Marie Reed students uncover the story of their school
Local nonprofit helps create museum-quality exhibits
While designing a historical exhibit for their school, students at Marie Reed Elementary School found one particularly rich source of inspiration.
Before her death in 1969, Bishop Marie Reed was a powerful force in the civic life of Adams Morgan. Her church on Seaton Street NW was a centerpiece of the community, then a low-income, racially mixed area.
One of Reed’s pet causes was equal education for white and black students. When she came along, the neighborhood was still dealing with the vestiges of the District’s segregated school system that the Supreme Court ordered dismantled in 1954: the Adams and Morgan schools, from which the neighborhood took its modern name. When a brand-new Community Learning Center finally opened in 1977 on the site of the overcrowded and run-down Morgan school, it was named in Reed’s honor.
That’s one of various local stories that Marie Reed students discovered while digging into research for their “Story of Our Schools” exhibit. The display debuted this May in the lobby of the elementary school at 2201 18th St. NW, adding to an earlier exhibit students created as part of the building’s modernization last year.
Through The Story of Our Schools nonprofit, about 10 Marie Reed students worked over the past year with museum professionals on all stages of the process, from fact-gathering and photo-finding to exhibit design. Teacher Harlan Kinzer, along with school principal Katie Lundgren, encouraged students to take complete ownership of their work, so their questions and interests guided the content.
The students — from grades two through five — also collaborated with the broader Adams Morgan community, through historic walking tours and interviews with longtime residents.
One student in particular stood out as a visual learner to Jen Harris, the executive director of The Story of Our Schools. It reminded Harris of her own realization of that skill as a child, which led her to pursue a career in the visual arts.
After 15 years working with photography, exhibition design and digital imaging, Harris founded her DC-based nonprofit in 2015 with the goal of helping local students discover the history of their schools. Instead of just reading a textbook, students are encouraged to recognize their own place in that history.
With regular trips to DC institutions like the National Portrait Gallery, the program also exposes students to careers in curating, archives, photography and other creative work. Students get hands-on experience, literally — wearing artifact-handling gloves to interact with exhibits.
In addition to its work at Marie Reed, The Story of Our Schools helped orchestrate an exhibit at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan school that opened last October. The group plans for more in the future, though details haven’t been announced.
The professional-looking exhibits are built to last — Harris says the materials for each cost up to $60,000 — so they can become a permanent resource for both their schools and their surrounding neighborhoods. At Marie Reed, the display adds a sophisticated touch to the school’s lobby, enhancing its use as an event space. The school is housed in the Marie Reed Community Learning Center, which includes a public health clinic, a daycare, a pool and other recreational facilities.
Over the summer, the Marie Reed exhibit is viewable by appointment. Call the school at 202-673-7308 to learn more.
To learn more about the group behind the exhibits or to donate, visit storyofourschools.org.
Pop Quiz! (from the Marie Reed exhibit)
1. In the 1930s, the Morgan School served …
a. Irish immigrants
b. African-American children
c. All children who lived in Adams Morgan
2. What famous court case ended segregation in DC public schools?
a. Brown v. Board of Education
b. Plessy v. Ferguson
c. Bolling v. Sharpe
3. Since the 1950s, Adams Morgan has been a racially and economically diverse community.
a. True.
b. False.
4. Adams Morgan residents took control of the Morgan School and turned it into a “community school” because they wanted …
a. a better education for their children and better resources for their neighbors
b. more children to enroll in the Morgan School
c. a parking lot
5. Who was the community leader that helped pave the way for the Morgan Community School and would eventually become the school’s namesake?
a. Thomas P. Morgan
b. Henry Wilson
c. Bishop Marie Reed
6. In the 1970’s, the Morgan Community School building fell into disrepair. The community worked with architects to design a new school that had which of the following?
a. a swimming pool
b. an auditorium
c. a gymnasium
d. a public health clinic
e. childcare facilities
f. all of the above
7. Today Marie Reed Elementary School continues to grow and thrive. What does the Marie Reed story mean to you?
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