Lakeland Community Heritage Project’s mission is to collect, preserve, interpret, and honor the heritage and history of those African Americans who created, lived in, and/or had association with the Lakeland community of Prince George’s County, Maryland from the late 19th century to the present.
We are seeking photos and memorabilia of Lakeland to add to our collections. Please contact us if you have items you would be willing to share. For more information, contact us by email at LakelandCollegePark@gmail.com.
LCHP authored “Lakeland: African-Americans in College Park” with Arcadia Publishing. If you are interested in hosting a signing, a lecture, or purchasing a copy please contact us.
Lakeland: African Americans in College Park Order your copy today!
Lakeland, the historic African American community of College Park, was formed around 1890 on the doorstep of the Maryland Agricultural College, now the University of Maryland, in northern Prince George’s County. Located less than 10 miles from Washington, DC, the community began when the area was largely rural and overwhelmingly populated by European Americans. Lakeland is one of several small, African American communities along the US Route 1 corridor between Washington, DC and Laurel, Maryland. With Lakeland’s central geographic location and easy access to train and trolley transportation, it became a natural gathering place for African American social and recreational activities, and it thrived until its self-contained uniqueness was undermined by urban renewal program and social change. The story of Lakeland is the tale of a community that was established and flourished in a segregated society and developed its own institutions and traditions, including the area’s only high school for African Americans, built in 1928. The Lakeland Community Heritage Project, Inc., was formed to preserve Lakeland’s history and the stories of its people through photographic archives and oral histories. That record is being shared through educational programs, outreach activities, and Images of America: Lakeland: African Americans in College Park.
The Images of America series celebrates the history of neighborhoods, towns, and cities across the country. Using archival photographs, each title presents the distinctive stories from the past that shape the character of the community today
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