THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 18, 1996 TAG: 9608180069
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 73 lines
Across the crowded park, eyes met, and the decades and the miles melted away like butter in summer.
Vincent Coleman spotted Anthony Lewis, and the two men let out simultaneous whoops of delight, then rushed toward each other and collided in a happy embrace.
``I got all of my people out here, and I'm so happy,'' said 44-year-old Coleman, slapping Lewis on the back.
The two men were among some 400 people who got together Saturday at an all-day picnic in Barraud Park to remember Norfolk's Liberty Park housing project. It was part of a weekend-long reunion attended by folks from as far away California.
The 900-unit, city-owned complex is gone now. Built in 1942 just east of Norfolk State University to house black defense-industry workers, Liberty Park was torn down more than 10 years ago to make way for the new neighborhood of Middle Towne Arch.
But the memories of life in Liberty Park are alive and well in the hearts of those who lived there.
``When they tore Liberty Park down, it was like breaking up a family,'' said Lewis, 44, who grew up in the project. The reunion, he said, was ``extra lovely'' because the big family had gotten together even though there'd been no death.
Liberty Park was a neighborhood that functioned in ways that are rare today, if they exist at all, say those who lived there. Neighbors pulled together to help one another, and they saw to it that kids were taken care of.
``There was not a lot of crime,'' said Gloria Bryor, 52. ``You could leave the door open.''
Folks had time back then to do the things that mattered, said 85-year-old Margaret Cherry, who taught kids at the neighborhood nursery for three decades.
Cherry said that she'd taught ``everyone you see out here - every one of these kids out here.''
She was dressed all in red with a big white flower stuck into the rim of her hat. Now, Cherry lives in Tidewater Gardens.
Evelyn Harris, 71, grew up in the neighborhood and taught in Norfolk schools for 40 years.
``It was probably the largest community of just involved people of all levels - professionals, doctors and lawyers,'' Harris said.
On the downside, she said, segregation thwarted opportunity. But on the upside, ``you created the bond and the unity within the neighborhood, the desire and intent to do your best regardless. You wanted to rise above it. . .
William Stewart worked on the Liberty Park recreation center for 13 years. What made the community important to him were the amenities - things like refrigerators, and hot and cold running water.
Joelle Cuffee Cowell, 54, remembered how ``everybody's mother was your mother; everybody looked out for the kids.
``I spent the happiest years of my life out there,'' said Cowell, who still lives near where the housing units stood.
She recalled how the coal man would dump a big load of coal, how residents would put a sign in the window for the ice man.
``Oh, Lord, have mercy,'' shrieked Debbie Branch Reynolds, who had just spied her old friend, Harriet Dowe. The two women hugged each other, then laughed together.
Reynolds, 44, who stayed in Norfolk after the demolition of her home, was born and raised in Liberty Park, and she still has a brick from the house to prove it. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
GARY C. KNAPP
James Johnson, right, moved to Liberty Park in 1962 when he married
Gladys Johnson, who moved into the project in 1952.
KEYWORDS: REUNIONS by CNB