DC, Maryland lawmakers push to remove segregationist’s name from Chevy Chase Circle fountain

CHEVY CHASE, MD- JULY 30: The Francis Griffith Newlands Memorial Fountain in Chevy Chase, Maryland on July 30, 2020. The fountain is named for the developer of Chevy Chase and because of his racist past many are not happy with the fountain that sits on the border of Washington, D.C. and Maryland.(Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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The Brief

• Three lawmakers have introduced a bill to remove past U.S. Senator and segregationist Francis Newlands’ name from the memorial fountain at Chevy Chase Circle.

• Newlands, founder of the Chevy Chase Land Company, promoted racist policies that excluded Black, Jewish, and working-class families from the neighborhood, lawmakers say.

• The legislation seeks to rename the fountain to better reflect the community.

CHEVY CHASE, Md. - Congressional representatives and a senator introduced a bill Tuesday to remove the name of former U.S. Senator and known segregationist Francis Newlands from a memorial fountain at the center of Chevy Chase Circle.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Reps. Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Md.08) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) are leading the effort to strip Newlands’ name from the fountain and accompanying plaque.

The lawmakers cited Newlands’ white supremacist beliefs and discriminatory housing policies that shaped the development of Chevy Chase neighborhood.

"Francis Newlands was a white supremacist who worked to make his developments… inaccessible to Black, Jewish, and working-class families," Van Hollen said in a statement. "We should not be memorializing him and the bigoted policies he stood for."

Newlands, a former Nevada senator and founder of the Chevy Chase Land Company, helped shape the neighborhood’s layout in the early 20th century. But he also advocated for repealing the 15th amendment, which gave African Americans the right to vote.

He also advocated that the United States should be a "homeland for the whites," according to the National Park Service.

The fountain, part of the National Park Service’s Rock Creek Park system, was installed and named in his honor in 1938.

Norton, who previously testified before Congress in support of the change, said the site doesn’t educate or contextualize — it puts Newlands on a pedestal.

"The plaque and fountain in Chevy Chase Circle tell no story," she said. "They are meant only to honor Newlands, a segregationist who argued that voting rights won for African Americans… should be repealed. Newlands belongs in the dust bins of history."

Chevy Chase Circle lies partly within Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, which Raskin represents. He called the current tribute "an affront" to residents of both Maryland and D.C.

Raskin said this bill is an effort to "reclaim this beautiful space… for the recreation and enjoyment of all our neighbors."

A previous version of the bill was introduced in 2022 but never advanced. If passed, the legislation would direct the National Park Service to remove Newlands’ name and consider new interpretive signage for the site.