[ABCDE]
District
EXTRA
THURSDAY,JULY 16, 2009
DISTRICT NOTEBOOK
Obama Park Proposal Might Be
A Little Early
By Tim Craig and Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
D
BY HAMIL R. HARRIS — THE WASHINGTON POST
Mental health professionals from across the country tour the cemetery behind St. Elizabeths Hospital, which has nearly 4,000 unmarked graves.
Anonymous No Longer at St. Elizabeths
National Memorial to Honor Psychiatric Patients Buried in Unmarked Graves
By Hamil R. Harris
Washington Post Staff Writer
As he walked through a cemetery filled with more than 4,000 unmarked graves, Patrick J. Canavan, chief executive of St. Elizabeths Hospital, said he and his col- leagues were making a major step to correct decades of wrong.
“This is about respecting people who are the aunts, uncles and grandparents of my neighbors in the District of Columbia, who
3
The Beat Goes On
The Hip-Hop Theater Festival offers a change of pace with a family-friendly production.
have never been recognized in their death [but] were part of this community,” Cana- van said.
His comments followed a service last month at the Southeast Washington cam- pus, where mental health professionals from across the country remembered the unnamed people buried at their institu- tions.
In almost every state is a cemetery like the one behind St. Elizabeths, because at one time patients sent to government psy-
4
Dr. Gridlock
The urge to merge at the last minute when highway lanes end has some readers seeing red.
chiatric facilities were admitted with no ex- pectations of ever leaving. But in recent years, a coalition of mental health providers has launched an effort to build a national memorial on the grounds of St. Elizabeths to stand for the thousands of patients who died at such facilities.
“This memorial sanctifies and makes holy the grounds where people were forgot- ten and buried away silently but are now be-
See CEMETERY, Page 6
7
Community Events
A list of activities including concerts, films, discussions with artists and group walks.
.C. Council member Jim Graham (D- Ward 1) introduced a resolution this week to rename Girard Park in Co-
lumbia Heights Barack Hussein Oba-
ma Park.
The recently renovated park, at 14th and Girard streets NW, features a basketball court and play equipment. “The park is a jewel,” Graham said. “I think
the overwhelming point of view that has been expressed is that the park should be renamed in honor of our president.”
But it might be harder than Graham thinks to rename the park. It’s against the law. According to the D.C. Code, “no public space in the District shall be named in honor of any living person, or in honor of any person who has been deceased less than 2 years, un- less the deceased person was a President or Vice President of the United States, a United States Senator or Representative, a Mayor of the District of Columbia, or a member of the Council of the District of Columbia.” Because Obama is alive, the council would
have to change the law before it could move forward on Graham’s resolution. If the council approved the resolution, the
park would be the first D.C. facility or asset to be named in honor of Obama. Last month, the Prince George’s County school board voted unanimously to name a new school in Upper Marlboro Barack Obama Elementary. In recognizing Columbia Heights’s diversi-
ty, Graham emphasized that Obama’s middle name be included in the park’s name. (During the presidential campaign, Obama shied away
See NOTEBOOK, Page 6
11
Animal Doctor
The truth about babies and cats: Are infants
at risk of being suffocated?
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66