Livable Communities Task Force Meeting: Possible Garfield Park Renaming

Livable Communities Task Force Meeting: Possible Garfield Park Renaming

ANC6B’s Livable Communities Task Force will hold a virtual community meeting next Thursday, February 24th from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm to discuss and elicit resident views on the issue of whether our Commission will support a proposal to change the name of Garfield Park to “Garfield-Anacostan Park” to recognize the park’s location as the site of a settlement of the Anacostan tribe who inhabited the area of the District of Columbia up until the late 1600s.

According to DC law,  the naming/renaming of public spaces  is governed by Chapter 4 of the DC Code and requires specific legislation approved by the District Council and agreed to by the Mayor. A proposal can be initiated by either a member of Council or by the Mayor. https://code.dccouncil.us/us/dc/council/code/titles/9/chapters/2/subchapters/IV

Garfield Park is managed and maintained by the DC Dept of Parks and Recreation. DC has committed to a $1.3 million renovation of the park (https://dgs.dc.gov/page/garfield-park). Construction was initially scheduled to begin in Sept 2021 but has been delayed,(hopefully starting later this year). DPR representatives have already confirmed their planned attendance in this meeting.

The proposal to rename Garfield Park has been put forth by a longtime resident of ANC6B, Dr. Armand Lione.  Dr. Lione made a presentation, sharing his research on the history of the Anacostan tribe, during a public ANC6B meeting late last year and has, for several years, been active in trying to increase public awareness of the Anacostan tribe. For ease of access some informational links to his website and blog and other information are provided below:

https://onceasitwasdc.org/
https://nativevillagemarker.blogspot.com/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/09/03/native-americans-dc-culture-lione/
https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2021/11/researcher-stories-armand-lione-and-the-search-for-native-american-history-in-d-c/
https://thehillishome.com/2021/10/lost-capitol-hill-indigenous-people/

Virtual Meeting Information

https://dcnet.webex.com/dcnet/j.php?MTID=md685c99dc0c7ac3b797eaaee3c972d23
Meeting number: 2318 469 8137
Password: GarfieldPark!

Join by phone: 650-479-3208
Access code: 231 846 98137