Optimism is alive in Southeast D.C. neighborhood of Fairlawn

The first thing that becomes apparent upon meeting residents is that Fairlawn isn't necessarily Fairlawn. Sure, the Fairlawn Citizens' Association has clearly outlined the neighborhood's boundaries on its Web site, but talk to people who live there and you'll hear a number of other names for the area. To some, it has always been called Fairlawn; to others, there's no doubt that the area is Anacostia. A few call it Twining.

In part, that might be the result of the disparate smaller communities that make up the neighborhood, which straddles wards 7 and 8 in Southeast Washington. Bordered by the Anacostia River (which many insist is rightfully named the Eastern Branch), Pennsylvania Avenue, 25th Street, Naylor Road and Good Hope Road, Fairlawn is a mix of traditional D.C. rowhouses, detached single-family homes and apartment buildings. Near the river, the rowhouses line up in long, tight chains, but uphill and eastward - in an area that some (but not all) call Randle Heights - homes in groups of twos and threes graciously rise above groomed lawns and gardens.

The second observation that comes with spending time in the neighborhood is that no matter where they live or what they call it, residents seem to share a sense that their community has been profoundly affected over the decades by forces beyond their control - and that the future is as likely to bring more upheaval as it is to bring positive changes.

Today, Fairlawn is an almost wholly black neighborhood, but it wasn't always. In the early part of the last century, the majority of residents were white, but nearly all of them moved out of the neighborhood in the 1950s and '60s.

Walter and Katherine Graham and their four boys were one of the few white families that stuck around. They moved into an apartment in Fairlawn in 1950 and, 10 years later bought a home around the corner. They're still there, the longest-standing residents on a block populated largely by senior citizens.

"We were convenient to everything and were buying our house, so why pick up and move?" said Katherine Graham, 81. "We're all children of God, and we should be able to live together regardless of race."

Graham slips easily into reminiscing about the neighborhood: the fun her boys had playing in Anacostia Park (which she and neighbors still call Fairlawn Park), the shops - hardware, a five and dime, furniture - that lined Good Hope Road and the neighborhood's other commercial streets. Working- and middle-class black people had bought the homes vacated by the departing white population, and the area was bustling.

By Amanda Abrams
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, October 22, 2010

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