VII. Post - Civil War
The Freedmen’s Bureau - a federal government agency established by the War Department in 1865 to assist the formerly enslaved by providing relief, land, jobs, and education.
Reconstruction - The period (1865-1877) during which the states that had seceded to the Confederacy were controlled by the federal government before being readmitted to the Union.
Jim Crow Era - In 1877 the US Supreme Court interpreted that it was lawful for states to instigate segregation on public transportation. In 1883 the US Supreme Court made it lawful for states to institute “separate but equal” accommodations such as schools, churches, parks, etc. “Jim Crow” Laws existed until the middle of the Twentieth Century.
Civil Rights Movement - The national effort made by Blacks and their supporters in the 1950s and 1960s to eliminate segregation and gain equal rights.
RECONSTRUCTION
Black Settlement in Fairfax County, During Reconstruction by Andrew M.D Wolf
- Repository: Fairfax County Public Libraries
Northern Virginia History Note, Online By Debbie Robison
- Educating Freedman During Reconstruction in Fairfax County
- Repository: http://www.novahistory.org/ research articles about local history
A union of church and state: The Freedmen's Bureau and the education of African Americans in Virginia from 1865–1871 by Aaron Jason Butler (2013). Dissertations, Theses, and Master’s Projects. Paper 1539618383.
- Repository: https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25774/w4-0k2t-pw52
“The Freedmen’s Bureau and School at Fairfax Courthouse” by William Page Johnson II The Fare Facs Gazette The Newsletter of Historic Fairfax City, Inc. Vol. 13 Issue 4 Fall 2016
- The article describes the establishment of schools by the Bureau after the Civil War.
- Interviews of teachers and students are included, including Minnie Beckwith Hughes who taught in county schools for 30 years.
- Repository: https://www.historicfairfax.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/HFCI1304-2016.pdf
“The First Black Voting in Virginia” by Brent Tartar
- Richmond Times Dispatch October 21, 2017
- Repository: https://richmond.com/opinion/columnists/brent-tarter-column-the-first-blackvoting-in- Fairfax County
The Ku Klux Klan in Fairfax County
In 1867, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was organized in Fairfax County for the “maintenance and supremacy of the white race.” When blacks voted for the first time, white men targeted the blacks for not voting the way the whites expected. The Klan did not survive for long in Virginia when newspapers began to condemn the violence exhibited by the Klan.
The Klan was reorganized in Virginia in 1915 because of the many changes in the state: the decline of rural life, the increase in immigration, economic hardships, and the increased recognition of the accomplishments of blacks. Large crowds attended the KKK initiations and ceremonies of white robed men who carried torches and burned crosses. A local black leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Edwin B. Henderson received threatening phone calls and death threats in letters. Later, a resurgence of the KKK occurred during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
- Repository: Encyclopedia Virginia Virginia Humanities www.encyclopediavirginia.org By John Kneebone "Ku Klux Klan in Virginia"
- Fairfax County, Virginia a History 1978 Fairfax County Public Library 975.529 N
Listed below is a sample of headlines from local newspapers about the activities of the Ku Klux Klan in Fairfax County during the 1920s.
- *Knights of the Ku Klux Klan advertise for “real Americans” to join the KKK. Fairfax Herald January 28, 1921, p 2
- *Ku Klux Klan to attend Herndon Day Fairfax Herald August 28, 1925 p.2
- *Ku Klux Klan wins baseball game Herndon Observer July 1, 1926 p. 1
- *Ku Klux Klan presents flag to Oakton school. Herndon Observer December 1, 1927 p 4
- *Official Klan Day Scheduled at Fair: Night Riders Will Get Half of the Proceeds at Fairfax County Event Washington Post September 10, 1929 p 2
JIM CROW LAWS AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Virginia Museum of History and Culture - The World of Jim Crow
- Examples of topics – Massive Resistance- School Busing- Voting Rights- The Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement
- Repository: www.virginiahistory.org/learn/historical-book/chapter/world-jim-crow
Civil Rights Movement Timeline, Key Events and Leaders
- Repository: www.history.com
- Search Civil Rights Movement
For Young Readers About Jim Crow Laws
Sky Rising: Reconstruction and the Dawn of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Tonya Bolden. Real life narratives share the experiences of African Americans during periods of discrimination and segregation.
- Repository: Fairfax County Public Libraries
The Rise of the Jim Crow Era edited by Maria Hussey
- The book examines the impact of the Jim Crow Laws and the challenges that faced African Americans because of the laws.
Unequal Access: The Desegregation of Public Libraries in Northern Virginia, by Barbuschak and LaPierre
- 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. Included are the stories of the library system’s first black employee, first black library professional, and first black library trustee.
- Repository: https://research.fairfaxcounty.gov/ld.php?content_id=63134201 Page Break
Fairfax County Public Library Black History Resources
Black Civic Organizations
History of the Fairfax County Branch of the NAACP by E.B. Henderson
- Call Number: VRARE 305.896 H
- Publication Date: 1965
- This booklet describes the growth of the local NAACP branch from 1915, when it was organized in response to a segregation ordinance of the Falls Church Town Council, until the 1960s when racial barriers began to fall.
- Repository: Virginia Room, City of Fairfax Regional Library
Neighbors for a Better Community by Mary S. Gardiner
- Call Number: VRARE 307.76 G
- Publication Date: 1980
- This book describes the origins and operations of this Dranesville organization founded “to foster harmony and cooperation" between Black and White residents. The organization sought to identify and correct problems in such areas as housing, employment and political rights.
Colored Citizens Association Fairfax County, VA. 30th Anniversary 1928-1941 Booklet, original found in the Mary Goins Roots Collection, MSS 07-26
- Publication Date: 1941
- This booklet commemorates the Fairfax County Colored Citizens Association's 30th anniversary history and provides a fascinating timeline of their accomplishments.
- Repository https://research.fairfaxcounty.gov/ld.php?content_id=64981619