By Karen Shockley
As we celebrate Black History Month, it’s only fitting that we take a look at Brookhaven’s historically black community. The Lynwood Park neighborhood covers streets off of Windsor Park and Orlando.
Back in the early 1900s this community was filled with dirt roads, mules, wagons and “shotgun homes.” Shotgun homes were small, long homes that measured about 25 feet wide with a door in the front and a door in the back. They earned their name because when both doors were open, you supposedly could shoot a shotgun straight through the house.
John Chapman and his sister Lulu Jones remember living in Lynwood Park in the early 1940s when Silver Lake was the dividing line between the black community and the white community. “I was too young to go to the local American Legion Club,” John Chapman said. “If I stepped foot past the intersection of Lynwood Drive and Osborne, Mom would whip my tail!”
Lulu, fondly known as “Lula Mae,” still lives in the community after 68 years. Lula Mae remembers when she was a child that the neighborhood kids walked to school every day. “We would walk through the woods after school and when we got our homework and chores done, we could go outside and play.” Hopscotch and hide-and-go-seek were two of her favorite games to play.
In the late 1950s, long-time resident Pastor Frankie Roberts admits, the community was ridden by drugs, poverty and a high crime rate. Selling moonshine, illegal fermented alcohol, was common in many black communities of that era. Over time, moonshine turned into heavier drugs.
Segregation also played a big part in the evolution of Lynwood Park. The Brown vs. the Board of Education case made segregation in schools illegal.
Helen Zappia was one of the white school teachers assigned to Lynwood Park Elementary School before it closed in 1969. “I remember receiving a letter from the superintendent of schools thanking me for volunteering to move to Georgia and teaching at Lynwood. Getting a letter from the superintendent was a big deal, but I never volunteered to go to any new school. When the school closed, I went with the students to Montgomery Elementary. Overall, I was treated very well by the black community. I just couldn’t understand why the white cafeteria ladies always gave me smaller portions of food.”
Over the years, Lynwood Park has evolved into a thriving community. It started when a community group worked to develop homes for lower income families. As a result, 37 homes were built. Property values began to rise and builders began to take notice. Soon after, builders began to buy up the property and property taxes began to increase. Many residents couldn’t afford the increase and had no other choice but to leave.
Every year in early May, residents past and present have the opportunity to come back home and celebrate Lynwood Park Day. The day actually lasts a week. It begins with a pageant and ends in a community parade. Organizer Janice Duncan says, “It’s an opportunity for us to remember the history of Lynwood Park and to honor its founders.”
The future looks bright for Lynwood Park. The community started the DeKalb Neighborhood Leadership Institute. It’s a free educational program for adults to help teach them how to be informed community leaders: “It’s important to know what is going on in your community.”
They also started a Community Neighborhood Watch that brought blacks and whites together to ensure that the community that was once ridden with drugs and crime remains the proud community it is today. “Things are so much better now,” Chapman added. “When you improve the community, everybody wins.”
Karen Shockley, who grew up in Georgia, moved to Brookhaven two years ago from California.
The Lynwood Park Day is sponsored by the Lynwood Park Community Committee. For information about the celebration or sponsorship, contact the Committee at 404-687-0433 or 404-303-2100.