ANC Commissioner Damion McDuffie (5A01) recently shared the letter that ANC 5A has drafted to support the renaming of the Lamond-Riggs Library in honor of Lillian Huff. Below is Commissioner McDuffie’s February 7th message.

Chairman Edwards just shared the ANC 5A resolution supporting the renaming of the Lamond-Riggs Library after Ms. Lillian J. Huff. Please find the resolution attached to this email.  Below you can find the D.C. Public Library’s link to their Library Naming Policy along with the links to both candidates accomplishments. 

A very important note which you will find within the DCPL link: Any person or organization may submit a proposed name or change of name of any library building to the Director of the Public Library for consideration; however, the Director shall not be required to submit any particular name or recommendation for change of name to the Board of Library Trustees. 

So please take a moment to review the Support Resolution, the DCPL Naming Policy and both Charles Bryant’s and Lillian Huff’s accomplishments. If you feel you would like the Lamond-Riggs Library to keep its name, you can write a letter supporting that to the Director of the Public Library as well. 

Charles Bryant
https://info.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek05/tw0715/tw07015bryant.htm

Lillian Huff
https://www.washingtoninformer.com/the-religion-corner-tribute-to-lillian-huff/

Silas Grant, Senior Advisor to Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, stated at the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association (LRCA) meeting on February 7, 2022, that Councilmember McDuffie plans to move to support renaming the library after Lillian Huff in March.

My thoughts

My own personal thoughts that I shared with Robert Oliver, president of the Lamond-Riggs Library Friends, several months ago is that I find naming buildings after people a curious exercise. People are complex and often have complicated legacies. And in general, recognizing the accomplishments of people by putting their names on buildings is just interesting to me in a “things that make you go ‘hmm'” sort of way.

I realize that technically the Lamond-Riggs Library carries the names of individuals. But really as DC Public Library points out on their building naming policy page, neighborhood libraries are named after the neighborhoods in which they sit. Given how much longtime residents in this neighborhood have to say about the fact that some people call the neighborhood Fort Totten instead of Riggs Park or Lamond-Riggs, it was interesting to me that there was an effort at all to rename the one longstanding neighborhood identifier that currently exists. The ANC letter does recommend renaming the library the “Lillian J. Huff Lamond Riggs Library” though so the name of the neighborhood would still remain if that recommendation is taken.

This effort is also just fascinating to watch play out in terms of getting community input because really there hasn’t been a process at all, which is the fascinating part. There was no effort to notify or educate residents about any of this. And the ANC’s letter is not exactly accurate as written. I would not say the ANC “thoroughly evaluated” both proposals, as evidenced by the fact that the letter references only one of the Bryant brothers (and not the one mentioned in Commissioner McDuffie’s message). The ANC did not even provide notice ahead of time that the ANC was going to vote on the issue. As noted in my meeting recap, Commissioner McDuffie said that he had not received any other proposals besides the one for Ms. Huff, that people should come to the ANC for support, and that he should not have to go out seeking proposals.

All that said, I do not have super strong feelings about whether the library is renamed, and if it is renamed, whose name goes on it. I am sure whoever is selected will be someone who has made tremendous contributions to the community. Ms. Huff was treated as sort of a larger than life figure in Ward 5 and she clearly enjoyed a level of respect for her civic work across the city and federal government.

My overarching view remains that simply naming buildings after people does not tell anyone about the person for whom the building is named. I do kind of think we could have a more thoughtful process of how we honor those who came before us who have made significant contributions to the neighborhood and the city. Treating or speaking of things as a competition or something that requires some sort of inside knowledge of how to get support seems deeply misguided and not befitting of our ancestors to me. I think no matter what decision is made with respect to the library, it would be great to have a marker outside the building with a narrative of the historical contributions of Ms. Huff and the Bryant brothers in building the library. We could have markers outside their homes (and others) in the neighborhood telling the story of their contributions to DC. I visited Annapolis in November last year to get out of DC for a spell. There are these really tall markers of African-American history in Annapolis in the historic district. It was nice to be able to not have to enter a building to read about the importance of these sites and the contributions of people who lived there. I understand that there will be a “heritage wall” inside the rebuilt Lamond-Riggs Library (by the way, remember to fill out the short survey today if you have not alrerady done so). I do not know what exactly will be on the wall. But it would be nice to have something outside for passersby as well so that they can pause and see exactly how the library came to be.