Fairfax County African American History Inventory

The goal of this project is to capture, communicate, and preserve the African American experience throughout Fairfax County’s history. An inventory of African American residents’ contributions, churches, homes, schools, communities, events, etc. has been collected to document the African American culture and history of the county. The collection of general resources and research topics has been prepared for all ages, residents, students and historians in order to increase interest and knowledge about Fairfax County’s diverse population. The list is not all-inclusive, and some resources may contain outdated or inaccurate information. The list is a living document; additional inventory items may be added in the future.

This project is a collaborative effort between the Fairfax County History Commission and the Center for Mason Legacies (CML), and led by Alpha Team 4 of the Fall/Spring 2021-22 GMU IT Capstone project. In October 2020, the History Commission approved the creation of the African American Historical Inventory and the Inventory Committee was formed in January of 2021, led by Commissioners Phyllis Walker-Ford and Mary Lipsey. In November of 2021, representatives from CML agreed to host the project as part of a joint effort between the History Commission and CML. 

Contact

Visit the Fairfax County History Commission page to find the appropriate committee member's contact information.

General Resources and Research Topics 

You can view the General Resources and Research Topics as PDFs, or you can browse and search the site using the main navigation above. For more information on how to use this site, see our About page.