Artist
Charles Bergen
Riverside Terrace Medallion
Date2016
MediumStructural aluminum
DimensionsEach: 21 in. (53.3 cm)
Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Art Bank Collection
Object numberDCCAH2016.002a-r
ClassificationsSculpture
Locations
- Homeland Security & Emergency Management (1015 Half St, 9th Fl)
DescriptionRiver Terrace (Washington, DC) opened formally in September 1937, with the completion of the first 12 of 600 planned units. At the time, segregation ruled most aspects of life in Washington, and the project’s developers restricted these moderately priced homes to whites.
They touted River Terrace as conveniently located near public transportation and only a quick trip away from downtown, and they promised a shopping center, playgrounds, and other amenities. After racial housing restrictions began falling away in 1948, African American families began moving to River Terrace but were met with harassment and vandalism. White residents began moving away, and within a few short years, the neighborhood was majority African American. River Terrace Elementary School—originally authorized for white children—opened instead for African American children in 1952. Two years later, all D.C. public schools were desegregated after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregated schools unconstitutional. River Terrace became a solidly African American community in the 1950s, and the city itself was majority African American by 1957.
Over the decades, River Terrace residents have come together to fight pollution from nearby industrial facilities, as well as to organize sports teams, cleanups, social and civic organizations, parades, and picnics, and, in short, to build a strong community.
These 18 medallions tell the history of the River Terrace area from 10,000 years ago to the present.
