THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 13, 1996 TAG: 9608130280
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 135 lines
The ``temporary'' housing project known as Liberty Park is long gone. But not the memories.
And this week hundreds of former residents of Liberty Park and their friends will share memories with each other. They'll attend the first reunion of their old community - a 900-unit, city-owned housing complex that was torn down more than 10 years ago.
The grounds, just east of Norfolk State University, are being redeveloped into a new neighborhood, Middle Towne Arch.
``My girlfriend - Brenda Mullen Seadrow - and I have been talking about doing this over the years,'' said Patricia Gibbs Gallop, co-organizer of the event. ``Every time we ran into somebody from Liberty Park, we would say, `We've got to have a reunion!'
``Finally, we got it into our heads, `We're going to do this!' ''
The reunion, Friday through Sunday, will feature a get-reacquainted night, a picnic, dancing and a worship service.
More than 300 people already have bought tickets, Gallop said.
Some never lived there.
``The strangest thing about this reunion - many of the people who've been sending in their money to come are people who didn't live in Liberty Park,'' said Carrie Brown Smith, a reunion-committee member. ``There've been our teachers and people who lived in neighborhoods nearby.''
Added Gallop: ``They'll call and say, `Can I be part of the reunion?' I'd say, `Sure.' ''
What was it about Liberty Park that continues to stir such fervor?
After all, Liberty Park opened in 1942 as temporary housing for the influx of black defense-industry workers during World War II. The wood-frame buildings were well-worn when the city began phasing them out in the late 1970s.
In between, thousands of families enjoyed a community camaraderie that's hard to find these days, former residents say.
``People had so much pride in Liberty Park. That was just the place to be,'' said Josephine Scott. She and her late husband, Quincy Scott Sr., were among the first families to move to the neighborhood.
They needed a two-bedroom apartment so their baby could have a room of her own.
And, for Norfolk, Liberty Park was a measure of progress. Not only was there new housing, but the homes had gas stoves, refrigerators and indoor plumbing.
The excitement of the times galvanized residents into assorted activities. They quickly formed a civic league. Josephine Scott was the first secretary; Granville Quiett, the president; and W.T. Lee, vice president.
The garden club held annual competitions. There were Maypole festivities, Independence Day celebrations, Christmas caroling, Easter performances and dances, according to Terrie Mullen Snagg, historian for the reunion committee.
Snagg, born in Liberty Park in 1955, prepared for the reunion by picking the brains of former residents, combing records and photographs at the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and reading microfilm of old newspapers.
The community not only had a public elementary school but also a community-operated preschool. At first, the federal government paid the expenses. But by December 1946, the burden fell to parents, who paid $2 per week per child. The neighborhood helped, raising money through the PTA and other activities until gaining support from the housing authority in 1950, Snagg said.
The PTA also helped families too poor to provide their children with shoes for school. Carrie Brown Smith, who grew up with 10 siblings, recalls similar help from a ``Miss Shepherd,'' who was principal of the former Liberty Park Elementary School.
Liberty Park did not house just the poor. It was home to many young, black, middle-class families who were emerging as professionals and prominent citizens but still could not gain entry into Norfolk's segregated white neighborhoods.
``From doctors and lawyers to domestic workers, everyone lived together in Liberty Park,'' said Scott.
Smith added: ``And whenever we see each other now, you wouldn't know the differences. We're all Liberty Park.''
Liberty Park meant other new opportunities. Smith continued her education because she could walk to the nearby campus of Norfolk State College. The school became Norfolk State University in 1979.
``I could walk there, take my kids and leave them in the hallway - all four of them,'' said Smith, who became a Norfolk public-school teacher.
The college also provided movies and other activities for neighborhood children, said Snagg.
There were neighborhood legends, real and imagined.
In nearby woods, boys built a long-lasting wooden fort, dubbing it The Alamo. A story about it ran in the old Ledger-Star newspaper.
Children believed that elves inhabited the Memorial Park Golf Course, also nearby, Smith recalled.
Kids scared themselves with rumors that an unclothed character, ``Naked Man,'' prowled the woods.
``Nobody ever saw him,'' Snagg said.
``I actually did,'' Patricia Gallop volunteered. ``I was going to pick apples when I passed by his house. The man was standing in his door with nothing on but hip boots. And we took off! We started howling, `The Naked Man!' ''
Gallop said she does not know whether Naked Man will show up for the reunion - or what he may wear.
Perhaps the best memories of community life were from the everyday activities of the residents.
Neighbors knew each other. Even more, they watched over one another, Gallop said.
The Mullens' apartment became a second home to Gallop. She called Thelma Mullen ``Aunt Thelma.''
``And Pat's mother had the authority to give me a licking,'' Snagg said. ``If a neighbor saw me pulling up some flowers out of somebody else's yard, I'd get a spanking.''
In too many places these days, Snagg said, people don't know each other. ``I live in the Mayfield Apartments in Virginia Beach,'' she said. ``I couldn't tell you the name of one neighbor.''
The last of Liberty Park came down in 1986.
Pat Gallop remembers. She was carrying mail between offices of the housing authority and decided to detour through her former neighborhood.
``I saw my old house being torn down, and I cried. I certainly did,'' Gallop said. ``I just sat in my car and I cried.'' MEMO: THE REUNION
When: Friday through Sunday
Events: Getting reacquainted, picnic, dance, worship service
Tickets: $25 for adults, various prices for children
Details: Call Patricia Gibbs Gallop, nights, 622-6390; Carrie Brown
Smith, days, 461-2760. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by JIM WALKER, The Virginian-Pilot
From left, Terrie Mullen Snagg, Patricia Gibbs Gallop (standing),
Josephine Scott, and Carrie Brown Smith say they talked for years
about a reunion of their old Liberty Park neighbors. At last,
they've planned a weekend of special events for those who lived in
the the World War II-era housing - shown above, circa 1945.
Photo by JIM WALKER, The Virginian-Pilot
Liberty Park was built in the 1940s to house defense-industry
workers. The neighborhood was torn down more than 10 years ago to
make way for today's Middle Towne Arch development.
Map
KEYWORDS: REUNION NEIGHBORHOOD by CNB