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Mother’s Day was this past weekend. It led us to thinking about some of the tributes to admirable mothers that we’ve published in Washington History. One of the more surprising and heartfelt is the memoir of Bobbie Liegus and how she and her two sisters grew up lacking resources—but not love—on Q Street NW. Please enjoy “A Georgetown Childhood in Mid-Century,” vol. 8, no. 2 (fall/ winter, 1996-97), © Historical Society of Washington, D.C.

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May 12, 2020 Anna Liegus Habercom, a top-ranked duckpin bowler, releases the ball during a record-smashing game, c. 1953. Her daughter, author Bobbie Liegus, remembers the pride she felt in her mother's bowling prowess. Bowling was one of the very few indulgences that Anna Habercom of George- town, who lived just above the poverty line as a single parent of three young girls, allowed herself. Courtesy, Washingtoniana Division, D.C. Public Library, © Washington Post Co.

22 PRIMARY VOICES

A Georgetown Childhood In Mid-Century

by Bobbie Leigus

The following account of a Georgetown childhood Walter of Liegus was in the Army and served the late 1940s and early 1950s is written primarily during World War I. He died before I was from the point of view of the author as a child. Bob- born, and I didn't know my grandmother bie Liegus originally drafted this memoir as an exer- cise in creative writing and as a tribute untilto her I was an adult because she and my mother, Anna Liegus Habercom, who died at mother age 60 were not close. in 1979.- Ed. My mother and her sister had been shuf- fled between children's homes and foster first heard it when I was out of school care throughout their early childhood. and had just started working: native These orphanages sheltered children who Washingtonians are rare. I didn't real- had no other place to live, regardless of ize it when I was growing up, because whether or not their parents were alive. everyone I knew was from Washington. IAccording to my aunt, the last children's think even rarer is that I'm a native of home they lived in burned down, so one of Georgetown. And rarer still, so was the my women who volunteered there asked mother. I am a second-generation Wash- her sister to take in Mary and Anna. The ingtonian, born in George Washington sister reluctantly agreed to keep them tem- University Hospital, then located onporarily. H Thus, they came to Georgetown Street, N.W. My mother was born around in 1924 to live with a Mrs. Jenkins, Columbia Hospital for Women, at 24th the and woman they called "Nanny," in the L streets, N.W., where it is located today. gray frame house at 3240 Q Street, the Anna Liegus Habercom, my mother, same was house in which my mother grew up proud of the fact that she had been born and inwhere I later spent the majority of my Washington and raised in Georgetown. childhood. Temporary turned to perma- Her mother and father had come from nent, and Nanny raised the girls until they Lithuania in the early part of the twentieth were grown. Mother always told me that century and had separated when Nanny my loved me very much, but I was so mother and her sister, Mary, were youngvery when Nanny died, I don't remem- young. My grandmother Mary Liegus ber was much about her. I do remember the a cook at the White House during chickensthe in her chicken yard. Coolidge Administration. My grandfather My early years, from 1941 to 1946, were spent in housing projects in Southeast Washington - Lily Ponds and Bellevue. Notes begin on page 91. My father, Guy Habercom, was a sailor

23 Washington History, Fall/ Winter 1996-97

mixture of the very poor and the very wealthy, and although they existed side by side, they were in reality many miles apart.

to the 1950 Census, of the

Georgetown,According 226 1,663had no private occupied dwellings in bath and 135 had no running water. Our house at 3240 Q Street was one of these, and we also had no electricity. George- town's population had a white majority that year, with only 116 dwellings occupied by non-whites. The average monthly rent was $72.13, and the average value of a house $23,105. In comparison, the average values of houses in other affluent neigh- borhoods were $52,242 in Kalorama, $36,137 in Cleveland Park, and $27,671 in Spring Valley. Georgetown at this time was continuing Bobbie, Susan, and Alana Habercom pose for a change that had begun in the 1930s when an Easter portrait in 1951. Despite their white New Dealers discovered its close-in, home's lack of electricity and plumbing, Anna modest houses (mostly occupied by Habercom 's daughters were always well African Americans).1 Because the houses turned out. Courtesy, the author. varied in size from narrow rowhouses to mansions, Georgetown housed all races stationed at the Navy Yard. He was even- and classes. An article published in the tually sent to the South Pacific, and my Christian Science Monitor in 1948 captures mother, pregnant with my youngest sister, the state of change that year. Headlined Susan, took us to Hagerstown, Maryland, "Georgetown 'Charm' Balloons Realty to stay with my father's sister. After the Prices," the reporter wrote that "many live war, my parents soon divorced, and in next door to their maids or cooks, and 1946 my mother returned to Georgetown some actually occupy the houses in which to the house where she grew up to raise the servants formerly lived."2 her three little girls alone. My father had My family was in the poor category. left the family, remarried, and did not con- Besides my mother, the family consisted of tribute in any way to our childhood. Yet my two younger sisters, Alana and Susan, my mother never criticized him to us. She many cats, and me. Where her lifestyle said that their problems were between was concerned, my mother was a genera- them, and that he loved us very much. We tion ahead of her time, although not by reached our own conclusions later in life. choice. She was a single parent in a time of And, as a result of my mother's loving two-parentand "Ozzie and Harriet" families, forgiving nature, my sisters and I aresupporting three small girls on her salary friendly with our father today and feel alone. no She worked as a secretary at Liberty bitterness toward him. Mutual Insurance Company, located then Whenever I tell people I grew up in at Dupont Circle. Her salary was approxi- Georgetown, they assume that I was born mately $40 a week. We were never on wel- into money. Nothing could be further from fare. She was always in debt and worried the truth. In those days, Georgetown was oftena about money, but she always

24 A Georgetown Childhood remained cheerful and never burdened us with her sorrows. I remember at the age of ten traveling by bus across the Potomac to Rosslyn to take loan payments to the pawn shops there for Mother. I did learn later in life that my Aunt Mary had helped her out financially many times. Despite the poverty, Mother saw to it that we had things that other children had. Among them were tap-dancing lessons taught by Miriam Sellers at her home on Dent Place for 50 cents a class. Mother also let us join the Brownies and Girl Scouts, although I'm sure even the small costs involved stretched her meager finances. Although Mother's life revolved around her three daughters, she did have a life of her own. She loved to bowl and competed a couple evenings a week while one of the neighborhood teenagers babysat for us. I loved watching her get ready to go out, because she always smelled so sweet and looked so shiny in her freshly pressed bowling blouse and skirt. She was a top- ranked woman duckpin bowler in the Dis- In August 1996, Georgetown resident trict of Columbia, and she won many Florence Batuto waits for the Metrobus on awards and trophies. She often had her the front steps of 3240 Q Street, N.W., name and her picture in the paper for her where the Habercoms lived from 1946 to bowling. We were all proud that Mother 1953. At that time the family never used the front door, in part because bus riders often was a champion bowler. occupied their stoop. HSW. Georgetown of my childhood was an integrated section of a segre- streets; instead of Hyde Elementary gated city - integrated in housing School, they went to Wormley School; and only, however. On Volta Place, across from instead of Gordon Junior High, they Georgetown Playground where my sisters attended Francis Junior High. and I often played, there was a rough Our house, which we rented but never African-American neighborhood where owned, was at the corner of Wisconsin drunks were constantly fighting. The Sev- Avenue and Q Street, next to a Texaco gas enth Precinct down the block was kept station. It was owned by the Ahearn fami- very busy with the neighborhood. Just ly, who lived next door in a red brick knowing the precinct was there made house. Mary Ahearn was a stern, mean- things seem safer. Even though African looking woman with a permanent scowl Americans and whites lived in the same who chased us out of her yard whenever neighborhood, black children were we not wandered over there. One of Mary's allowed to use the nearby white play-sisters, Catherine, was a recluse who was ground or schools. Instead of Georgetown probably suffering from mental illness. In Playground, they had to use Rose Park, those on days we called her crazy. She would the border of Georgetown at 26th andrant O and rave and scream loudly day and

25 Washington History, Fall/ Winter 1996-97

night. Another sister, Julia, appeared to be was also a resting place for people waiting the most normal person in the family, and for Capital Transit's D-2 and D-4 buses she held a regular job. She was pretty, going downtown, especially in the rain, pleasant, and friendly. None of the sisters because there was an overhang for shelter. was married, nor was their brother, Pat, The bus stop was only a few feet away. On who ran a newsstand on M Street. There the side of the house was an alleyway with were also a few Catholic nuns in the fami- a wooden gate at the entrance. This was ly who lived in a convent somewhere. the I only way we entered the house. remember Mother once telling me that the The narrow alley led to the back wooden rent for our house was $20 a month. steps and porch. On the porch we kept the The house is still there, standing as an icebox. The icebox was exactly that - not a ancient woman in heavy makeup, trying refrigerator. We kept food cold with large desperately to hide her age. But I know blocks of ice for a quarter from an ice what she really looks like underneath. I machine next door. I don't know why we was never ashamed of that house until kept the icebox on the back porch instead later when I got to junior high school of inand the house. I suppose it was to keep the realized we were poor. As a child infood ele- better, because it was cold out there in mentary school, all my friends in the the winter. Although if that was the reason, neighborhood were as poor as we wewere could have kept it in the bedroom just except that most of them had electricity as well. I remember once leaving the door and an indoor toilet. key in the icebox so my mother could get The exterior of our house was gray into the house. This wasn't a place I nor- frame with a red tin roof and peeling shut- mally hid the key, and I thought I was ters - real shutters, however. Although the being helpful by leaving her a note saying shutters opened and closed, we kept them the key was in the icebox. Unfortunately, permanently shut for privacy, since wethe note was in the house. were so close to the street. There was a We entered the house through the back front stoop that all the kids in the neigh-door, which led into the kitchen. This was borhood would use for a base for our sum- one great big room with a coal stove in the mer games - Pies, As I Draw This Magic middle, peeling paint on the walls, and Circle, Giant Steps, and so forth. The stoop cracked linoleum on the floors. There was

26 A Georgetown Childhood

The Georgetown in which the Habercoms of "Evening in Paris" perfume, which I had grew up was still semi-industrial In this view bought at Woolworth's on M Street for from 1964, taken from where the Kennedy about 50 cents. My mother was so apprecia- Center is today, the smokestacks and cranes of tive, acting like it was the most wonderful the working waterfront are visible. Courtesy, gift she had ever received (as she did with WD, DCPL, © Washington Post Co. every gift from us). At the time I didn't understand it when she said, "This is so also a sink with a cold water faucet. My sweet of you, but I wish you'd save your mother kept a kettle of water on the stove money instead of spending it on me." Any- for when we needed hot water, and we one who's ever smelled "Evening in Paris" would stand on a chair for her to wash us would understand. when we were little. There was a kerosene The furniture in our house was old then lamp on the oilcloth-covered table, andand would be genuine antiques now. this was our source of light. We stayed Becausein we had no sense of status, or the kitchen most of the time because it was investment, or whatever it takes to realize the warmest and brightest part of the the value of something, everything we house. Mother cooked our meals on the used and owned has long since been dis- heavy iron coal stove and chopped posedwood of. Today I see the same flat irons, in the backyard for the fire. I used to kerosene col- lamps, kettles, ice tongs, wash- lect wooden crates from the local stores for boards, etc., for sale in antique shops and her. We ate a lot of stews, goulash, and often think of the valuable collection we macaroni and cheese. The stove was also probably had. However, I'm sure when she used to heat the flat irons for ironing disposed and of these things, my mother was provided our main source of heat, sorelieved; we when we finally moved to our not only ate in the kitchen, we played there apartment with electricity and plumbing until bedtime. in 1953, she no longer needed them. The "middle room" had a smaller pot- The third room on the first floor of our bellied coal stove, but it usually wasn't lit, house, the room into which the front door and the room was very cold. The room opened, was our bedroom. All of us slept contained a large, heavy oak table and two in this room. We had two double beds, and straight-backed chairs with broken cane one of my sisters slept with me and the seats. Lace curtains hung at the window. other with my mother. There was no clos- We used that room mainly at Christmas. et, so we used a wardrobe for clothes. There we set up our tree and opened our There was no stove, so the bedroom was gifts. Mother would light the stove, and cold in the winter and we slept under a lot the fire would glow red through the black of blankets. In the summer, when it was iron. Everything was warm and cozy. stifling hot, Mother would fan us with a Christmas was an especially happy time at magazine, for what seemed like hours, to our house. Mother always went to get the cool us off until we fell asleep. tree on Christmas Eve. I didn't realize it The rest of the house wasn't used much. then, but she waited until Christmas Eve An enclosed narrow staircase led to two because trees were either cheaper or free. big rooms upstairs, one in the front of the At Thanksgiving and Christmas, churches house and one in the back, and a room we in the neighborhood would give us baskets called "the little room," which I suppose of food, and my mother was very grateful. would have been a bathroom in most hous- Mother always made sure there were a lotes. Instead, we had a little wooden out- of presents for all of us, and we looked for- house in the back yard. The upstairs rooms ward most of all to a new, beautiful doll were used to store junk, and once in a each year. One year I gave Mother a bottle while we'd play up there, but we did most

27 of our living downstairs. A dark coal cellar back of the store, and I could usually get that we never used completed the house. away with staying there and reading Since we had no electricity, we didn't depending on who was working at the have a television, but few people did in the time. Doc Cockey, Ruth, and Mabel would early 1950s. However, a family down the always let me stay, but Evelyn and Doc street bought one, and the neighborhood Freddy would kick me out. That used to kids would gather on their front porch and make me mad, and I would vow to myself watch through the window. Once in a that someday when I was famous, I'd go while we'd be invited in to watch, but not back to that drugstore and Evelyn and Doc very often. In those days, people watched Freddy would be sorry they ever kicked TV in total darkness on very small black me out, and they'd want me to talk to and white screens, so it was probably just them, but I'd ignore them. I never got as well for the sake of our eyes that we famous, and Potomac Drug Store no didn't get to watch it often. Instead we lis- longer exists. tened to our radio - programs such as The Besides being my library (although Shadow; Mr. Kean, Tracer of Lost Persons; every once in a while I'd actually buy The FBI in Peace and War; Amos 'n' Andy; something), the drug store was also a win- Jack Benny; The Great Gildersleeve; The ter refuge for me. After school, it would be Life of Riley; and soap operas. very cold in the house because Mother was I loved to read, and some of my fondest at work, and I had to wait until she came memories are of sitting alone on the back home for her to light the stove to warm up porch with my feet propped up on the rail- the house. So I'd go to the drug store to ing, reading and eating. I also loved to go read and keep warm until she got home. to Potomac Drug Store around the corner on Wisconsin Avenue, and would sit there memories of growing up in for hours reading magazines and comic Georgetown focus mainly on the books. The magazine section was in the summertime. I spent all of my

28 A Georgetown Childhood

The Potomac Drug Store, seen in this 1949 view of the intersection of Q Street and Wis- consin Avenue, sheltered the author on cold wintry days. Her house was just around the corner (center), across from the city bus. The picture was taken by the Evening Star to show elm trees slated for removal. Courtesy, WD, DCPL, © Washington Post Co. summers at Georgetown Playground, on Q Street between 33rd and 34th, usually at the swimming pool. I swam all the time and participated in swim meets and water ballets- "Rose Marie" and "H.M.S. Pinafore." I was also on a softball team that played other playground teams. There were arts and crafts - basketweaving and lanyard making. I made plenty of lan- yards, but I never did any basketweaving because wet unfinished wood gave me chills. I could never hold on to a popsicle stick without paper wrapped around it for that reason (I still can't to this day). There were so many activities at the playground, and I participated in all of them. We had one-act plays, and I was Li-Mo, a "poorA joyful Bobbie, right, hugs her friend but honest fisherman," and Tom Sawyer's Gretchen Kirchgessner in the backyard of sister, who gets a pie in her face. ItBobbie's was house on Q Street, c. 1950. The actually a small pie, and I had eaten mostlaundry seen hanging at top was washed by Anna Habercom using a washboard in a of it before it got pushed in my face. washtub with water heated on their coal One of the many activities organized for stove. Courtesy, the author. the neighborhood children by Georgetown Playground, among other groups, was participation in the 1951 Georgetown contests against other playgrounds. Bicentennial. Dressed in colonial cos- Among the very creative and inspiring tumes, we paraded through the streets playground of directors, I remember most Georgetown. In faded newspaper Janice photos Martin, a large woman with short of the parade, I see the little blonde red hair girl and freckles, who took a genuine who was me happily marching along. interest in us. I remember visiting her We had dances, both social and creative. home and her family on Lorcom Lane in At the social dances, which were held on Arlington. It was one of the nicest homes I the tennis courts, I sometimes won theater had ever entered. passes in dance competitions. As a mem- Another facility that played an impor- ber of the creative dance group, I danced tant part in my Georgetown childhood the Highland Fling, the Sailor's Hornpipe, was the Washington Boys' Club. It was the Hawaiian hulas, and an Indian dance. We center of a lot of activities for my friends used to perform at playgrounds around and me. Until 1953, it was located at the the city. Both the one-act plays and the triangle where 28th and M streets and dances won awards for the playground in Pennsylvania Avenue meet. We'd walk

29 Washington History, Fall/Winter 1996-97

there to see free movies on Friday nights, the early 1950s, my sisters often thrillers featuring Frankenstein, Wolf Man, or Dracula. The Boys7 Club also GeorgetownThrough Neighborhoodand I attended House, the daycare center at held dances and parties. I recall that at one at 3224 N Street. Neighborhood House was Christmas party my sister received an funded by the Community Chest, and was electric woodburning set, which was a a place where preschool and elementary useless gift since we had no place to plug school children were taken care of while it in at home. The Boys' Club later became their parents worked. It was one of the few the Jelleff Branch Boys and Girls Club, integrated places I can remember in Wash- relocated to S Street. There I was a ington at that time, and since I attended majorette and marched in parades segregated schools until 1954, it was my throughout the city and into the suburbs. only social exposure to minorities. It My sisters and I also attended the Boys' would be idealistic to say we all got along Club Camp, Camp Winslow, in southern well, and Neighborhood House was a joy- Maryland during the two weeks set aside ous place, but that would be inaccurate. each summer for girls only. There we met Although I have no traumatic memories of a lot of people from other areas of the city, my time at the daycare center, I cannot say particularly from Southeast, where anoth- I have fond memories either. I suppose the er branch of the Boys' Club was located. one thing all of the children had in com- We had female counselors in our cabins, mon was that their parent or parents but I fondly remember the male coun- worked. But we came from diverse back- selors who were swimming instructors grounds and differing values. For exam- and recreation leaders. They were either high school or college boys, and I thought The sisters represent the Georgetown Play- they were very handsome. I had a crush ground in the 1951 parade marking the bicen- on each one of them. tennial of Georgetown's founding. Dressed in colonial costumes, the girls marched along M Street directly behind the stagecoach. Cour- tesy WD, DCPL, © Washington Post Co.

30 A Georgetown Childhood

Track and field competitors pose at Montrose try, such as pay rates, hours of work, or Park on R Street, c. 1950. Children in city unemployment insurance. In addition, Recreation Department programs traveled to with so much movement of people in and each others' fields for tournaments. The out in response to national politics, there Habercom girls often represented George- was always a subtly divisive factor about town Playground, Q Street between 33rd who was a Washingtonian and therefore and 34th streets. Courtesy, the author. responsible for developing community. But in 1928, primarily as a result of a cam- pie, my sister learned to cuss at Neighbor- paign conducted by the old guard of the hood House, much to my mother's shock. civic betterment movement and a few And I heard the word "rape" for the first younger converts, a community conscious- time in my life from one of the other chil- ness began to emerge. The Board of Trade dren, who knew what the word meant. I engaged Elwood Street, an experienced had no idea. fundraiser from St. Louis, to organize a Neighborhood House was a settlement Community Chest in Washington. Street house, organized as part of the recent insisted that the campaign be a united growth in Washington's social services. effortIn of the entire city; representatives of the early days of this century, social ser- both races must meet and participate as vices, such as exist today in Washington, equals. All did not go smoothly in were uncommon. This was a city totally fundraising or race relations, yet 30 years separated by class as well as race. Because later, it was clear that the launching of the there was so little industry, the problems ofCommunity Chest had been a turning working people had no reality for busi- point, and one of its beneficiaries was nessmen, politicians, and civil service Georgetown Neighborhood House.3 employees. There was little interest in There was no such thing as McDonald's issues that concerned the rest of the coun- in those days, so our fast food place was

31 Washington History, Fall/ Winter 1996-97 the Little Tavern. On the way home from Joe Branzell, well-loved director of the Neighborhood House, we'd stop and eat Georgetown Boys Club, leads a cheer for dinner at the Little Tavern at Wisconsin Santa Claus, c. 1948. Courtesy, Joe Branzell and O. We loved the little greasy hamburg- ers smothered with onions and pickles of on my old records from elementary school. the little soft buns, and the tasty pies. Among The the papers was my report card Little Tavern was a real treat for us, and from it second grade. On it the teacher had is one of the few places from my childhood written, "I think you are doing such a that existed far into my adult years. splendid job with your youngsters." It As a child, I never realized what difficul- brought tears to my eyes because I know it ties my mother must have had raising must have meant a lot to my mother. three children. She bore her burden alone and kept her problems from us. But I our neighborhood there were several remember once, on a cold, dark winter's small grocery stores. At the corner of evening she was struggling up Wisconsin 33rd and Q streets was Paul's Market, Avenue trailed by three fussy little girls a DGS (District Grocery Store) was at the she had just picked up from day care. She corner of 33rd Street and Volta Place, and was scolding us for fighting with each Rosen's was at 34th and Dent Place. None other, when a little old lady came up to her of these stores remain today; they are all and started screaming at her for mistreat- private homes. My mother had a charge ing us. Mother wasn't mistreating us, but account at Paul's and gave us permission I'll never forget the mean scowl on the old to charge snacks there. I loved to buy pota- lady's face as she angrily wagged her fin- to chips, cupcakes, sodas, and fruit. Every ger and yelled at my mother. I think it once in a while when I'd charge some- bothered me more than it did Mother. I thing, the proprietor would say in a sar- gave the old lady a dirty look and contin- castic manner, "Are you having a party?" I ued to fight with my sister. figured this meant that Mother's bill was I think there were as many rewarding pretty high. times for Mother as there were difficult Also in our neighborhood was a group ones. Recently I was looking through some of gossipy elderly women who wore the

32 bitterness of the years on their faces and in ty to keep them occupied. I played with their hearts. They sat on their front stoops some of their grandchildren, and they took with beefy legs spread apart and stockings every opportunity to make digs at my fam- rolled down in fat little rings around their ily. They were as poor as we were, but for ankles. Their saggy arms were always some reason, they felt superior. Maybe folded sternly across their heavy bosoms, because they had electricity. Whenever I which drooped, matching the folded creas- would say I was going to a movie or going es of their mouths. Their carnivorous eyes to Glen Echo, they would say icily, "Only devoured the passing scene, and their the rich can afford it." Or they would ask sharp tongues cut open everything and bluntly, "Is your mother going out again spat it out again. These were women who tonight?" I tried to ignore them, but it hurt. felt joy when other people were miserable, There were also many people in our and were miserable when other people felt neighborhood who were friendly and joy. They knew everything about everyone treated people kindly. One who I remem- in the neighborhood, and what they didn't ber fondly was Mrs. Bredice. She lived a know, they made up. I'm sure my mother, few doors down in a lovely brick row- a young, pretty divorcee, gave them plen- house. Her granddaughter, Joyce, was one of our closest playmates. The Bredice fam-

Its name notwithstanding, the Washington ily owned a shoe-repair shop on Wisconsin Boys' Club, Georgetown Branch, also provided Avenue and was well respected in the activities for neighborhood girls. The club- neighborhood. Mrs. Bredice often stood on house occupied the triangle where 28th and M her porch, and as I skipped by on my way streets meet Pennsylvania Avenue. Courtesy, home from the playground, she would WD, DCPL © Washington Post Co. stop me and ask me to go to the drug store

33 Washington History, Fall/Winter 1996-97

for her. I would always oblige, and she Friendly Society at St. John's Episcopal would always reward me with a nickel. Church on O Street, across from my school, She was a source of my spending money and they invited me to join the group. We Mother never went to church but was a met every Wednesday afternoon and moral and religious person. She taught learnedus to do good deeds. It was sort of like prayers and hymns such as The Old Girl Scouts, only religious. I remember how Rugged Cross, Rock of Ages, In the Gar- excited I was to tell the minister's wife that den, and Jesus Loves Me. She made sure I had decided to start going to their church. the three of us went to Sunday school She looked at me blankly and said, "Why every week. The closest church to us was a don't you stick to your own church, dear." fundamentalist Pentecostal church, Cal- It bothered me that she wasn't as excited vary Gospel, so that's where we went. I about me joining her church as I was, but I enjoyed singing the songs, particularly one joined anyway. called One, Two, Three, the Devil's After My friends and I went to the Calvert The- Me, but I never could understand why the ater on Wisconsin Avenue every Saturday, church was against movies - not to men- no matter what was playing. There were tion dancing, make-up, and other things usually double features and we especially that didn't affect me then. I believed the liked The Bowery Boys, Francis the Talking reason Mother never went to church was that she didn't have good enough clothes A Japanese social worker studying U.S. child to wear. She never said that was the rea- welfare services visits Georgetown Neighbor- son, and I never asked her. Probably the hood House, 1950. The settlement house, truth is that our time at church gave her a funded by the Community Chest, charged fees peaceful hour to herself each week. based on ability to pay. The Habercom girls When I was older, I met some girls at attended day care at the center. Courtesy, school who belonged to a club called Girls Georgetown Children's House.

34 A Georgetown Childhood

Two young boys try out the Boys Club's pool and roll down again until the bus came. The table, 1949. In 1953 the club moved to its cur- campus of the school also served us as a rent location on S Street, N.W. , and was playground from time to time. We would renamed the Jelleff Boys and Girls Club in roam the halls of the cavernous building, honor of local department store owner Frank and our footsteps and voices echoed Jelleff. Courtesy, WD, DCPL. throughout, but no one ever stopped us. In fact, no one ever seemed to be around. We Mule, and all MGM musicals. We'd meet loved to tell other kids about the jars full of our friends at the theater, and I'd always rotten brown teeth we saw, and the time we think how lucky I was to be me, and that saw a lady's head upside down in a jar; her people I saw on the street weren't lucky eyes were closed, and wispy waves of because they weren't me and they weren't brown hair floated through the clear liquid. going to the movies. In looking back, there seems to be no end In those days, our family dentists were to the ways we found to entertain our- the students at Georgetown University Den- selves. I'd take bus and streetcar rides with tal School, located on Reservoir Road, and my friends on weekends. My mother would Mother took us there regularly. The students buy a $2.00 pass, which was good for seemed to enjoy working on our teeth much unlimited rides for two weeks. We'd go more than we did. Our fun came afterward. from one end of the line to the other - As we waited for the bus home, my sisters Friendship Heights to Barney Circle, and I would roll down the two-tiered slope MacArthur Boulevard to Ivy City, Glover of hills in front of the school, race back up, Park to Trinidad. The streetcar ride to Glen

35 Washington History, Fall/ Winter 1996-97

Anna Liegus Habercom, photographed on the back steps of 3240 Q Street, 1949. Courtesy, the author.

36 The number 20 streetcar, Cabin John and Glen Echo line, crosses the Dalecarlia Reservoir in September 1948. On summer evenings, the Habercoms enjoyed the ride to Glen Echo through the woods overlooking the Potomac as much as the amusement park itself. HSW.

Echo - the Cabin John line - was especially there were such things as poor kids. When I enjoyable. It was almost as much fun as the was 12, in 1953, we moved about five miles amusement park itself, as it went through away to Glover Park into a one-bedroom, beautiful wooded areas overlooking the river one-bath garden apartment on Beecher and the canal, and over a high bridge out Street. We finally had electricity and an Mac Arthur Boulevard. The windows of the indoor bathroom, and I thought we were streetcar were open in the summer, and there really moving up. One day I invited one of was a cool breeze throughout the car. Today, my new junior high school friends to see some of the tracks of the Cabin John line aremy apartment. I was very proud of it, but still buried in the cobblestones on O Street. for some reason, she didn't seem During the summer Mother would take impressed. Later when I visited her home in us on a cruise on the Wilson Line to Mar- Spring Valley, I realized why. shall Hall Amusement Park in Maryland. Our I life in Glover Park was very different especially liked riding the roller coaster. from In our life in Georgetown. It was our those days, there were slot machines adolescence, at and our time for junior high Marshall Hall, and I can still picture and my high school. These were our teen years, mother playing the nickel machines along- and they presented challenges for all of us. side several nuns. Mother also took us on Society was changing, Washington was walks along the C&O Canal Tow Path, changing, to and we were changing. In Glover the monuments, the zoo, and the Smithson- Park there were many families like ours - ian museums. Because I grew up in Wash- apartment dwellers headed by only one ington, I never knew until I was much parentolder - so we blended in very well. There and traveled out of the area that zoos and was no obvious distinction between rich museums elsewhere charged admission. and poor as there had been in Georgetown. As I said before, I didn't realize how poorOur life in Glover Park was more comfort- we were because most of my friends in able the in many ways than our life in George- neighborhood were also poor. However, town had been. Mainly because we had when I entered Gordon Junior High School, electricity. And indoor plumbing. E it dawned on me that not all kids were poor. In junior high school there were kids from Bobbie Liegus is an executive assistant for Spring Valley and Wesley Heights, and UnionI'm Labor Life Insurance Company. She has sure it had never occurred to them that kept a daily journal faithfully since 1983.