Images and Voices of Greenbelt: Oral Histories 2.   [1]

	1960s Citizens responded to this upheaval by fighting unwanted development. They also came together to decide what they did want for their community. In 1965, citizens voted on a bond issue that financed an addition to the Youth Center, tennis courts and road improvements.
	They also established the Greenbelt Freedom of the Press Committee when a local developer, Charles Bresler, sued the Greenbelt News Review and its president, Alfred E. Skolnik, for one million dollars. The Committee raised funds door-to-door to offset the costs of the suit, which was won in the U.S. Supreme Court four years later.
	Public buildings expanded in this decade. The Holy Cross Lutheran Church moved to Greenbelt Road in 1969, and the Mishkan Torah built a school adjacent to their synagogue. The Greenbelt Library held ground-breaking ceremonies in March 1968 and was dedicated in April 1970. Citizens fought long and hard to have a library in Greenbelt's historic center and not on Greenbelt Road, even waiting until 2:00 a.m. one night in 1965 to testify for its relocation.
	Like many other places in the country in the 1960s, Greenbelt also saw conflict. The Vietnam War divided citizens. The Greenbelt Committee for Peace in Vietnam (GCPV) and the American Legion were at the center of the conflict. At the Labor Day Festival in August 1966, the Legion refused to participate in the events if GCPV marched in the parade. The festival committee voted against GCPV and they decided to hold a peace rally at the Center School.
	Greenbelters also took on the issue of civil rights and desegregation. In 1963, a group of activists met to push for bringing African Americans to Greenbelt (Greenbelt Committee for Fair Housing), which had been an all white community throughout its history. African Americans worked in Greenbelt and could shop and eat at the local soda fountain since the 1930s.
	The GCFH spoke to African American groups to persuade them to move to Greenbelt. Although their efforts were not very successful at the time, they led the way for African Americans and other racial/ethnic groups to move into Greenbelt in successive years.
	Although citizens in Greenbelt bonded together to form organizations on specific issues, older, well-established groups such as Greenbelt Housing, Incorporated and the Women's Club of Greenbelt continued to thrive. Both types of organizations testify to Greenbelt's unique community spirit and civic activism.
	Development continued in Greenbelt with the construction of Greenbriar Condominiums, Windsor Green and the commercial buildings that make up Capitol Office Park. Worried that more and more of the "green" in Greenbelt would be lost, citizens and the city council purchased Parcel 8, the wooded land along Kenilworth and Crescent Road.
	1970s Throughout the 1960s, Greenbelters had been fighting off the Prince George's County School Board's proposal to build a high school on Northway extended (Parcel 1). They were worried about the increased traffic on the small streets. Finally, in 1970, the citizens won--the Board of Education voted against this site for a school. When another site was chosen for the new "Franklin Delano" Roosevelt High School, citizens got involved again. This time they initiated the movement to change the name of the school to Eleanor Roosevelt, the only school in the U.S. named for the first lady.
	In 1978, Greenbelt Homes, Inc. members paid off their 1952 mortgage and held a "retirement" ceremony on January 29 at Eleanor Roosevelt High.
	Citizens urged the city to build housing for the elderly. As a result, Green Ridge House was dedicated in 1979. Citizens also requested that the city provide special counseling services for young people. Greenbelt CARES, a youth services bureau, began with volunteers and later became a city department.
	In 1979, Greenbelters organized a fundraising drive to convert the theatre (which had been vacant for five years) to a Cultural Arts Center. The owner of the property proposed that a health spa be built, but citizens felt an Arts Center would add more to the revitalization of the Roosevelt Center. With support from the city, the Arts Center obtained a lease in 1980. When the owner forced the Arts Center to move, the group eventually converted the former bowling alley and sports center in the basement of the co-op (grocery store) into a year-round theatre.
	Like many other towns in the United States, Greenbelters wanted to celebrate the country's upcoming bicentennial in special ways. The city and its citizens sponsored the first Greenbelt Day in June 1975. This tradition is still practiced today.
	1980s Greenbelters continued to band together to preserve their community as well as to celebrate their history in the 1980s. The biggest celebration in the city took place throughout 1987 on the occasion of Greenbelt's 50th anniversary. Committees and subcommittees were formed, including one for the establishment of the Greenbelt Museum. Citizen groups published a book on Greenbelt's history, compiled oral histories from the city's early residents, organized a conference on planned communities, sponsored house and garden tours, and coordinated a homecoming weekend for Greenbelt pioneers, featuring dances, dinners, luncheons and exhibits.
	In 1983, the Board of Education planned to tear down Greenbelt Center Elementary School (the present-day Community Center) and build a larger facility. The Board held a public meeting where citizens argued that Center School should be saved because of its "central" location in the city, its historic Art Deco architecture and its friezes designed by Lenore Thomas Straus. Following many public hearings, a citizen referendum and a city bond referendum, the school board and the city exchanged properties. A new elementary school was built on land at the former North End School site, and the city obtained full ownership of the Center.
	In the mid-1980s, the State of Maryland froze savings and loans accounts, after taking over the responsibility for the collapsed private insurance system. Unable to draw money out of their accounts, outraged citizens met and organized to form Access to Our Money. This Greenbelt-based group reached out to other citizens of the state affected by the crisis. In late 1985, Marylanders, led by Greenbelt citizens, rallied at the state capitol and also at the new Greenbelt Hilton (now the Marriott) where then Governor Harry Hughes was attending a $1,000 a plate dinner.
	1990s The history of this decade has yet to be written, but the 1990s has already shown that the traditions of community spirit and civic activism are still alive. In March 1996, the Greenbelt Community Center was dedicated and now stands as evidence of citizens coming together to preserve history and their community.
	The Greenbelt Museum, in cooperation with the University of Maryland, has been involved with the creation of "virtual" Greenbelt, creating a World Wide Web site where people from all over the world can view photographs of objects in the museum and historic photos of Greenbelt. In the coming years, more and more people will be able to "visit" the city through computers and learn about its important place in this nation's history.
	2000s As we head to the start of a new century, what will the future of Greenbelt and its community be like? How will Greenbelt's 100th anniversary be celebrated? Although we don't know what will happen, we can try to ensure that new generations of Greenbelters will continue to maintain strong voices and diverse images.

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