via Flickr
Cab and Blanche Calloway, simply put, are legends. And it was in their Baltimore childhood home that these jazz icons’ musical talents were fully cultivated and explored. Now, this historic site of Black cultural importance is being demolished...
Unless these preservationists, activists, and fans have their way.
Though the Druid Heights neighborhood, where Calloway’s home is located, was deemed “historically significant,” Baltimore city officials are still planning to tear down the 2200 block.
In an effort to save and restore the 2216 Druid Hill Ave home and the entire community, Cab Calloway’s grandson, Peter C. Brooks, formed The Calloway Home Preservation group. Their goal is to turn the home into a National Historic Landmark, ideally a historic house museum.
According to Baltimore WJZ News, “[c]urrent plans call for saving 100 bricks and marble steps from the home and incorporating them in the design of a park named after Cab Calloway.”
But with so much whitewashing of history, it’s up to us to preserve Black cultural monuments and tell our stories. By destroying sites like The Calloway Home, our history is being erased.
The block is scheduled for demolition sometime after July 1, 2019. If you’re able to support the effort, check out the project to restore The Calloway Home!