This 1944 painting shows Forest Glen when it was first
used
for convalescence of wounded soldiers.
Click on the image for a larger picture (103 KB), suitable for printing.
Since 1942, the site has been an Annex of  Walter Reed Army Medical
Center. Initially, it
housed wounded soldiers and amputees, who were taught practical coping skills like how to board a streetcar. It also housed psychological
patients, and the last
clinic use was a radiological unit in the top floor of the Ballroom.
"Pete and Mike, 1949"
Courtesy Grace Abernathy
The sorority clubhouses were officers' quarters. During this time, the
buildings were maintained
and kept up to minimum standards.
1st Hospital Band, August 1951
Courtesy Grace Abernathy
The Army erected barracks-style buildings adjacent to the Gymnasium and across Linden Lane where the
Athletic Field had been.
Otherwise, most of their new construction since the War has been on the parts of the property which had been the
tobacco farm. During the
construction of a new Commissary complex in the late 1960s, the Edgewood plantation house and the surviving slave cabins
were torn down.
In the past, the Army announced plans to tear down the Seminary
buildings and use the
property for other purposes, like erecting an incinerator for hazardous medical wastes, or putting up condominiums. Residents of surrounding
neighborhoods and
preservationists mounted a vigorous campaign to prevent this from happening. The designation of the property as a Historical Site has
frustrated those plans,
but the Army still holds
the property and has yet to disclose its long-term plans for the property over the objections of some neighbors who recognized their historical signifance.
Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-Maryland) has been instrumental in
encouraging the Army to do
something to slow deterioration of the property. Much needed repairs to roofs and gutters have recently been completed because Sarbanes
insisted on this budget item. The Army says that it will divest itself of the property, but it
is not clear when. |
