in Montgomery

The first African-American research center in Montgomery County officially opened Monday at the historic Waters House in Germantown.

The Leroy E. Neal African American Research Center, which is the upcounty arm of Rockville's Lincoln Park Historical Foundation, will serve as a clearinghouse for historical information about black communities in the county.

The foundation's 7-year-old project, "Tracking the Footprints of African Americans," will finally have a home, said foundation president and chief executive Anita Neal Powell.

Powell said the group has been looking for a research site for 28 years. They finally found space in the Waters House, located at 12535 Milestone Manor Lane.

Powell said she hopes to eventually create an online database of the foundation's thousands of documents and primary resources for any one who wants to learn about the history of the local black community. She said this might happen within a year or so.

In the meantime, researchers can come to the center, see documents first-hand or talk with knowledgeable staff, such as Powell.

"We provide a personal touch," she said.

The 28-year-old group focuses on helping curious individuals find the answers they seek about the black community.

"The whole purpose of Lincoln Park is getting people to do their own work," Powell said.

This research is important because so much of history gets lost, she said.

"It just needs to be rediscovered," she added.

The foundation began as an activist organization catering to the needs and history of the Lincoln Park neighborhood, a historically black community in Rockville.

With the development of downtown Rockville, all signs of the pre-existing black community had been erased except for an old church, Powell said.

"We were able to uncover the fact that [the community] was there," she said. "If you don't tell the story about the history of those communities, those accomplishments, our children won't know about it. It is important [to know] that students walked three miles to get to school. And today, kids don't want to ride the bus to school."

The Germantown center is named after Powell's father, Leroy E. Neal, a deacon at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Rockville.

"Deacon Neal was a lover of history," said Elder Frank Grier, of the General Baptist Deacons Association during a grand opening ceremony Monday.

Other speakers at the ceremony praised Powell for her efforts to expand the foundation and to promote the study of black history. They also noted the need for continued research and remembrance.

"We are grateful to Anita Powell for being willing to research and teach," foundation member Billy Gordon said during the ceremony.

He went on to talk about the role of black soldiers on both sides of the Civil War. He lamented their return as "second-class citizens."

"So this place will research all that true and real history as we move into the new millennium," Gordon said.

Grier shared that the history was real, personal and painful for him.

"I've been called the n-word," Grier said. "I've been refused service." But he went on to thank God for his provisions and for his family.

Faith was an important point for many of the blacks attending the ceremony. One woman sang an old spiritual, and another led the group in prayer.

Some of the black community's hopes in bringing about change can be addressed by going back to "old values to correct the course that has gotten them lost along the way," Rockville City Councilman Bob Dorsey said.

County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D), Congressman Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (D-Dist. 8) of Kensington, Del. Herman Taylor Jr. (D-Dist.14) of Ashton, Del. Gareth E. Murray (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring and other local officials delivered brief remarks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"Local history is important because [the struggle for equal rights] did not happen just in Montgomery, Alabama," Van Hollen said. "It happened in Montgomery County and in every community in this country."