National African American Roller Skating Archives Project

Our Family Skate Association (OFSA) has established a repository at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MSRC), Howard University dedicated to roller skating in the African-American community.

The repository will be a resource for study and development. Items such as photos, fliers, programs, party announcements, posters, tickets, organizational records, news articles, video and audio format items, personal interviews, skate attire, certificates, awards, ribbons, etc. pertaining to roller skating in the African American community are appropriate for the collection.

The collection will document and preserve a unique aspect of social cultural history for future generations. OFSA’s objective is for the NAARSAP to become an impressive collection of materials covering the history and traditions of roller skating on a national level in the African American community from the early 1900’s into the present. The archives will be catalogued by regions and further subdivided by cities, organizations (clubs, vendors, etc.), individuals, and venues (roller rinks, parks, etc.).

By donating a few personal items, each and every one of us can contribute to the creation of a collection that will capture the full story. The NAARSAP will include audio interviews of skaters personal experiences.

Submitting your donation right away will help to establish a strong foundation for the collection. As the NAARSAP is seeking to capture the past, present, and the future of roller skating the collection of items will be on going. OFSA is asking that active skaters, clubs, organizations, etc. keep the archives updated by making annual submissions.

Two ways to make a submission to the archives:
1) In person at a skating event where OFSA is accepting donation.
2) Mail your donations to: NAARSAP c/o OFSA, P.O. Box 41236, Washington, DC 20018.

Include a completed donation list form (pdf) with all submissions.

Saying Goodbye to the Palace

On Thursday, May 26, Maryland and Washington, DC skaters took their last journey to Skate Palace, also known as Crystals Skating Rink in, Temple Hills, MD. The rink has closed and will be rebuilt into a Chartered School.
Skate Palace first opened its doors in 1984 and for many years it's two skating floors served different purposes. In the early 80's the rink hosted live local GoGo Bands. Skaters would roll to the DC/MD flavor of music until the style of GoGo took a turn that seemed to change the dynamic of the Crystals Skating Rink.

After much hard work and management changing hands in the early 90's, Crystals took on a new name, "Skate Palace" and seemed to redeem itself. For many years it was the favorite place to go on Thursday nights where there was always a packed house. Skate Palace was also known for its Monday Night Gospel session when skating at times close to 300 patrons, all rolling to Gospel favorites.