Dennis Howard Interview

Dennis Howard Interview

2005

African American Dennis Howard describes his family who lived in Merrifield, Tremont, Falls Church and Ilda. He describes how his great grandfather Horace Gibson, who purchased his freedom from slavery, and with another former enslaved person Moses Park, built and operated a blacksmith shop in the community Ilda on Little River Turnpike. He tells about his experience being the only Black student in his social studies class in middle school when his teacher assigned the students to research their roots back to Europe.
Dennis describes how proud he was that, with help from his grandmother, he was able to complete that assignment.

Family history written by Dennis Howard’s cousin Shades of Gray" : a beginning-- the origins and development of a Black family in Fairfax, Virginia / written by Hareem Badil-Abish. Fairfax County Public Library

Dennis Howard led the efforts to preserve of the remains of the residents of Ilda whose burial sites were threatened by road construction. See historical markers- Ilda and Guinea Road Cemetery Reinternment

Search www.braddockheritage.org Oral History Dennis Howard

Dennis Howard

Braddock

Part of A Look Back at Braddock project