Gwendolyn Britt, State Senator and Rights Activist
At 18, She Fought for Access to Glen Echo Park

By Ovetta Wiggins and Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 17, 2008; PG03
 
 

Gwendolyn T. Britt, who died suddenly Saturday morning, was more than a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and second-term state senator.

She was a civil rights hero, who left a legacy of courage and a quiet will to tackle discrimination and inequality.

Although Britt, 66, was proud of her contributions to the civil rights movement, the Prince George's Democrat rarely talked about them unless asked, said many who knew her.

"She never wore it on her sleeve," said Sen. Ulysses Currie (D-Prince George's). "She was a remarkable human being. . . . It's a devastating loss, not just to the Senate but to our community."

Del. Victor R. Ramirez (D-Prince George's), whose district overlaps Britt's, said he knew only bare details about Britt, a Freedom Rider, until a story appeared in The Washington Post a few years ago about her efforts to integrate Glen Echo Park.

"It was never about her," Ramirez said. "It was about the cause."

On a summer night in 1960, Gwendolyn Greene, an 18-year-old Howard University student, and 20 other young people walked nervously through the front gates of the amusement park.

A friend gave her a 75-cent ticket for a ride on the merry-go-round, and she and four other black members of the group sat on the ride, refusing to budge.

A security guard asked the group's leader, Lawrence Henry, "Can I ask your race?"

He said: "I belong to the human race."

They were told that the park's policy was "not to have colored people on the rides, or in the park. The guard instructed Greene and the others that they had "five minutes to leave the park, or you will be arrested," according to court records.

They stayed on the ride and were arrested.

But they came back, and others came with them. The protests lasted five weeks.

Before the summer was over, Greene and her fellow members of the D.C. Non-Violent Action Group, made up mostly of Howard students, would be spat upon and taunted by picketers from the American Nazi Party.

The protesters were sentenced to pay a $100 fine. They appealed their convictions, but the Maryland Court of Appeals affirmed them. The case went to the Supreme Court in 1964, and the court ruled that the Montgomery County deputies had improperly enforced private segregation.

Katey Boerner, executive director of the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture, said signs were posted throughout the park Sunday giving a brief history of the protests and Britt's role. At the time of her death, Britt was helping the National Park Service and the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture develop a permanent exhibition on Glen Echo Park's segregated era and the 1960 protests.

"She was a vibrant, active leader and will not be replaced," Boerner said. "We can now treasure her memory for the amazing story that her life was and the impact that she had on so many through her leadership."

The flag at the park is expected to fly at half-staff for about a week. The park also plans to dedicate the first ride of the carousel season to Britt and the memory of the protests. Boerner said Britt's family will be invited, as will other protesters and their families, to take a ride in her honor April 26, before the park opens to the general public.

Britt grew up in Northeast Washington and in interviews recalled the unspoken color line that existed there. She could shop at Hecht's, where they would allow her to try on clothes. But she couldn't go to Woodward & Lothrop or Garfinkel's because blacks weren't permitted to touch the merchandise there.

After protesting in Montgomery County, Britt left Howard in 1961 to join the Freedom Riders and spent 40 days in jail for sitting in a whites-only train station in Alabama.

Although she will be remembered for her work in the civil rights movement, she will also be known as a quiet leader and tireless campaigner, who had a rare ability to make instantaneous connections with voters.

Del. Doyle L. Niemann (D-Prince George's), who ran on a ticket with Britt twice, remembered her ability to do more than introduce herself and hand out fliers when door-knocking in her district's neighborhoods. Instead, she stood on stoops, talking over issues with voters.

"In 90-degree, 100-degree weather, day after day, she methodically went out and talked to people," he said. "She didn't tell people that's what she was doing or say, 'I'm doing so much work.' She just did it."

A wake is scheduled for 9 a.m. tomorrow, and a funeral will follow at 11:00 a.m. at Reid Temple AME Church, 11400 Glenn Dale Blvd., Glenn Dale. The Senate will honor Britt today at 10 a.m.

Researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.

© 2008 The Washington Post Company