WASHINGTON — In an effort to spark curiosity and love, one woman has combined Black History Month with Valentine's Day for a colorful display in her yard in Northwest D.C.
It's the second year in a row that Marjorie McCollough-Jackson has put up the display.
The display, which is located on the corner of 4th and Varnum streets, Northwest, is filled with pink and red hearts that have facts to spark people's interests in the people she's chosen to highlight.
McCollough-Jackson said she wanted to feature people who aren't as well known in her display. For example, Jane M. Bolin, an attorney and judge who was the first African American woman to graduate from Yale Law School – or Jan Ernst Matzeliger, an African American inventor who patented the first automated shoe making machine.
"I feel like it shows love; it's Valentine's Day month also," she said.
The display has attracted attention from people in the neighborhood.
"I've been getting a lot of thumbs up and 'great job, keep up the good work," McCollough-Jackson said, "even had a school teacher to come by who wanted to know if she could bring the students from her school by to actually look at the hearts. And I told her 'sure, they're more than welcome.'"
She said she had to do research to make sure what she was writing was accurate.
"Well, like Barack Obama. No research had to be done for that, but for the other people I had to do some research on them to make sure what I was saying was accurate."
She said this is the second year she's done the display, and it takes about three days to setup.
McCollough-Jackson said, "It's easy reading, and feel like it shows love."