Although Greenbelt
was a self-sufficient community, it did have
interactions with the outside world and many of the artists that were
popular outside were also popular in Greenbelt. Classical music was also
very popular in Greenbelt. This is evident through the many articles in
the Greenbelt Communicator that announce the meeting
of the music club, or some recital practice. Ballet also seems to have
played an important role in Greenbelt. Sporadic announcements for ballet
performances from out of town seemed to be common. Articles reviewing the
ballet performances reported high citizen turnout and mostly all the shows
reported were hailed as successes. It seems that Greenbelters
during the 1930s were very much inclined towards the arts. In the
Greenbelt Communicator, there are advertisements for people
giving piano lessons, another advertisement offers "radio repair at
an economical cost." There were articles that talked about small
community seminars to raise awareness for the fine arts,
specifically ballet. In the September 30, 1938 issue of the
Washington Times there was an article talking about how the
Greenbelters were trying to get an opera house for their community. There
were year round community sponsored musical events that further support
the fact that music was an important part of Greenbelt. One of the most
publicized events of the year seems to have been the 'Christmas Dance
Gala.' Articles regarding this gala event were published as early as
November 10, calling for volunteer support and just to prepare the
citizens so that they wouldn't miss it. To further music awareness, the
community offered free record playing on Sundays so that the citizens
could come, listen and either gain some appreciation or simply to enjoy
themselves. Another news that made big headlines in Greenbelt in November
of 1938 was the fact that a local girl had appeared in a local radio show.
Support and praise for the girl were tremendous.
Another important part of the Greenbelt
community was the Greenbelt Band. Band members ranged in age from 8 years
old to 20 years old. Members of the band were very active in the community
- the Communicator ran announcements for the band meetings and they
were numerous. The band was responsible for putting on music recitals
and
the sort. Music activities and interest in the arts seemed to have been an
important source of enjoyment in the community. It says a lot about the
community as a whole - their attitude towards life, towards each other and
it simply says a lot about a sense of neighborhood. Everybody seemed to be
working to better the community, whatever way that maybe - arts,
entertainment, local government. Apart from music, Greenbelters were also
keenly interested in the movies and in sports, like baseball.
Card
playing, Monopoly,
and Mahjong
were also favorite past-times in Greenbelt.
This seems to be enough for one community - it seems that Greenbelt
did not need anything from the outside in the way of entertainment. It
however, was not the only form of entertainment that the Greenbelters
had. According to Ann Neville, a librarian in Texas who grew up in
Greenbelt as a young girl, her family and her would love to listen to the
radio. She went onto say that Bing Crosby was very popular in her
household and in general, around the entire community. She was also into
the music of the big bands and enjoyed listening to them on the radio
(Neville).
