Barry Farms

By: Eli Alford Jr.

Image Information

Caption: Barry Farms Housing Development, Washington, D.C. Rear view.

Original Source: Gottscho-Schleisner, Inc., photographer.

Location: LC-G613-T-45242 (interpositive)

URL: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?gottscho:1:./temp/~pp_XASy::@@@mdb=fsaall,app,brum,detr,swann,look,gottscho,pan,horyd,genthe,var,cai,cd,hh,yan,bbcards,lomax,ils,prok,brhc,nclc,matpc,iucpub,tgmi,lamb

Description:

In 1865, there was a growing number of slaves in the District, some runaways and others considered ‘contraband’ commandeered by Union Soldiers to disrupt the Southern work population. Housing for these displaced former slaves became an issue, so General O.O. Howard of the Freedmans Bureau bought three tracts of land; the Talbert, Barry and Stanton farms. The purchase of these langs were done in secret because of the white district residents apprehension to sell land for blacks to live on. These farms would be converted into permanent settlements. The Talbert tract would go to displaced whites and the Barry to former slaves and freedmen. “Within three months of the community’s founding, enough money had been generated through an escrow fund to purchase a lot for Anacostia’s first public school for black children.”

African American Role

Barry Farms, which was later renamed Hillsdale, is an important theme when discussing African Americans in South East Washington because it discusses the roots of how they arrived and why they stayed in the District. Barry Farms also marked the shift in housing rights, allowing blacks to improve there living conditions, going from disease ridden slums to an all black community.

References

Fitzpatrick, Sandra. Maria R. Goodwin. 1999. The Guide to Black Washington: Places and Events of Historical and Cultural Significance in the Nation’s Capital. New York: Hippocrene Books.

Anacostia History. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/ANACOSTIA/recon.html