Pat Tyson has lived by the Talbot Avenue bridge in Silver Spring for 78 years. She remembers life without running water in her home and a lack of streetlights in the neighborhood.
Tyson also clearly recalls the neighborhood for white people who lived on the other side of that bridge. Residents had both those amenities and also the right to shop wherever they chose.
She also recalled that in 1947, several of her neighbors appeared before the county government, letting them know they weren’t even asking to be integrated into the white areas of Silver Spring.
“Instead, ‘We asked them just to give us the money,’ so that we could improve our neighborhood.” When asked how that worked out, Tyson replied, “Oh, they ignored us.”
So it was particularly memorable for Tyson, president of Lyttonsville Civic Association, to hand out slices of cake to her neighbors Saturday, who came from a large variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds.
“This is an international neighborhood of cultures, and we welcome all of them,” Tyson said during the annual Lantern Walk, where neighbors of several communities join together, make lanterns and walk across the newly opened bridge.
The wooden bridge had been closed because it was badly in need of repairs. It reopened this year as a wide, concrete bridge thanks to the Purple Line, which will run underneath.
“To those of you who are here, let your light shine. Always,” Tyson said. “We are going to make light in the world. Nothing is going to dim it. They can try, but we won’t let them.”
This year’s annual Lantern Walk was dedicated in memory of Charlotte Coffield, a lifelong resident of Lyttonsville and tireless community activist, who died in September.
Trying to hold back tears, her daughter, Myra Coffield, said, “Thank you all for being here. My heart is gratified.”
“The bridge was ‘my borderline,'” she said. “I wasn’t allowed to go over it or go near the train tracks.”
County Executive Marc Elrich called Charlotte Coffield “a great force in the community, and we still all miss her. Her name will appear on the bridge. We’ll make sure she is remembered. She was a real force for good in the county.”
Maryland state Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher attended the Lantern Walk. “What’s most incredible about this, it’s incredibly diverse,” he said, adding, “Everyone comes together.”
The legislator from District 18 explained, “It is a literal bridge. It also is a figurative bridge connecting two very different communities. To see this, it’s really a special thing.”
Residents from Lyttonsville, Rosemary Hills. and other nearby communities, led by the Washington Revels’ Heritage Voices, sang songs from the Civil Rights movement as they marched around the neighborhood.
They then shared food, stories and songs at Rosemary Hills Elementary School, which borders the bridge.
Wonderful evening for Talbot Avenue Bridge Lantern Walk and remembering Charlotte Coffield. As Pat Tyson said tonight – we must shine the light to keep away the darkness. pic.twitter.com/fXqwlaVqLo
— Councilmember Kate Stewart (she/her) (@cmkatestewart) November 16, 2024
