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…
Formerly enslaved, Alfred Odrick helped organize the formation of a one-room schoolhouse that was built on to his property on Lewinsville Road. Classes began in 1879 for area Black students. The school was also used for community meetings and the…
Formerly enslaved, Alfred Odrick, purchased 30 acres in 1872 along the south side of Lewinsville Road beginning at Springhill Road. Odrick farmed the land, but he was a carpenter by trade and, so, built his house. A vibrant Black community developed…
Several topics are covered: Origins and Recruitment, Organization and Treatment, Virginia USCT Regiments, Racial Atrocities, After the War, and a Timeline
There were 40 boundary stones placed in a square to mark the original boundaries of the District of Columbia. The sandstone markers were placed at one-mile intervals to measure 10 miles on each side, giving a total of 100 square miles. Assisting…
A film documentary completed by Anne Woo May 31,2021 as a senior project as a student at BASIS Independent School in Fairfax County
In 1872 Alfred Odrick, a former slave and carpenter, purchased land and built a house on the south side of…
The National Guard's history is also replete with examples of African Americans who served with distinction. A notable example existed within the three National Guard regiments that fought in World War I under the U.S. Army's 93rd Division: the…
“The buses would bring the white children in from outlying areas, to Herndon, and they would ridicule us ... spit at you, throw insults at you, throw things at you. We would be standing, about five of us kids, standing there, huddling, waiting for…
The story of the desegregation of Fairfax County libraries and libraries in neighboring jurisdictions is chronicled. The struggle by Vienna residents like William McKinley Carter is described as black residents seek equal access to libraries. …
“A Virginia Village Goes to War - Falls Church during the Civil War;” pages 234-235, by Bradley E. Gernard. The author described in specific detail four communities of freedmen:
Baptist Hill
Tinner hill –
Southgate subdivision
Gravel Bank
NOVA Parks unveiled two signs along the W&OD Trail about how Jim Crow laws affected passengers taking the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) train line in the 1900s.
The website includes “the names of enslaved and formerly enslaved Virginians who authored narratives of their lives, were the subjects of biographies, or who spoke to journalists or oral historians.”
This cemetery is located on the west side of the 500 block of Lewis Street, off Lawyers Road, in Vienna. According to an article in the 26 May 1988 Vienna Times by Carol Bonham, this cemetery is on land once owned by Capt. Harmon L. Salsbury where he…
The citations are labeled either 100 or Additional. The description of each person’s biographical interview will include major topics mentioned in the interview.
- Ailene V. Borgus –100 grew up on Ash Grove Farm, attended Odrick’s School and…
This work is a reprint of a work published in 1899 in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War. The first chapters trace “Negro” participation in America’s wars, from the era of the American Revolution through the Civil War and the…
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.
