Why Greenbelt?

In April 1968, my church minister came to my city manager’s office in Greenbelt, Maryland. He said that in May the Greenbelt Community Church and St. Hugh of Grenoble Catholic Church would be hosting the northeast contingent of the Poor People’s March on Washington, DC. 

Greenbelt’s location on the main road to the northeast and the willingness of its churches to be hosts made the planned visit a perfect addition to the march’s events. He emphasized that the demonstrators would be there only for lunch and would then leave for a temporary encampment on the National Mall near the Lincoln Memorial.

As background, “Greenbelt was the first community in the United States built as a federal venture in housing [in 1937] … with physical and social planning … [to be] a complete city, with businesses, schools, roads, and facilities for recreation and town government.” Designed to provide low-income housing, Greenbelt drew 5,700 applicants for the original 885 residences and is located within Prince George’s County in the suburban Washington, DC metropolitan area.

A Time of Upheaval in the United States

On April 4, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated in Memphis. This led to rioting in many cities, and while Greenbelt remained quiet, the event affected its residents. Greenbelt had been an all-white community, and it was only recently that a few black families had moved into the city. While Greenbelt was a very liberal community, there were still many who opposed the demonstrations that followed Rev. King’s assassination.

Before his death, Rev. King had been organizing the Poor People’s March on Washington and his successor chose to continue the planned demonstration. Thousands of poor people would “march” to Washington and encamp on the National Mall to demonstrate for economic justice legislative actions.

I did not expect the group coming to Greenbelt to be disruptive to our churches, but an outside group could cause disruption, so the city needed a public safety presence. At the same time, distrust and tensions ran high between police officers and black people; having them side by side could spark an unneeded incident. My goal for the day was that there should be no strong police presence at the churches, but there should be an unseen force close by just in case trouble arose.

Greenbelt’s Preparations

Greenbelt had a small police department and could not handle any incident involving hundreds of people by itself. I contacted the county government leader, and together with the administrators and police chiefs discussed the issue and we agreed to no visible police presence.

There was a special, secret meeting of administrators and police chiefs for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) with the FBI and other federal agencies held at Lorton Prison in Fairfax County, Virginia. It was my first and only time in prison and I felt quite uncomfortable! The purpose was to inform us of the demonstrators’ location and marching plans. All the major jurisdictions in the DC area were members of COG, as were some area municipalities. Greenbelt was a new member and the smallest jurisdiction.

A COG member complained that demonstrators were coming in contingents from all over the country and were approaching Washington as they proceeded down highways, and local governments had no information about when they would march through their jurisdictions. Either the FBI did not know the demonstrators’ plans or would not tell and provided no information to the group. 

I represented the smallest jurisdiction present and said, “The Northeast Contingent will be coming to Greenbelt on May 17 to have lunch at two churches and then move on to Washington.” That was the only information about movements to come forth at the meeting, and many frustrated local government administrators and police chiefs left in bad temper.

A few days before the march, a press representative, now aware of the Greenbelt stop, asked if there was any place where a temporary press headquarters could be arranged. Fortunately, a parcel of city land had an old, unused clubhouse so I gave permission for the media to use it.

Greenbelt’s Hosting and Lessons from the Day

May 17 proved to be a warm and sunny day—a good omen. At about 12:30 p.m., 25 buses with 700 people came to the city. A solitary Greenbelt police officer signaled to the lead driver where to stop. A young marshal got off the bus, got directions to the churches, thanked the officer, and told him, “We’ll take it from here.” The officer quickly left the scene. The marchers had arrived in Greenbelt and there was no uniformed police presence.

What I did not know until many years later was that the governor had activated the National Guard, and a unit had been secretly placed in the volunteer fire department station located between the two churches. The National Guard unit was too large for the building, and they were apparently packed in like sardines! According to the Greenbelt News Review:

“The travelers had been expected, and the detailed preparations made at joint sessions of church representatives worked without a notable hitch. Lunch was ready in the church auditoriums … meanwhile registration and issuance of an identification bracelet for each member of the group was begun. The weather cooperated, too, and after lunch many spent their time resting outdoors on the shady lawns or under awnings, or talking, playing badminton, baseball, cards and singing.

The lack of confusion was in the main due to the many marshals—older teen-age campaigners wearing blue denim jackets with their rank marked in red on the sleeve. They handled problems, guided and helped members of their respective groups. City and county officials also worked on and behind the scenes to assure the comfort and safety of the marchers.

The welcoming spirit in the [Greenbelt] churches was shown in hand lettered posters on the walls, such as ‘You are among friends,’ and ‘We will be praying for your safe journey.’

According to Jack Downs, who was coordinator for the St. Hugh’s hosting, ‘Not everyone in the Parish or in Greenbelt was pleased to have these folks in town for lunch that day. The nation was on edge; so was the city. There was fear in the air. Some folks took a stroll about town; went to the lake and some went to the shops.”

The police chief—dressed in plain clothes—and I drove about between the two churches. The chief noted that of the many members of the press present, some were plain-clothes FBI and other law enforcement officers. A few members of the media spoke to me and asked how I felt about the “poor people” staying in Greenbelt. I responded they would not be staying in Greenbelt but elsewhere in the county or DC. No one believed me.

An overnight in Greenbelt came close to being a reality because accommodations had not been made and the buses left. With temporary encampment not yet approved for occupancy, area churches outside Greenbelt were lined up to house the participants. The county had plenty of school buses to use for transport, but they bore the county’s name and county officials wanted no connection to the demonstration. Private buses were procured and were driven by a variety of people, including county employees and even plain-clothes police officers.

By evening, all the marchers had been transported out of Greenbelt. The televised news that night said that the marchers were spending the night in Greenbelt. I, and a few other residents, knew that wasn’t true. The churches had kept to their commitment of providing lunches only.

My wish to have law enforcement ready nearby but without any police presence with the demonstrators, as well as community partnerships and relationships, made this event a success even in the most difficult of times then, and stands as a formula for today.

JIM GIESE served as city manager in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA, from 1962 to 1991, and is an ICMA Life Member.

Note: ICMA’s ethics director, Jessica Cowles, was the former town manager in Berwyn Heights, Maryland, bordering Greenbelt. Jim is a local government legend, and this story is part of a larger group of stories from his time in the profession.