A Proud History that Happened Here
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On May 19, the dependency building at Riversdale will be opened to the public. Restoration of this outbuilding has been a five-year project and it is exciting to see it near completion.
More exciting will be the story told in the dependency as it focuses on the life of Adam Francis Plummer, a remarkable man, who lived as a slave and freeman at Riversdale. Adam Plummer learned to read and write and left a diary that spanned his life from 1841 to his death in 1905. The diary recounts Adam's dedication to his wife and children and his honesty and hard work in making the best possible life for his family.
The good example of Adam Plummer's life was repaid by his children--his daughter, Nellie, was born in slavery, but became a school teacher and wrote of her admiration for her father in the book Out of the Past--the Triumph of the Cross. She also wrote about her sister, Sarah Miranda, who founded the St. Paul Baptist Church during a service in the Plummer cabin at Riversdale in 1865. Her twin brother, Robert, became a dentist, and another brother, Henry, was a military chaplain in the mid-west.
Much is written today about the need for good role models for children. There is no better example of a good role model than to look at the life of Adam Francis Plummer and the children who followed in his footsteps.
The dependency will have a working kitchen in one-half of the first floor area with scheduled demonstrations of the challenge of cooking on an open fireplace in the early and mid-19th century. The other half of the first floor will be an exhibit area recounting the experiences of Adam Plummer and other slaves at Riversdale.
Riversdale is unique in having rich documentation about the Calvert family and the Plummer family so that the story of its history can be told through the words of the people who worked, struggled and lived there.
More History that Happened Here
In the 1940s, Juan Ramon Jimenez lived at 4310 Queensbury Road on the west side of our town. A Spanish poet, Juan Jimenez fled the Spanish Civil War and came to the United States with his wife, Zenobia, in the late 1930s.
Among his many volumes of poetry is one titled, "The Elms of Riverdale" as he was often inspired in his writing by the scenes surrounding him. During the years they lived here, Mr. and Mrs. Jimenez were faculty members in the University of Maryland Spanish department.
In 1956, Juan Ramone Jimenez was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He died in 1958. In 1981, officials at the University of Maryland named the Foreign Languages building on the main campus in his honor.
Maryland Public Television (MPT) recently contacted the town office regarding a series entitled "Maryland Legacy." The series features individuals who lived in our state and have made significant contributions. Recognition of Juan Ramone Jimenez will be part of the "Legacy" feature in the Fall 2001 programming lineup.
Town Center Update
After years of no progress in rehabilitation of the old buildings at Town Center, we managed to break a logjam this past week to bring the town closer to development of this key location.
The contract purchasers of the property transferred their interest to the town on Tuesday, April 17; we immediately gave notice to the property owner that we are ready to go to settlement.
In the past eight years residents have commented on the many positive changes we made at this key transportation and activity center. However, they express their frustration that the corner buildings continue to remain derelict and unused. Also, more than a dozen retail operators have called to ask about renting space there and I was forced to tell them the buildings were unusable. I am now optimistic that work will soon be underway and, in the not too distant future, we will see a completed project with retail opportunities available to all of us.
This page was last changed on Monday, June 25, 2001. Questions, comments, or submissions? See the Website Committee web page. This page has been accessed 3871 times.