IX. Since World War II

  • 9.01 Segregation Wall
  • 9.02 Arlington Forest Restrictive Covenants
  • 9.03 Article – Tension Eases Up in Arlington
  • 9.04 The Negro Citizen in Arlington
  • 9.05 Bravery at Arlington Virginia Lunch Counter
  • 9.06 Confrontation at the Cherrydale Drug Fair Counter
  • 9.07 Arrested for Arlington Sit-In
  • 9.08 Counter Closed During Sit-In
  • 9.09 Report on Housing Segregation
  • 9.10 Asian Pacific-Islander Population Table and Chart 1980 and 1990
  • 9.11 Article – What is Fear?
  • 9.12 Article – Refugees Crowd Arlington
  • 9.13 Hispanic Demographics 1980 and 1990
  • 9.14 Hispanic population 1990 by origin
  • 9.15 Article – Salvadorans Entree to a Better Life
  • 9.16 Judy Brewer
  • 9.17 First Amendment Case Study – Neo-Nazis versus Arlington Public Schools resources

The slides in S9.01 document a wall built in Jim Crow Arlington that segregated the historically black neighbor of Hall’s Hill (aka High View Park) from the white neighborhood the grew around Halls Hill in the late 1930s and early 40s. Here is a recent article about the wall. Here is a great clip from the three-part documentary Race: The Power of An Illusion that explains the larger national trend of segregation walls and can be accessed here.  The restrictive covenants of Arlington Forest (S9.02) are a local example of a national problem of institutional racism in housing.

Source 9.01a: Geological Survey, U.S, R. B Marshall, and Frank Sutton. Washington and vicinity, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia. [Washington]: Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, 1917] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

Source 9.01b: GS-FX-102, Aerial Photo Arlington County, VA Mar. 4, 1949. Retrieved from Arlington County GIS Mapping Center.

Source 9.02: “Arlington Forest Restrictive Covenants.” [1939]. In Wise, Donald A. “Arlington Forest.” The Arlington Historical Magazine 3.4 (1968): 25-34. Print.

The article (S9.03) was published the day after Arlington first began integrating its public school, a process that took many years to reach all grade levels and schools.

Source 9.03: May, Donald. “Tension Eases Up, in Arlington.” The Washington Daily News 3 Feb. 1959: 5. Print.

Here are additional resources about the movement to desegregate APS:

  • “It’s Just Me …”: The Integration of the Arlington Public Schools. Arlington, Va.: Arlington Public Schools, Arlington Educational Television (AETV), 2001. DVD. Also available on Arlington Historical Society website in video collection.
  • Hamm, Dorothy M. Integration of Arlington County Schools: My Story. Arlington, Va.: The Author, 2002. Print.
  • Morris, James McGrath. A Chink in the Armor: The Black-led Struggle for School Desegregation in Arlington, Virginia and the End of Massive Resistance. Falls Church, Va.: [the author], 2000. Print.

The Arlington Council on Human Relations was a non-governmental civic organization. This flyer (S9.04) outlines the racial discrimination black Arlingtonians faced 6-years after the Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson.

Source 9.04: Arlington Council on Human Relations. The Negro Citizen in Arlington. Arlington, Va.: The Council, 1959-60 Unavailable

In 1960, area college students held sit-ins in Arlington restaurants that were segregated. Background informations is available here, here, and here. One of the participants, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, who went on to participate in the Freedom Rides and other sit-ins, also went on to become a teaching assistant here in Arlington, where she grew up. There is a documentary about her.

Source 9.05: Chinn, Gus. Bravery at Arlington Virginia Lunch Counter. 1960. Washington Star Collection, D.C. Public Library. Flickr: Washington Area Spark. Web.

Source 9.06: Abbott, Gene. Confrontation at the Cherrydale Drug Fair Counter. 1960. Washington Star Collection, D.C. Public Library. Flickr: Washington Area Spark. Web.

Source 9.07: Abbott, Gene. Arrested for Arlington Sit-In. 1960. Washington Star Collection, D.C. Public Library. Flickr: Washington Area Spark. Web.

Source 9.08: Schmick, Paul. Counter Closed During Sit-In. b

The title page (S9.09) to this report notes, “The photographs on the cover of this report are of apartment developments in Arlington which refused to rent to Negroes at the time this report is issued. The others are of a house, described in this report, condemned by the Arlington Health Department.” This document illustrates the continued problem of decent housing that was among the goals of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. 

Source 9.09: “Cover” In A Study, Report, and Recommendations on Housing Needs of Economic and Racial Minority Groups in Arlington County, Virginia. Rep. The Arlington Community Action Committee: 1966.

Further reading:

  • Virginia Housing Study Commission. The Housing Crisis: The Findings and Recommendations of the Commission. Richmond, 1971. Print.

Arlington boasts a diverse population that in 2000 included foreign-born Arlingtonians representing 93 countries. Immigration to Arlington reflects national social and economic trends and, in the case of migrants from Vietnam and El Salvador, U.S. foreign policy as well. Sources 9.10-9.12 document the part of the story of Vietnamese immigrating to Arlington. More information about Arlington’s Vietnamese community in Clarendon can be found here. Sources 9.13-9.15 document part of the story of Salvadoran immigrants to Arlington. Arlington has a special connection to El Salvador. One of our cities in the Salvadoran city of San Miguel.

Source 9.10: “Asian and Pacific Islander Population 1980, 1990 Arlington County, Virginia.” In The Data Analysis and Research Team. Asian-Pacific Islander Population, 1990. Statistical Brief. Arlington County, VA: Planning Division, 1990?

Source 9.11: West, Marcus K. “What Is Fear? Area Vietnamese Families Know.” Northern Virginia Sun 3 May 1975: 1-2.  

Source 9.12: Boodman, Sandra. “Refugees Crowd Arlington’s ‘Mekong Delta’.” The Washington Post 23 September 1979.   

Source 9.13: “Hispanic Origin Population in the Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, 1980 & 1990.” In The Data Analysis and Research Team. Hispanic Population 1990. Statistical Brief. Arlington County, VA: Planning Division, 1990?

Source 9.14: “Hispanic Population of the Washington, DC-MD-VA MSA by Country of Origin.” In The Data Analysis and Research Team. Hispanic Population 1990. Statistical Brief. Arlington County, VA: Planning Division, 1990?

Source 9.15: Seaberry, Jane.Salvadorans’ Entree to a Better Life; Immigrants’ Hopes Flavor Mejia Family’s Arlington Restaurants.” The Washington Post 23 March 1991.

This is a local example of the struggle of women to break into male dominated careers. Judith (Livers) Brewer is credited with being the first woman in Arlington and the United States to be hired solely as a paid firefighter.

Source 9.16: Judy Brewer. 1974. Arlington County Fire Department, Arlington. Web.

Here is some background on the American Nazi party in Arlington. Journalist Herman Obermayer has compiled local news articles about the group’s activities in Arlington from 1958-1984. Here is an article that tells more about Arlington and Rockwell.  The articles in S9.17 document a community battling over the hate group’s effort to rent space at Yorktown HS for a “White Pride Day” meeting. Ten years earlier the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that APS not allowing the group to rent a space in the schools was a violation the group’s first amendment rights. How should a community respond to hate speech while upholding free speech? How did the school, parents, and students respond? How would you respond? This case study would require skill and sensitivity to use in the classroom, but it does highlight the challenges of balancing conflicting rights in a democratic system that values individual liberties.

Source 9.17: Obermayer, Herman J. American Nazi Party – Northern Virginia Sun. s. l.: The Author, 1997. Print.  Document not available

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