Features: Takoma Archives

Diana Kohn is Takoma Park's unofficial historian. Diana is also a longtime environmental activist who works at the Institute for Environmental Energy Research.

With the coming of spring, JequiéPark in north Takoma is alive with young soccer players in their colorful shirts. Meanwhile, 4400 miles away in the town of Jequié, Brazil, soccer players take advantage of parks in the neighborhood called Takoma.

For nearly 30 years these reciprocal names have been the only official legacy of an exchange program that once linked Takoma Park with a “sister city” in Brazil. Although the official exchanges died out, the relationships forged through the program have remained strong.

Belle Zeigler, best known around town as the grand dame of Fourth of July, is one of the few remaining Sister City committee members. Her daughter Dolores spent time in Brazil as an exchange student in 1971 and they have kept in touch over the years with several of the Brazilian students.

Last month, Belle got a call from Gracinha Barretto, one of those long ago students, who had brought her daughter Barbara to see Takoma Park. Although the Zieglers had not been her host family, Gracinha spent a lot of time with Dolores. The time in Takoma Park was one of the best experiences of my life,” she mused over a reunion lunch. “It’s hard to imagine it was 30 years ago.” Although she has visited a few times since, Gracinha marveled at all the changes, but she still could point out “her” house to Barbara.

	Gracinha first saw Takoma Park in 1977 as a 19-year-old. She felt very lucky to be here, since she had missed the original application deadline, and only made it because the secretary knew her and agreed to process it anyway. Once here she proved very popular – teaching Portuguese and organizing a Brazilian showcase at Montgomery College, complete with fashion show and dance performances.
Takoma Park’s “sister city” Jequié is located 10 degrees south of the Equator, more than 4500 miles from here. Although it lies just inland from Salvador, on the Brazilian coast first settled by Europeans, it was not founded until 1897.

Returning to Brazil, she married and is now the mother of three running a chain of three lingerie shops in nearby Salvador, the state capital. “Coming to Takoma Park was such an incredible experience for me. I wanted my daughters to have the same opportunity.” The older daughter spent last year in Tulsa; this year Barbara is living in Houston.

Gracinha is an example of what the Sister-City concept was all about. The program dates back to 1956, when President Eisenhower set up his People-to-People initiative to foster citizen diplomacy. Sister-City affiliation caught on as a way for Americans to get a closer look at another culture.

Belle remembers that Takoma Park Mayor George Miller was eager to find a partner city. He struck up a friendship with Antonio Lomanto Jr., the mayor of Jequié, Brazil, at a 1962 international mayors conference. Mayor Lomanto and delegation traveled here in January 1963 to officially exchange charters of affiliation. That pairing earned Takoma Park a Reader’s Digest award for aiding international peace.

Jequié (pronounced, “Zheck-ee-aa”) was then a small town of 51,000, located below the equator in the state of Bahia. As the first area to be colonized by Europeans, Bahia has a rich history, filled with figures like Amerigo Vespucci, who gave his name to the whole New World, and the real-life Robinson Crusoe.

The Takoma-Jequié partnership flourished. Nearly every issue of the city’s monthly newsletter carried a mention of our sister city. Takoma residents reached out with monetary aid after a severe flood hit Jequié, and later sent two baby incubators to Jequié’s one hospital, because, as Belle put it, “there weren’t any there.” Officials traded visits.

The cultural benefits were substantial. Takoma Park was caught up in all things Brazilian. The Embassy of Brazil set up Portuguese classes here (since a quirk of history had made Brazil a colony of Portugal rather than Spain). Students wrote pen-pal letters back and forth. Takoma Park staged an annual Jequié Festival. In 1965 the park in North Takoma was turned into a Brazilian village. The following year, the park was officially renamed “Jequié Park.”

But it was the exchange students who were the real ambassadors. From 1964 through 1978, seven Brazilian teens spent time in Takoma Park, while four local students went to live in Brazil, including Dolores Ziegler.

It was quite an experience for the Americans because Jequié Mayor Lomanto was elected Governor of the state of Bahia and they ended up spending much of their year living in the Governors Palace in Salvador.

Except for airline tickets, expenses were covered by the host city. Takoma Park raised funds from donations and through sales at the Sister City Thrift Shop. The store, which was housed in the cement block building at Carroll Avenue and Ethan Allen, is now the open-air pavilion decorated by a jazz mural.

The sister-city program, however, depended entirely on volunteers. By 1978 interest had waned on both sides, and the exchanges stopped. Gracinha was the last student to make the trip in either direction. But the personal connections remain strong.

While visiting last month, Gracinha also sought out fellow Brazilian Henry Zimbrunes, who was the 1968 Jequie exchange student. He made a different choice when his year was up. After a three-month sojourn in Jequié, he returned to Takoma Park and has lived in the area ever since. Along with Dolores he was part of the circle Gracinha knew when she was an exchange student.

Starting as an orderly at Washington Adventist Hospital, he eventually worked his way upward, becoming a nurse, and finally a physician’s assistant in orthopedic surgery. In all that time he has remained in touch with Brazil, and returns there several times a year. Six years ago he and his wife bought a ranch outside Salvador. His goal after he retires is to open an orthopedic clinic for those Brazilians not rich enough to afford proper health care.

Although the Takoma-Jequié connection withered away at the end of 1970s, the Sister City International organization is still alive and well. This year marks its 50th anniversary. Calling itself the citizen diplomacy network, the program boasts more than 2600 member cities in 125 countries around the world.

Coincidentally, the Executive Director Tim Honey is a resident of Takoma Park, and he would welcome the return of Takoma Park and Jequié to the program.

Both Gracinha and Henry expressed enthusiasm for reviving the link between the two cities. Henry mentioned that he is old friends with the current mayor and would be willing to act as emissary to see if there is interest on the part of Jequié.

The Takoma Park Art and Humanities Commission has also begun talking about the cultural opportunities of such a move. After all these years, the time might be ripe to bring a 30-year-old legacy back to life. And Jequié Park will no longer seem like such an strange name.

Find out more about the history of our community   Coming soon House & Garden Tour Sunday, May 7       More articles by Takoma Park     historian, Diana Kohn, can     be found at www.takoma.com/features_takomaarchives.

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