EAST WASHINGTON LIFE
East Washington History
Neighborhood Movie Theaters
by John Muller
B
efore the modern era of
corporately owned multiplexes, East Washington
had independently owned
neighborhood movie theaters from
Deanwood in northeast to Anacostia
in southeast. However, there are now
no open movie theatres in all of Ward
7 or Ward 8.
With architectural skeletons of
the Strand Theater on Nannie Helen
Burroughs Avenue NE, and the Senator Theater on Minnesota Avenue
NE, still standing, it has been more
than two decades since a movie lit up
the screen of a theater in East Washington. (THEARC on Mississippi
Avenue SE, for the purposes of this
article, is not considered a movie theater even though they have occasionally shown a movie; it is a performing
arts stage.)
First Theaters in
East Washington
“We don’t know where movies
were first shown there, but there were
probably some venues for films before
1909,” says Robert Headley, author
of the definitive guide to DC’s movie
theater history, “Motion Picture Exhibition in Washington, DC: An Illustrated History of Parlors, Places,
and Multiplexes in the Metropolitan
Area, 1894-1997.”
“A man named T. B. Stallings was
showing movies on Nichols Avenue,
now MLK Jr. Avenue, in 1909. There
was an open-air theater called the
Proctor, also on Nichols, in 1910,”
according to Headley. “Lloyd Wineland, who would go on to build four
movie houses in the area, started out
in a former Masonic Hall at 2002
14th St. SE in 1923. He converted it
into a movie theater and called it the
Logan.”
In 1929, Wineland opened the
two-story brick and stone Fairlawn,
the first theater in Anacostia, “built
from the ground up” at 1342 Good
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Hope Road. Early ads made special
mention that the theater would show
silent and sound movies, known as
“talkies.”
Congress Theater
Wineland then built the Congress Theater at 2931 Nichols Avenue to serve the Congress Heights
neighborhood. Opening on December 30, 1939 with a live performance
of “The Star Spangled Banner” by
Lean Brusiloff ’s String Ensemble,
several speakers from local citizen
associations spoke in welcoming the
new neighborhood theater. Double
or Nothing starring Bing Crosby and
Martha Raye was the first feature,
with admission 20 cents for children under twelve and 30 cents for
adults. During its last years, in the
1970’s, so many objects were thrown
at and through the screen that it was
removed and movies were shown on
the painted rear wall of the auditorium. A liquor store now occupies
the building.
Strand Theater
The Strand Theater opened on
November 3, 1928 at 5129-5131
| FEBRUARY 2011
Grant Street NE, now Nannie Helen
Burroughs Avenue NE, by Abe Lichtman to serve the black community in
the Deanwood neighborhood. Lichtman, known for running the Howard
and Lincoln Theaters, retired from
the business in 1946. By that time
he ran 46 theaters in DC, Maryland,
Virginia, and North Carolina with a
staff of 425 employees, approximately
400 being black and representing all
management positions.
“The Strand was an extension of
the neighborhood in the sense; we
played all kinds of games, hide-nseek, riding bikes, roller skating, jacks,
jump rope. We played in each other’s
yards so going to the Strand was an
extension of our street we played on,”
says Celestia Tobe, who grew up on
Grant Street NE.
The experience of seeing movies at the Strand made a lasting impression on Tobe. “Imitation of Life
stands out, because the neighborhood tough guy cried along with the
rest of us.”
“Today movie going is so different. The theaters today are surrounded by so many stores and restaurants,
they seem more commercial. My
memories of our neighborhood theaters were more like home,” remembers Tobe.
Senator Theater
On February 19, 1942 the Senator Theater opened at 3946-3956
Minnesota Avenue built by K-B Theaters. In late 1951 it was leased by the
Bernheimer organization to operate
as an African-American theater. It
was closed for a time in the 1970’s,
but was reopened in November of
1979.
The art-deco building is in use today with a Subway eatery and beauty
supply store occupying the ground
floor with the Senator’s blue marquee
still as visible as it was when it played
its last movie in 1989.
“After cutting grass and making
some money in the neighborhood we
used to go there as kids in the seventies and see Bruce Lee movies,” said
Stephon Gray.
Carver Theater
The first non-segregated theater
to open in the area was the Carver
Theater at 2405 Nichols Avenue in
July of 1948. The theater was not suc-
cessful and closed in 1957. The
Smithsonian Anacostia Neighborhood Museum opened in
the building in 1967 and was
there until 1987 when they
moved to their current location at 1901 Fort Place SE.
The Howard Road Academy’s
Middle School campus now
occupies the former theater.
Last Theaters in
East Washington
In 1940, the Highland Theater opened at 2533 Pennsylvania Avenue SE and in March
of 1947 the Anacostia Theater,
designed by John Eberson,
opened at 1415 Good Hope
Road, replacing the Fairlawn
as the main theatre along Good
Hope Road. Both theaters were
maintained by Wineland.
The Anacostia Theater
closed in 1967 and was subsequently razed. In 1977 the
Highland was closed and converted into a clothing store and
is now a child development
center.
The largest movie house
in East Washington was the
Naylor Theater at 2834 Alabama Avenue with 990 seats. It
was built by K-B Theaters and
opened following the end of
World War II on November 1,
1945. At the time of its opening
a newspaper article predicted
that “it will take the Southeast
community at least 25 years to
outgrow the Naylor Theater.”
Acquired by Wineland in 1961,
the theater eventually closed in
1970, approximately 25 years
after it opened.
Today, there are seven movie theaters in DC from the independent Avalon Theatre the
oldest surviving movie theater
in the city, first opening in 1923
as the Chevy Chase Theater in
the uptown neighborhood of
the same name, to the corporate Regal Gallery Place downtown.
I have often heard East
Washington residents talk of
the need for a bookstore on our
side of the city. What about a
movie theater?
If you have an idea for a future history focus, email John Muller at muller.h.john@
gmail.com ●
Dr. Angela Pitts, Optometrist
by B. Michelle Harris McQureerir
L
ast summer, I interviewed
two doctors that serve patients in Ward 8. These
dedicated private health care
providers see patients who live and work
East of the Anacostia River. They are Dr.
Michangelo Scruggs, Podiatrist, and Dr.
Angela Pitts, Optometrist. Both have
practices at the United Medical Center.
This month, the focus is on Dr. Pitt.
Dr. Pitts of Precision Vision was
one of the kindest and spunkiest optometrists (eye doctors) I have ever met.
She was five years when she told her
mother that she wanted to be a doctor. By the time she was in high school,
she narrowed her specialty down to
optometry. Why optometry? According to Pitts, she had worn thick glasses
for most of her life. In high school, she
wore contact lenses for the first time. “It
totally changed my life. It is so nice to
help people to see.”
Dr. Pitts graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry. “In
college, I worked in an inner-city Baltimore clinic. I met a family who just received medical assistance. This was the
first time that everyone in this family
had had their eyes examined. One of the
sons sat by himself in the corner, “oblivious” to what was going on around him.
He seemed to be mentally retarded. It
turned out that he needed a very high
prescription for his eyeglass lenses. He
was legally blind without glasses. His
prescription was so strong, they had to
adjust the strength of his prescription
gradually so that he would not be overwhelmed while he got used to them.
He ended up with “coke-thick glasses.”
However, he could now fully absorb
what was going on around him. Pitts
noted, “He was not retarded at all. He
just couldn’t see.
“That experience made me know
100% that I wanted to be an eye doctor,
especially for children. Children cannot
tell their parents that they cannot see.
They have no point of reference as do
adults. If a child develops vision problems early, pediatricians do not always
notice it. I believe that every child, before kindergarten or first grade, should
have an eye screening.” She noted that
if a child sits really close to a computer,
TV, or a book, or if they squint their
eyes and are unable to see far away, “Do
not wait for the child to tell you they
can’t see. They won’t tell you.”
Dr. Angela Pitts, Photos courtesy of Angela Pitts, Precision Vision
Kids (and Adults) Sometimes
“Fake It” When It Comes to Vision Tests
Pitts noted that many kids memorize an eye chart. In vision screenings
at school, a child might hear other children and repeat what they heard them
say. Children do not want to do badly
on a “test”—for vision or for anything
else. Even adults cheat at eye screenings. Most health insurance plans
cover for children to have an eye exam
every year. Adults are covered for every
two years, or every year if they have a
condition such as diabetes.
Eye Exams—a Glimpse Through
a Window Into One’s Overall
Health
Most of us have heard the saying about one’s eyes being the window
into one’s soul. My interview with Dr.
Pitts gave me a better understanding of
how one’s eyes can also be an important
window through which optometrists
can assess one’s overall health. Eye
care, according to Pitts is very important. “Diabetes is the number one cause
for blindness in people in the United
States.” She noted that one of the first
signs of diabetes may be blurry vision. If
a person states, “I can’t see out of these
glasses anymore,” 99.9% of the time,
that person has diabetes. This person
needs to see a primary care physician.
Glaucoma is another serious eye condition that needs to be treated. People
at high risk for glaucoma are African
American, those with a family history
of glaucoma, and people over 40 years
of age. Glaucoma has no symptoms and
no pain, but can be detected through an
eye exam. “The earlier it is treated, the
better.” “If found late, you can’t get your
vision back. Glaucoma steals a person’s
side vision. They can become clumsy,
bumping into stuff, running into stuff.”
Pitts noted that although diabetes is
a serious threat to good vision, uncontrolled high blood pressure is another
cause of blindness that affects African
Americans at a high rate.” She added
that eye doctors are important for referring patients to primary care providers
who can treat them for diabetes, hypertension, and other conditions that, if left
untreated, can rob them of their vision.
Pitt could set up practice anywhere
in the city—anywhere in the country.
She chose to work in a medically underserved community to continue fulfilling her dream of making a difference
in the lives of people. We need to keep
her “dream” alive by spreading word
about her practice in Southeast DC. It
is a treat for those of all ages to meet
Dr. Pitts.
Contact Her
You can reach Dr. Pitts at 202538-1220 or [email protected].
A selection of eye glasses and contact
lenses are available at her office. Spread
the word so that you and your family
can visit Dr. Pitts, dedicated eye doctor,
soon at 1328 Southern Avenue, S.E.
B. Michelle Harris, PhD, MPH, RD, is Assistant
Professor at the University of the District of Columbia. Her focus is public and community health
through education, information, and research. Contact her at [email protected]. Visit the UDC website
at www.udc.edu. ●
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