During some down time during the coronavirus pandemic, Dawn Seestedt saw an opportunity to unite her community and promote her neighborhood’s significant civil rights-era history.
The result of Seestedt’s vision developed into the Gwynn Oak Unity Festival, planned for Aug. 27 at Gwynn Oak Park in Woodlawn.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore will be one of the lead sponsors for the festival, which will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of a now-closed private amusement park in the community.
Auxiliary Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., urban vicar for the archdiocese, will be on hand for a blessing at an event that will honor the late Father Joseph M. Connolly, one of the leaders of the desegregation movement in 1963.
“It’s celebrations like this that remind us of how far our church and city have come,” Bishop Lewandowski said. “At the same time, this 60th anniversary grabs our attention and makes us reflect on how much more there is to do. Gwynn Oak Park was desegregated 60 years ago. It was a step forward, a moment of recognition of the dignity of every person.
“Dismantling racism and discrimination is never done,” he said. “In our times, we take a few steps forward, and then how many steps backward? The work of racial justice is ongoing, needing to be handed on from one generation to the next. The heroes remembered on this anniversary show us that we should never take unity for granted. Many were willing to live and die for it. Shouldn’t we be too?”
Baltimore Catholics have a lengthy legacy of working for racial and social justice in the community.
When Gwynn Oak Amusement Park was integrated in 1963, a handful of priests and Catholic parishioners were arrested. At the 60th anniversary festival, a stage will be named in honor of Father Connolly, one of the “heroes that stood for justice and equality.”
On July 4, 1963, Father Connolly was arrested by Baltimore County police along with Monsignor Austin Healy and Father Henry Offer for participating in a protest to desegregate Gwynn Oak Park. Organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the protest led to the arrest of 36 clergymen under the Maryland Trespass Act. Altogether, 175 parishioners and seven priests joined members of the Catholic Interracial Council in a picket line outside the park.
Father Connolly also attracted national attention for his efforts in 1957 to integrate St. Gregory the Great.
The 60th anniversary festival begins at noon and will feature a day of “honor, unity and celebration.”
With a theme of “In Unity, There is Strength,” the event will showcase the many cultures represented in the area through music and performance, food and history. More than 20 resource vendors will “highlight programs and organizations that support, uplift and enrich the community.”
Seestedt, a physical therapist who was raised Catholic in upstate New York, has been a part of the community for the past 30 years. She said her goal with the festival is to boost community spirit while passing on a history lesson.
“First and foremost, we’re trying to preserve history,” Seestedt said. “Young people just don’t know the history and significance of what went on at that park and its role nationally in the civil rights movement. It’s important to share that history.”
Seestedt said she is a member of an interracial family and it was important for her to highlight the park’s historic significance.
“Trying to make amends is important,” she said. “To think that people I care about or anyone would have been excluded is very sad to me.”
“Civil rights heroes” will be honored at the festival and participate in a “table talk discussion.” Authors Amy Nathan and Sharon Langley will read passages from their book “A Ride to Remember: A Civil Rights Story.”
The free event will also include live music and performances.
One of the highlights will be the unveiling of the Gwynn Oak Mosaic, titled the Ride to Freedom.
The mosaic, supported by the Maryland State Arts Council, was assembled with artist Herb Massie from digital submissions during workshops at the Woodlawn branch of the Baltimore County Public Library. The mosaic is a lesson in how people of many races and religions united to force social change. One side of the mosaic, designed by Massie, tells the history, and the other side celebrates the diversity in the park and community.
People in the community shared photographs for the mosaic and it includes a large image of the first Black child to ride the carousel after segregation ended.
Ride to Freedom will be temporarily installed at the library in Woodlawn, then permanently at Gwynn Oak Park after yearlong renovations are completed.
This summer, the park will host a still growing list of vendors, displaying the diversity in the community.
Musical acts scheduled to perform include a jazz band, a Salsa band and a group that performs a mix of classic rock, R&B and blues. Other artists include Irish dance, spoken word, and Honduran drum and dance performers.
Seestedt, who said Contemporary Arts Inc. helped with the event’s planning, would like to see the festival become an annual festival.
“It’s been exhausting getting it together,” she said. “It would be nice if it gained traction and someone continued the effort.”
Email Gerry Jackson at gjackson@CatholicReview.org
Read More Local News
Copyright © 2023 Catholic Review Media
