Battleground to Community

— Brightwood Heritage Trail —

In the 1930s as now, this area was a family friendly, "move-up" destination for hard-working government clerks and professionals. Like many DC neighborhoods, Brightwood had covenants prohibiting sales to certain white ethnics and African Americans. Over time, though, the covenants against white ethnics were broken, and by the late 1940s Brightwood became known for its Greek, Jewish, and Italian families. Yet in these blocks were few African Americans.

In 1948 the Supreme Court ruled that race-restrictive housing covenants could not be enforced. In 1954 the Court overturned school segregation. Some white families, fearing racial change, moved on. Others were lured by newer suburban housing. Still others defied block busting efforts and stayed. The African American families who joined them came for the reasons many stayed: attractive houses with friendly neighbors that were convenient to stores, schools, and transportation. Ann Gardener, whose family arrived in 1958, remembers telling her husband, "What a beautiful location, Brightwood."

The St. John United Baptist Church is the second house of worship to occupy this corner. The building opened in 1958 as Agudath Achim synagogue. Agudath Achim, organized in 1939 in a house on Quackenbos Street, peaked in the late 1950s with more than 400 families. As its members moved to the suburbs, the congregation declined. Finally in 1977 it merged with Har Tzeon in Wheaton, Maryland, and sold the building to St. John United Missionary Baptist Church. St. John was organized in 1976 and, led by Rev. Dr. John M. Alexander, Jr., first met at Meridian Hill Baptist Church, its primary mission is winning souls for Christ, while serving as a community resource, providing clothing, food, fellowship, and meeting space for various community groups.

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