VIII. Turmoil and Change Resources

1890s to 1945

  • 8.01 Burial of the victims of the Maine
  • 8.02 Maine Memorial
  • 8.04 In the Thirties
  • 8.05 FDR 1936 Election Banner
  • 8.06 Black settlements in Arlington in 1900
  • 8.07 East Arlington 1910
  • 8.08 Queen City and the Pentagon
  • 8.09 Arlington Population 1900-1960
  • 8.10 Soldiers at Fort Myer
  • 8.11 Woman airport welder
  • 8.12 Soldiers in Jeep
  • 8.13 Woman bag driver
  • 8.14 WWII Scrap metal collection
  • 8.15 Through Children’s Eyes- World War II At Home
  • 8.16 The World War II Home Front in Arlington, Virginia

Arlington is forever linked to the Spanish-American War through the Maine Memorial at Arlington Cemetery.

Source 8.01: Keystone View Company. Burial of the victims of the Maine in their final resting place, Arlington Cemetery, Va., Dec. 28, 1899. Meadville, Pa.: Keystone View Company, c, 1900. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

Source 8.02: [Arlington, Virginia, Maine Memorial]. [between 1910 and 1925] Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

Two airports were built in Arlington during the 1920s prior to National Airport: Hoover Field and Washington Airport. There is even some footage you can see here. National Airport , now named Reagan National Airport was built in the 1940 and 1941 as a New Deal project.

Source 8.03: 209. Aerial View of South End of Highway Bridge, 14th Street Underpass Looking Northeast, 1932. Photo. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

In the 1930s, Arlington benefited from a number of New Deal projects. A few can be found here and here.  For a more personal look at Arlington in the 30s, David Bates’ short stories of growing up in Arlington (S8.04) are charming and could be great inspiration for getting students to write their own stories about growing up in Arlington. Source 8.05 provides a quaint civics connection that, while not as icon as the campaign ads of Eisenhower or Nixon, has specific message students can analyze.

Source 8.04: Bates, David. A Distant Time and Place: Growing Up in Arlington, Virginia Before World War II. Arlington, Va.: D. Bates, 1991. Print.

Source 8.05: Harris & Ewing, photographer? Roosevelt Sign near Arlington Pawnshop Washington, D.C. Sept. 26. Photo shows one of the Roosevelt and Garner signs put up by the democratic party that hangs across the street in Rosslyn, VA, just across Key Bridge from Washington. The end of the sign is attached to three balls that designate a pawnshop. [1936] Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

To build the Pentagon, the black communities of East Arlington and Queen City were displaced through eminent domain. Historical geographer Nancy Perry has an excellent article about it. Perry also gave a presentation about the topic you can watch here.

Source 8.06: Perry, Nancy.Black settlements in Arlington in 1900.” Map. In Perry, Nancy., Spencer R. Crew, and Nigel M. 1950- Waters. “We Didn’t Have Any Other Place to Live”: Residential Patterns in Segregated Arlington County, Virginia. Baltimore, MD :: Project Muse, 2013. Print. <http://digilib.gmu.edu/jspui/bitstream/handle/1920/8266/Perry_gmu_0883E_10365.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y>.

Source 8.07: Eminent Domain Destroys a Community Leveling Queen City.

Source 8.08: The Librarians. “Arlington History: Queen City – Arlington Public Library.” Arlington Public Library RSS. Arlington Public Library, 23 Aug. 2011. Web. 22 Aug. 2016. <http://library.arlingtonva.us/2011/08/23/arlington-history-queen-city/>.

Other articles by Perry:

  • Perry, Nancy. Black Entrepreneurship in Segregated Arlington County, Virginia. Fairfax, Va.: George Mason University, 2009. Print.
  • Perry, Nancy., and Nigel M. 1950- Waters. Southern Suburb/northern City: Black Entrepreneurship in Segregated Arlington County, Virginia. Columbia, MD: Bellwether Publishing, Ltd, 2012. Print.

There is also a paper on Queen City at the Arlington Public Library Center for Local History:

  • Burke, Claire. Arlington’s Queen City. Arlington, Va.: The Author, 2004. Print.

Arlington’s population increased dramatically in the 30s and 40s as a result of government expansion from the New Deal and World War II. The chart (S8.09) nicely illustrates this relationship.

Source 8.09: Teaching Materials Center. Increase in Population of Arlington in Relation to Number of Federal Employees (Civilians and Military) Washington D.C., 1900-1960.” The Arlington Story. Arlington, VA: Arlington County Public Schools, 1968. 18. Print.

Source 8.10: Liberman, Howard. Photographer. Fort Myer, Virginia. Husky six-foot soldiers stand in review at ceremonies at Fort Myer, Virginia.  The men were honoring Staff Sergeant Jackson L. Dietz, Jr. and Technical Sergeant Raymond Davidson, for rescuing a comrade from a fire in the company machine shop. United States Office of War Information. Aug. 1942. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

Source 8.11: Liberman, Howard. Photographer. Women airport workers-Evelyn Spangler Eighteen-years-old, she is just as proficient at acetylene torch welding as any of the men welders in the Pennsylvania Central shops, according to Johnny Shore, her instructor. Evelyn learned welding rudiments from her father in Christiansburg, Virginia, got more experienced at the vocational school at Manassas, Virginia, and then joined the repair crew at the Washington National Airport. Now no welding job is too difficult for her to tackle. United States Office of War Information. Aug. 1942. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress,

Source 8.12: Liberman, Howard. Photographer. Fort Myer, Virginia. Alert and ready for action are these rough-riding, hardboiled members of a jeep crew at Fort Myer, Virginia. Properly equipped with new type helmet and Garand rifles, these soldiers of Uncle Sam’s armoured forces typify the ruggedness and determination of the American fighting men. United States Office Of War Information. Aug. 1942. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress

Source 8.13: Liberman, Howard. Photographer. Women airport workers. In airports as well as airplane factories, women are now contributing to the nation’s manpower needs. Here at Washington National Airport, Mattie Marks scoots from plane to baggage room in her “gas buggy,” transporting passengers’ suitcases and overnight bags. Miss Marks was formerly a seamstress in a laundry. United States Office Of War Information. Aug. 1942. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress

These photographs (S8.10-13), with descriptions for titles, document WWII’s impact on gender and the economy. 

  • Liberman, Howard. Photographer. Women aircraft workers. Perched high on a ladder behind the ticket counter at the Washington National Airport, Twenty-two-year-old Kay Dowd makes entries on the flight information board. Graduate of an Eastern college, Kay served her airport apprenticeship at New York’s La Guardia Airfield. As Supervisor of Reservations at the Washington airport, she’s one of the nation’s many women who are taking over strategic jobs formerly held by men. United States Office of War Information. Aug. 1942. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
  • Liberman, Howard. Photographer. Fort Myer, Virginia. A sergeant at Fort Myer, Virginia demonstrates a “walkie-talkie” in the field. This is the latest and most compact two-way radio in use by the Army. The unit is complete, containing batteries, mechanism, and aerial which telescopes into the case when not in use for this instrument. United States Office Of War Information. Aug, 1942. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
  • Liberman, Howard. Photographer. Fort Myer, Virginia. Jeeps on parade at Fort Myer, Virginia, at ceremonies honoring Staff Sergeant Jackson L. Dietz, Jr. and Technical Sergeant Raymond Davidson, for rescuing a comrade from a fire in the company machine shop. United States Office Of War Information. Aug, 1942. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
  • Liberman, Howard. Photographer. Women airport workers. Acutely aware of our country’s need for more womanpower in airplane plants and airports, Mrs. Majorie Landa has enlisted as a member of the repair crew of the Washington National Airport. Daughter of the late Congressman Frank Mandell of Wyoming, Mrs. Landa is shown making repairs on the engine nacelle of a Pennsylvania Central Airlines DC-3 transport plane. Following her second year at Sweetbriar College, she spent two months at a vocational training school in preparation for her present work. United States Office Of War Information. Aug, 1942. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

These three documents (S8.14-16) illustrate additional impacts of the WWII on the lives of Arlingtonians.

Source 8.14: [Aluminum for Defense] 1944. In Netherton, Nan, and Ross De Witt Netherton. Arlington County in Virginia: A Pictorial History. Norfolk: Donning Co, 1987. Print.

Source 8.15: True, Fred. Through Children’s Eyes: World War II at Home. Arlington, Va: The Authors, 2002. Print.  NOT AVAILABLE

Source 8.16: Virnelson, Tom. “The World War II Home Front in Arlington, Virginia.” The Arlington Historical Magazine 12.4 (2004): 15-24. Print.

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