Hyattsville Author’s New Book Gives a Personal Look at History

Hyattsville author Lonnae O’Neal’s new book tells the story of her family across seven generations.

In “Bibb Country: Unearthing My Family Secrets of Land, Legacy—and Lettuce,” the former Washington Post columnist combines history, memoir and cultural critique to tell the story of her family.

“It examines what it means to be descended, through enslavement, from a family whose wealth was foundational to the nation, and it confronts the history that echoes through my family’s generation, and, by extension, every generation of America,” O’Neal told the Hyattsville Wire.

The book even touches on her home in Hyattsville, where she moved in 2019 after falling in love with the area while reporting on assignment. Like many other home-owners in the area, O’Neal discovered a restrictive racial covenant attached to her property.

O’Neal said she decided to move to Hyattsville because the walkable neighborhoods with corner stores, parks and public transportation reminded her of her old neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. She had first come to the area while reporting on the development of the arts district and efforts to boost the Route 1 corridor.

She likes to walk the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail and around Driskell Park, and wrote much of the book while hanging out at the Hyattsville and University of Maryland libraries.

O’Neal will be giving a talk on the book from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Georgetown University Capitol Campus. You can RSVP to watch a livestream on Zoom here.