Recovering Linden

Abstract

This project documents the history of Linden [Lyttonsville], an African American community founded in 1853 in Silver Spring, Maryland. One hundred years after its founding, Linden experienced the destructive effects of urban renewal policy. The impact of urban renewal had devastating political, social, and economic consequences for Black neighborhoods like Linden. Urban renewal led to the loss of not only the community’s historic infrastructure, but over 60% of its residential area. This project specifically focuses on documenting the history of the community prior to urban renewal through oral histories and by reconstructing its spatial and historical landscape through the mapping of significant spaces and places associated with the community. This project draws on multiple sources including archival research and the oral histories of current and former Linden residents to make visible the spaces, stories, and histories of the Linden community prior to the devastation of urban renewal.