Sneak Peek: Rebecca and Alexander Howard Community Engagement present ‘Read the Park’
Published on June 13, 2026
This Saturday, July 18, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. will be the 2nd Annual “Read the Park” event at Rebecca Howard Park in Olympia.
For those unfamiliar with this event, “Read the Park” presents an invitation to experience the power of literature, storytelling, Black history, art, and community. Rebecca Howard Park was one of Washington Territory's earliest Black pioneers, entrepreneurs, and civic leaders. Click here to learn more.
“Read the Park” is a family-centered celebration that brings together authors, poets, storytellers, artists, educators, youth, elders, and community members for a day of reading, conversation, creativity, and connection. “Through books, music, spoken word, cultural activities, and shared experiences, we are transforming Rebecca Howard Park into a welcoming destination where OUR story is celebrated, community is strengthened, and everyone is invited to learn together,” Community Design Advocate for Rebecca Howard Park, Stephanie Cholmondeley, shared with me. Cholmondeley is also part of the Rebecca and Alexander Howard (RAH) Community Engagement team.
Event attendees can look forward to:
Featured Black authors and book readings
Storytelling and spoken word
Community conversations
Youth literacy activities
Black arts and cultural exhibits
Music and creative performances
Opportunities to connect with community partners and local organizations
While you have your calendar out, I invite you to mark the August 15th “Cinema in the Park,” featuring a showing of the “The Wiz” and September 12th “Black Arts in the Park” showcase.
To learn more about this event, I had the opportunity to speak with Cholmondeley, whose wealth of local historical knowledge and kindness and warmth made me wish our conversation did not have to end.
Taking a Peek into Past, Present, and Future
Cholmondeley: “This event has been an actual manifestation of a dream that I have had in bits and pieces. This dream has come together both as an opportunity to both build community and to engage in and recognize our story in Olympia and Washington Territory, giving a piece of the unrecognized history that is just below the surface. An authentic storytelling with recognition of our place here before it was a state.”
“I want to make it very clear that RAH wants to recognize both Rebecca and Alexander Howard — she could not do the things that are part of her legacy without her partner. The Howards came here as a couple and we never exclude his part in making everything that is a part of the legacy possible. Oftentimes, the black woman is presented as the superpower, but it's never just her.”
“I have heard people say, ‘I didn't even consider him,’ or ‘this is the 1st time that I'm hearing about him being critical to her story.’ RAH is a part of that correcting factor and making sure that he is elevated as well as she is. It's her partner, it's the community, it's her sense of purpose, and how they all come together. That’s why we call it Rebecca and Alexander Howard Community Engagement.”
Benton: How did RAH and really this whole dream begin?
Cholmondeley: “It started from just the desire for a Black book club. I was a part of Growing Home Collective, an affinity group incubated by GRuB. That opportunity was the seed and from there, I was offered the opportunity to be a part of the Rebecca Howard steering committee, which has been going on since 2019.”
“It started as a static group of 3 individuals that were engaged in the creation of Rebecca Howard Park. Then consultants were brought in and there was an outreach to people in Lacey, Tumwater, Tenino, Yelm, to be a part of visualizing what Rebecca Howard Park could be. That was so necessary because this group of 3 could not possibly have the lived experiences of everyone that was brought to engage in, visualize, and imagine what this park could be to members of the community who went through the racial restrictive covenants and were not able to build a Black neighborhood.”
“We're so dispersed throughout Thurston County that it was necessary to bring all of these voices to the table, and to work together to realize and recognize our real experiences because not everybody is original to this area. Bringing in all of those tangible stories helped us fully realize what the concept was. Bringing in all of those histories as a point of reference in this project was so important. I so value the time and energy that was committed to that project because we would not have gotten to what has been created without these community members and the actual architects, who built the vision. They were amazing! I couldn't even have thought our vision could be developed on the site because it's such a small pocket of landscape, but they captured all of our voices, all of our experiences, beyond what I thought possible.”
Benton: That is incredible, and it sounds like this event really is part of the beginning of this vision you are all fulfilling together.
Cholmondeley: “Well you know, it’s interesting. The city wanted to somehow check the box in engaging the Black community without an authentic, deliberate, and measured way of building trust, which is so necessary. The fact is, they thought, ‘oh we’ll just build it, and they will come’…Well no, it takes more than that because you have never truly engaged and offered an opportunity for us to actually have our voices heard and have the impact of your policies recognized.”
“The history of Thurston County and its white supremacy has never been accounted for in a tangible way. Not even recognizing in 1910 there was a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) rally here that solidified the white supremacy that just lurks underneath all the policies and laws that have been constructed. That rally had over 10,000 people active and basically agreeing with what the KKK stands for. This is just a piece of history that is not truly recognized as part of founding this county.”
“[At an event discussing the park], I heard someone describe the park as a ‘reparations tool,’ and I was like ‘no, no, no, we cannot ever consider the naming of a park as part of a reparations package ever.’ Even at that event, it wasn’t authentic. There were jugs of orange juice, the little cutie oranges, and little vegetables…that is not what an authentic outreach to the Black community should look like. That would be for any other group of people meeting, but when you’re saying 'we want and value your opinions, experiences, and stories,' that’s not what you do.”
“The city itself needs to understand that we are a unique people. We are people that have felt undesired, unrepresented, unrecognized, and our history has never been considered. What is needed is authentic engagement and outreach to say, ‘yes, this is a place where you can feel welcome and we actually have been waiting for you.’ That was part of the desired goals and request for ‘Read the Park’ and the idea again came from wanting a book club.”
“I saw a post about a reparations club that is in a California Black Bookstore, and they have a Black reading hour. They just invite people in with their books in a soft reading space. It’s just about Black literature and being together. That nugget was added to the blossoming bud, and I said, ‘okay, well hey, we’ve got a park with nothing going on except this one Juneteenth celebration once a year!’”
“I thought, why not bring in Black authors, Black spoken word, Black poetry. Then I task the Timberland Library and say, ‘okay, we’ve got to bring in all these Black titles, Afro-Futurism, Afro-design, Historical Narratives, Sci-Fi, all of those books!’ That’s a wonderful opportunity for us to know that there is a recognition that these titles are available. What would it mean for them to do outreach to the community to support and offer library cards.”
Concluding Thoughts
Rebecca Howard Park is a lovely piece of land, full of promise and opportunity to grow in our love and recognition of one another in this community.
Hearing stories like this, I often wonder why we didn’t learn about these histories in school. We should always be advocating for more representative and truthful curriculum and opportunities in our schools, but at the same time, it is encouraging to know that we as a community can take control of what is being taught in our community by creating events like these that offer an education outside of the classroom and for people of all ages.
Moments like these not only teach us what we need to know, but empower us to remain engaged in local happenings and advocacy. Also (and this cannot be understated), events like these are fun — why wouldn’t we want to attend this?
During our conversation, Cholmondeley told me about how there was a time when the grass was not being watered in Rebecca Howard Park and how the grass became a yellowish brown. Grass can be representative of the state of the place, how much love is being poured in, and how active the space is. When we care about places and peoples in our community, we need to keep showing up, remaining active, and be willing to “water the grass” both literally and figuratively so that places like these can be sustained for the future generations.
Stay tuned to my website for future articles giving you more sneak peeks and reviews of RAH events.
I’ll see you at the Park!
Event Details
Read the Park
Saturday, July 18, 2026
11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Rebecca Howard Park
911 Adams St SE Olympia, Washington