Casilda Luna’s Crucifix

20th century

When Casilda Luna moved from the Dominican Republic to Washington, DC in 1962, she brought this metal crucifix with her. Affectionately known as “Abuelita,” or Grandmother, to the District’s Latinx community, Luna became a social worker and an advocate for her Adams Morgan neighborhood and beyond. The Gothic-style crucifix features a metal ring at its top for hanging on a wall to use devotionally at home. It was first on view in the Anacostia Museum’s Black Mosaic exhibition (1994-95), which focused on immigrant communities of African descent who migrated from Central and South America and the Caribbean to the Washington, DC area after World War II. A subsequent exhibition, Gateways/Portales, featured the crucifix in its exploration of Latinx immigration experiences in four US cities (2016-2018).