by Mary Frances (Hunter) Metzger 

KENILWORTH - A FEW YEARS OF LIFE PRIOR TO 1942
                          Through the eyes of a child
 
I was born in Washington D.C. & brought home to 1600 Kenilworth Avenue by my parents in 1933.  We lived with my Grandmother Emma Hunter in a home she had inherited from her Aunt.

I'd like to tell a little about my Grandmother, who was a big influence on my life.  She was born in 1872, her parents were Theodore & Rose Miller, but as an infant went to live with her aunt and uncle,  J. H. Voorhees, who brought her up.  They lived in Philadelphia until the aunt and uncle moved to Kenilworth in the late 1800's.  They had 17 acres, a lot of it in the back was wetlands and woods.

Grandmother had many beau's, but the one that captured her heart was James Hunter, who came to court her on a bike, the kind that had a very large front wheel and a very small back wheel.  He sat up very high.  They were married in 1898 & had 2 children, one being my father.  Her husband had a Tack Shop (for horses) at the Benning Race Track and my grandmother sewed the Jockey's uniforms.  Silks, they were called.  Very bright and vibrant colors.  She loved telling about them.  But in 1925, Grandfather died suddenly.  She had nothing but the house she had inherited.  She did not sew the "silks" any more.  My father was in the Navy at the time, but came out when he married my mother, and we moved in with grandmother.  My memories start about 1938 I guess.

 
I REMEMBER:

All of us, as a family, walking to the Lily Ponds and enjoying the sheer beauty of it.  The waterlilies, the big bullfrogs in the water and the trees and birds, and the sun setting.  And just being together.  It was my favorite place to be.  I went there every chance I got.

Our house and the Shaw family home [the lily ponds belonged to the Shaws] were next to each other, separated by a field but connected by a dirt road in the back.  My grandmother and the Shaw family were distantly related through the Aunt that raised her.  I was adventurous and always wandered away.  My favorite thing to do was to go on the dirt road leading to the Shaw home, around the back of the house and down a path to the Lily Ponds.  This, of course, was the back way.   There WAS an entrance to it, but I wasn't allowed out on Kenilworth Ave.   I would sometimes sit and watch for the big bullfrogs to climb upon the lily pads.  All the bugs and birds and the beauty of the place were wondrous to me.

Then I discovered that up by the entrance was a little room or studio, and a lady, Mrs. Fowler, was in there painting pictures.   The pictures were beautiful and I loved to watch her bring the canvas alive with paints.  (Grandmother had several.)  She did not mind my coming, she knew I was Emma's granddaughter, and that I had probably wandered off again.  THEN Mother would finally find me and that wasn't fun.  (Later in life I did a little oil painting, which was really pretty good.)

We walked to Kenilworth Elementary School each day, sometimes coming home for lunch, and sometimes taking a lunch with us in a brown paper bag.  We had to bring the bag and waxed paper home though, for the next day.  One Arbor Day our 4th grade class helped plant trees on one side of the school.

The Farr family lived on the other side of us and they raised chickens.  Lots of them.  There were 2 long rows of chicken houses facing each other, and in between was a wire from one end to the other.  Fastened to a leash with a pulley chain on it was the protector of the chickens.  A big red furry Chow dog.  Mean too.  Grandmother would buy eggs and chickens from them.  Of course, the chickens were alive, and my daddy would have to put them on the chopping block and lop off their heads.  I was always there.   Then we would have to dunk the chickens in hot water and pluck their feathers out.  I did that too.  Next - into the pot for dinner.

Then, my dad got the idea to get 5 turkeys and raise them to sell for Thanksgiving.  Those turkeys made so much noise, gobbling, gobbling, gobbling.  He made them a big pen and used an old shed for their roost.  They were getting big and fat, and he had big expectations for those 5 turkeys.  HOWEVER -  getting up one morning, Dad discovered someone (probably several people) had stolen the 5 turkeys.  They had dug a trench under the big wire fence and hauled them off.  Probably threw bags over the heads so they wouldn't gobble.

I remember a man in a horse drawn wagon, filled with fresh vegetables and fruits, coming down our dirt driveway calling out  "Ve-ee-egtables!"  My grandmother would run out to buy vegetables, and I would run out to see the horse with the funny straw hat on - really, that old horse always had a straw hat on.

The streetcar ran down the middle of Kenilworth Ave, ending about 7 or 8 houses down the street.  The little grocery store was near it and a drugstore, where if we were lucky we got an ice cream cone.  When the bigger super market went in my grandmother could not imagine how it could ever get enough business.  But, it did.

The next story was fun for the kids but a disaster for the Road Department.  There was a road, Eastern Avenue, near the end of the streetcar line, that crossed the train tracks.  It was decided that a bridge was needed.   Over the track was not feasible, so a road was dug out and built UNDER the RR tracks.

All went well when completed.  People thought it wonderful - UNTIL it rained.   It filled up with rain water.  There was no drainage, or if so, it was not enough.  It rained and rained for days at a time.   The road had to be closed until drained, and the viaduct, being filled with water, became a swimming pool for the older kids.   This happened on many occasions, before it was closed for repairs.   I wonder how long that street remained there.

THEN came the Pearl Harbor Attack in 1941.  World War II was declared.  Lives were changed forever -- My dad had a good job and loved to work on cars, but when that happened, he came home one day and said that he had reenlisted in the Navy.   Crying and wailing from Mother and Grandmother like I had never heard before.  I was scared.  I was real scared.   Young boys and men from the neighborhood enlisted in various services, they felt they had to help protect our country.  Patriotism was very important at that time.

The boy next door enlisted in the Marines.  He was of very slight build and younger than some of the other boys in the neighborhood.  But, when he came home on leave, Grandmother hardly recognized him.  He had filled out and was very muscular.   All of the neighbor boys would come visit her, everyone loved her and she loved each of them.  She was to them, Aunt Em.  My father went back into the Navy until 1947.  He was stationed on submarines.

During the war, there was fear that Washington would be bombed also.  So we had Air Raid Drills.   There was a loud siren in Kenilworth that would sound unexpectedly and the lights had to be put out in all houses and businesses.  Streetlights and everything.   Some people got black out shades for their windows.  My uncle and other men of the community were Air Raid Wardens and would walk up and down the streets to make sure everything was dark.  Then the All Clear Siren would sound and lights were allowed back on.

In school we had drills also.  A loud siren would go off and we children had to get under our desks with our heads down.  Teachers had to also.  If we were outside, we rushed inside and under the desks until the All Clear sounded.  It was a traumatic time, with so many men and boys away in the service.

(When we moved to Florida, the same thing was done.  But, there were German submarines in the Atlantic waters not far from where we were.  There was a family of German descent living near us, and the government, fearing they may be spies, took them away to a camp.  Their house stood empty for years until they returned.  We children were too scared to go near it - that was in Florida.)

My grandmother joined the American Red Cross, and would take the streetcar to the Red  Cross building two or three times a week to help roll bandages.  She taught ladies to knit or crochet hats and scarves to be sent to the boys in the services.  She helped collect items to be sent and wrote to whoever she could.  She would call the Naval base (when we moved to Florida) and invite 2 or 3 boys to dinner on Thanksgiving or Christmas, or whenever.  They were very appreciative and many kept in contact with her for a long time.

These are just a few memories of Kenilworth, it has always been a beautiful memory for me. I have many more, but for now, this will do.  Being a child at the time, I did not realize the impact of having to leave Kenilworth because the super highway was going to be put in, therefore taking our homes, homes of history, happiness, heartache and yes, even hardship.  But, when my Grandmother died in 1967,  at the age of 96, having 4 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren, we brought her back to DC to be buried with grandfather.  Even though she was gone from Kenilworth for over 25 years,  all of the former neighbors and friends came to her funeral.  She was dearly loved by all.   I have the book that guests signed when they came for their last goodbyes.  Emma Hunter was a big part of Kenilworth.   I am proud to be her granddaughter.

Mary Frances (Hunter) Metzger