[Music] the plight of Scotland families was largely unknown to most who did not live in Montgomery County until the late 1960s racism gentrification and greed became powerful forces of eraser at a time when this African-American Community was at a Crossroads but a young Jewish mother learned about the living conditions in this pic enclave and soon an interracial and Interfaith effort called save our Scotland was bored and my oldest child was in kindergarten and she was coming over from school sa
ying things about her classmates some of her classmates who were black using Expressions that she never would have heard in our house I just wanted to see where those kids were coming from to understand what Joyce seagull saw back in 1965 was something she could not believe they had a water pump that wasn't working and ouses and they were prohibited from digging more Wells they were prohibited from building more ouses I just thought I'm living like a queen you know and my daughter's classmates a
re living without Public Services fifth generation Scotland descendant Leticia gasa Paul describes the conditions my ancestors lived in shacks and them Shacks they didn't have Windows no electricity no sewer system and the county built everywhere around Scotland so that to force them off of that land how could someone do such a thing to a living being to a human being Scotland families had wondered the same thing for years Joyce seagull wanted to learn more so she visited Scotland and approached
the matriarch and prominent Community leader Geneva Mason at the time I said I'd like to try to help and she said well a lot of people have said they wanted to help but I'm willing to work with you conditions were dire they had to work fast the county was on the verge of condemning the whole Community families there needed housing but there was a catch well you can't get housing until you have pipes and water and you can't get pipes and water unless you have clear title and there was no clear t
itle because it's called air property it gets passed down from one generation to another and it ends up like a 100 people might own a tenth of an acre and you need to get all their signatures and these were divided these little parcels and were divided by all the relatives who owned it and then you had to find all of these people were in different places all of them that was the task Geneva Mason and Joyce seagull called a community meeting to get support Scotland residents came and Interfaith m
inisters and other leaders came too they eventually formed a nonprofit called the Scotland Development Corporation and latisha's grandfather Melvin Crawford would become its president he had to convince the the community in Scotland that we could do it because they had given up hope 94-year-old Roosevelt tman is Scotland's oldest living resident it was a hard job a lot of people didn't want to take the chance you know but then finally we all decided Well let's go along with it because we can't b
e no worse off than we are now they met monthly at Scotland am Zion church and Sav our Scotland took form hosting rumage sales fashion shows and more to raise money this is an urgent invitation to our Montgomery County neighbors and the dues I think were like $5 Savar Scotland launched in 1965 the group lobbied local and federal lawmakers to awaken them to the plight of the community and their quest for housing it caught the attention of America's first black cabinet member HUD secretary Robert
Weaver and ultimately president Lyndon B Johnson we must make sure that every family in America lives in a home of dignity in August of 1965 Johnson signed the Housing and Urban Development act it expanded funding for federal Housing Programs the first loan from the program helped Scotland residents strike a deal they would allocate 36 Acres of their land to create a town home Community with a the mix of lowest mortgages or federally subsidized rent April 1967 when that sign went up it was thril
ling because we knew we were going to build the houses we got the zoning we had the title we had everything this is an example of what people can do together on groundbreaking day April 21st 1968 Joyce took her kids out of school to witness it Melvin Crawford helped tear down old houses to make room for 75 homes to rent and 25 more still owned today by Scotland residents he said in the work of this Corporation there's no black power or white power but a universal power of all Races and Creeds fo
r me that's a powerful thing so this is my grandparents they were invited to the White House this is for the work that they did out for Save Our Scotland and this is the picture of my grandparents on the um Capital steps with Mrs seagull Roosevelt tman remembers the day they finally moved into those new homes it was this like Christmas and see those houses coming up my grandfather collected furniture from different homes he asked the community if you have any furniture any additional furniture t
hat you care to do away with please it'll be a blessing for us because we've never had homes home there is something about Scotland that beckons those who call it home back home is it delicious Leticia and her sisters launched a successful child care business helping to shape young lives they look like million dooll homes to me in this picture right here I love it but Leticia knew in order to help save Scotland from Extinction this time she needed to be back in the place where it all began in he
r grandparents home with the light they selected when it was first built letia thought for a moment about letting that go when she started to restore the home but her mother offered this advice as I was like well light is old and she was like yes but your light is history let your light shine so it wasn't until that moment that I got it and Letisha like so many in this community are grateful for Joyce seagull who is now 90 and still involved with the families here and I thank God for Mrs seagull
stepping in saying something needs to be done because I don't know if we would be here right now in this home if she had not stepped in a black community want prospered in this area and was almost annihilated by government action and that it took the efforts of a lot of good people in the community and out of the community to save what was left and it's still worth saving isn't it yes it is yes it [Music] is we might be sa Scotland's local effort made a huge impact nationally Joyce went on to b
ecome a housing commissioner in Montgomery County and she continues to serve in the community in various ways at 90 years young and yet a reminder that it takes all of us to bring about change it takes all of us and you know Joyce shared a story about Melvin Crawford and he gave a speech after the Scotland Community was built and he t talked about how just being able to take a bath for the first time since he had served in the Army as a young man in his 20s was so fueling for him and sometimes w
hen Joyce would call his kids would say they couldn't disturb him because he was taking a bath that was but what it it reminds us of is that housing and Humanity really do go hand in hand we heard latia say this is home we finally have a home which is a distinct difference unless we also know that a lot of these leaders they met at the church when you talk about saving Scotland and that was nearly wiped away in 2019 that's right so many people who drive along Seven Locks Road have likely seen th
is white church along the side of the road and now you know a little bit more about the history of the families who helped to build it and tomorrow you're going to learn why it is so important to preserve it for a second century the QR code you see right now on our screen will take you to our stories for the past couple of nights and also how you can support the Scotland Community you'll be able to find that there yeah I'm looking forward to the next installment where we go a little deeper into
this flood that happened in 2019 and how it nearly destroyed the church but you know this community would not stand for that course of course not absolutely not so we'll have more of part three tomorrow all right
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