Notable Individuals

Title

Notable Individuals

Collection Items

Louise Archer

Lillian S. Blackwell, 85, a civil rights activist in Fairfax County who successfully sued to ban segregation of public accommodations in Virginia, died of an aneurysm May 10 at Fairfax Hospital. She lived in Vienna.

Mrs. Blackwell and her youngest…

Reverend Cyrus Franklin Carter was born enslaved in 1815 in Port-as-Prince, Haiti. When he was a young child, his family was relocated to Lancaster County, Virginia, where he resided until enslaved people were emancipated during the Civil War. Along…

Mary Eliza Church Terrell (1863- 1954) was born to enslaved parents in Memphis, Tennessee. She received a BA and Master’s Degree from Oberlin College. In 1887, she moved to Washington, DC where she taught at the M Street Colored School in the Latin…

Black American Temple Cheeks was born in Fauquier County. It is unknown whether he had been a slave. At the age of 36 and as a freed man, he enlisted in the United States Colored Troops, Co H, 22nd US Colored Infantry. He reported to the 7th Sub…

Jennie Dean made secondary education possible for African Americans in Northern Virginia. Born enslaved in Loudoun County, Jennie Serepta Dean (April 15, 1848–May 3, 1913) became involved with education at about the age of 30 when she founded a…

Mr. Pulley was an educator and a principal. In administration he coordinated Human Relations and was President of the Fairfax County Teachers Association. He was a member of several community and religious organizations also.

Coates was a teacher and principal in segregated schools in Fairfax County. She encouraged her students to take vocational courses and pursue higher education.

Robinson was a principal at both segregated and integrated schools in Fairfax County Public Schools. He worked under four superintendents and once was accused of being too nice to his teachers.

In 1922 Archer became teacher and principal for a one-room segregated school in Vienna. Devoted to her students, she worked to improve their learning experience. She organized a Parent Teacher Association to raise funds for supplies and a new…

Lillian Hopkins Carey was a teacher and principal at Bailey’s Elementary School.

Ona Judge escaped enslavement by President George Washington. Washington was not successful in trying to regain ownership of Judge.

Conversation with William A. West-a transcribed interview with Mr. William A. West

Excerpt from interview made when he was 95 years old Our History Louise Archer Elementary School.

Mr. West attended Vienna Colored School with over 60 children…

A McLean resident, describes living in Odrick’s Corner for seventy years. Oral history of McLean, Virginia.

John Jackson was born in Woodville, Virginia and moved to Fairfax County and became a grave digger. In the 1960s, his talent as a guitar player and Blues performer was discovered. He performed in Fairfax County and became famous locally, nationally,…

Mr. Holland’s life was dedicated to improving the lives of county residents, especially African Americans.

A Baileys Crossroads Family

John Watson Mills, a Pamunkey Indian, walked from Aylett, Virginia to Fairfax County where he would settle, marry, and have a family. On their marriage certificate, John and his wife were both identified as Black.

West Ford was born a slave on the plantation in Westmoreland County owned by Bushrod Washington, George’s brother. After George Washington died, Bushrod moved to Mount Vernon, bringing West Ford with him. West Ford was guaranteed freedom at the age…

As an enslaved man, Billy served as George Washington’s valet throughout the American Revolution and during the early months of Washington’s presidency.

James Robinson was well known, successful, and very respected in Fairfax County. At birth, he was freed and granted nine acres of land. The chapter describes the life of Gentleman Jim and the Robinson family. During the Civil War, the Robinson home…

The grandson of Dr. E.B. Henderson, is the founder and Executive Director the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation.

Edwin and Mary Ellen (Miss Nellie) lived for over fifty years in Falls Church.
Edwin was an educator, author, a Civil Rights…

Miss Nellie was a teacher and principal for thirty-two years for FCPS at the two room “Colored School.” In 1936, she created a study comparing county white schools to black schools. The study revealed that ninety percent of the county’s school budget…

William McKinley Carter lived in Vienna and was a member of the NAACP, the Elks, and the Free and Accepted Masons. He was President of the Citizen Progressive Association of Vienna. He was one of the leaders of the Friends of the Vienna Library who…

In 1959, Fairfax County Resident Leslie R. Coates was summoned to serve as a Grand Juror on the Special Grand Juror of Inquest in the Fairfax County Circuit Court. The jurors went to the courthouse cafeteria at lunch time. When Coates sat down to…
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