THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 17, 1994 TAG: 9411150116
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: In the Neighborhood
SOURCE: Mike Knepler
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
History is ongoing. So should be Norfolk's history project.
The city's official history book, ``Norfolk: The First Four Centuries,'' has now been published.
It's a frolicking read, extolling the city's high points over the years as well as reporting the failures and follies.
But it could cram only so much into 433 pages. At times, the book is a little too fast paced, whipping off names and events, and leaving a reader hungering for more.
That's where you come in.
If you feel the need to know more, then why not create your own mini-report? Make it a research project for your civic organization, church group or your own family.
A local history project, no matter how small, can help build a stronger sense of community.
``It's one of those symbols of a community that can help link people to people and subdivisions to subdivisions, and thus have some some unifying values,'' said Thomas C. Parramore, the primary author of the new Norfolk history book.
There are many leads in the book that need following. School teachers will have an inexhaustible supply of assignment ideas.
And there's another little project. The book would have benefited from including a time-line chart. Parramore agrees.
``If I was a teacher, I'd certainly wish that sort of thing be included,'' he said. ``It would be a swell thing if schools and educational groups get together and compile a teacher workbook.''
More maps, particularly those showing Norfolk at different stages of its growth, would have been useful, too.
Curious about what was in your neighborhood years ago? Then use the new history book as a starting point for a community mapping project.
While you're at it, start an oral history collection by interviewing neighborhood old-timers. All you need is a tape recorder or video camera.
The Rev. John H. Foster, the former city councilman who initiated the history book project, says he would like to see other spinoffs.
``Read it. Read it. Read it,'' he said about the new book. ``And as you read it, let it become part of your life.''
He hopes the book will inspire plays about historical events in Norfolk and the city's many interesting characters.
Foster also wants people to start thinking about future books on Norfolk.
``We shouldn't wait another 30 years,'' he said. ``It can become a perpetual project.''
Attucks update. Leaders of the effort to renovate the old Crispus Attucks Theatre on Church Street hope to begin a large-scale community fund-raising campaign in the next few months.
In preparation, the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, which owns the historic theater, has begun sprucing up the building's interior.
The agency is trying to make it nice enough to hold some fund-raising events there, such as wine-and-cheese receptions, said Denise Christian, the project's coordinator.
The Attucks, opened in 1919, was designed by Harvey N. Johnson Sr., one of the few black architects of the time, and built by an all-black development company. MEMO: If you have a comment or suggestion for Mike Knepler, you can call him
at 446-2275 or write to him at P.O. Box 449, Norfolk, Va. 23501.
by CNB