell has been performing in talent shows since he was six. He is a student at Lakeland Junior High School.

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.)

A newspaper article explains that teens sometimes jeopardize their own safety while recklessly driving and blame their parents for it. They also admit to being dared by their friends to get behind the wheel.

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.

Ship Transport surrounding station in Germany

Broke a leg during Army service playing ball.

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.

Agnes Gross during time off work during summer employment in upstate New York

Seated facing camera is Vera Claiborne and Charles Carroll is standing

May 16, 1958 program held at First Baptist Church of College Park. Artists were community members and friends

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.

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.

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.)

Leo, Limatine, Raynard, Isaiah and baby Maggie Johnson

Melanie Sharps in front of well at Sharps residence, Block 34, Lot 6, date unknown, post 1960

Images from Lakeland students of Fairmont Heights High School

Child's birthday party at the home of Mary Braxton and Harry Braxton Sr. Pictured are Douglas "Kilroy" Braxton and friend

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.

Map of DC Suburbia from Baltimore Ave to Rhode Island, 1939-1959

At home on Navahoe Street