This short story was recorded at the Peale on August 13, 2022, and features a well-known Baltimore griot, Grandmother Edna.
Grandmother Edna (00:04): I want to tell you about a memory. You know I'm not from Baltimore. I used to come to Baltimore when I was six or seven years old, when they had the trolley cars and my greatest memory was to come to Collington and Landville, over there, the Lafayette Square Park. And my Great Aunt Debbie was in a building for the park directly across from the park, and I used to come over there, and I used to have to sit on the window sill while my two cousins, the boys would get to go into the park. And the best memory I had, just on those marble steps and watch the black women and men walk through Lafayette Square Park all dressed up. White gloves on, shiny shoes, brothers with suits and ties on, Stetson hats. You know, then I would get to ride the trolley car with my uncle. That's a Baltimore memory, y'all. Marble steps, Lafayette Square Park, black folks walking through the park like they were going to a concert and that was what we did back in the day. Memories, y'all. Sweet memories.
Daisy Brown (01:16): And this is grandma...
Grandmother Edna (01:22): Edna. Thank you. Thank you, Daisy, for this beautiful moment.
Asset ID: PL-BS-2022.34.01-A
