(Black PR Wire) Hampton, Va. --  The Aberdeen 158: Built For Us, By Us documentary is in production, in Aberdeen Gardens, Hampton, Va. The film set is open to the media. 

The Aberdeen 158 short film, set to be released in Winter 2021, will document the lives of the historical African American residents of Aberdeen Gardens, the only Resettlement Administration community for blacks in Virginia and only the second neighborhood in the United States for blacks, established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934 after the Great Depression. 

Hampton Institute, now Hampton University, secured the federal grant to create the housing development. Built in 1937 by blacks, Aberdeen Gardens became a model resettlement community, designed by a black architect for blue-collar African American workers in Newport News and Hampton. 

One of the only communities of its kind still intact, Aberdeen Gardens is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register. The 440-acre neighborhood includes streets named for prominent African Americans, with 158 single family homes, a school and commercial center. Aberdeen is also home to the Tucker Cemetery, one of the oldest black cemeteries in Hampton. The Tucker Family's lineage is linked to the first African American child born in the U.S., William Tucker, born in 1624 and laid to rest in the Tucker Cemetery.

The Aberdeen 158 is written by David Barr and will be directed by Tomeka M. Winborne, both Hampton Roads natives who returned home to work on the Aberdeen documentary. Barr, a Hampton native who grew up in Aberdeen, is an HU alum and an award-winning playwright prominently known for screenplays and theatrical productions on national historical figures such as Emmett Till and Mamie Till Mobley and Marian Anderson. 

Winborne, a writer, director, author and podcaster of Portsmouth, is known for books and short films that invoke conversation, taking on social issues head-on such as aging out of foster care, HIV, and sex trafficking.    

For more information on The Aberdeen 158 or to schedule an interview, please contact Sarita Scott.     

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Sarita Scott

Beyond PR Media Group, LLC

beyondprmedia@gmail.com

757.504.4014 (Office)