Dancing through the Flames: How the DC Dance Survived 1968 brochure
2018. Dancing through the Flames: How the DC Dance Survived 1968 brochure. District of Columbia Historic Preservation Office, Office of Planning; Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum; Teenarama, Inc.
A program for the Dancing through the Flames event. From the program: "1968 was a pivotal year in America. The Civil Rights Movement was making strides in severing the ties of racial segregation and social injustice. On April 4, 1968, the leader of the Civil Rights Movement, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated. Following the assassination of Dr. King, a backlash in urban cities across the country occurred. There were protests which evolved into riots, which consisted of protesting, looting, and burning down of buildings and stores in African American communities. Washington, DC was one of the riot tom areas. The riots in Washington, DC erupted April 4-8 in NW, NE, and SE. While African American communities in Washington, DC were being destroyed because of the riots, teenagers continued to dance daily on the Teenarama Dance Party television show on WOOK-TV. The Teenarama Dance Party was created for African American teenagers in Washington DC during a time of racial segregation and social injustice. Teenarama was the jewel of the community. During the riots, teens made their way to the WOOK-TV studio at 5321 1st Place, NE in Fort Totten, passing through areas with burning buildings and National Guards armed with rifles. While at Howard University, college students were not allowed off campus during the time of the riots. The administration allowed the college students to have dance parties on campus as a way of occupying them while they were on 'lock down.' Dancing was a way to ease these young people's minds despite the destruction going on around them." Project funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant to the District of Columbia Historic Preservation Office, Office of Planning, administered by the State, Tribal, Local Plans and Grants division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior (grant number P17AF00101).
- Type
- Brochure
- Date of Issue
- 2018-05-19
- Publisher
- District of Columbia Historic Preservation Office, Office of Planning; Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum; Teenarama, Inc.
- Units
- HPF
- Keywords
- Brochures, Event Materials