Look back on the lives of African Americans in Arlington during the years between Jackie Robinson’s big league debut and the arrival of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King on the national conscience.
The Ernest E. Johnson Collection, 1948-1955, from the Library’s Virginia Room, features remarkable images of those everyday and special activities as created by the Arlington Department of Parks and Recreation’s “Negro Recreation Section.” Johnson was a vital figure in the County’s African American community and ultimately oversaw the desegregation of Arlington recreation in the early 1960s. He went on to serve the County for two more decades.
The Ernest E. Johnson Collection measures .21 linear feet and includes 76 black and white photographs. The collection was donated to the Library in September 2001 by Johnson’s wife, Mignon.
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The Virginia Room officially preserves the County’s history as made–and captured–by people like Ernest E. Johnson. With our growing digital tools, Arlington Public Library is making that history more available than ever before.
Through the Library website, our archives are now always open. Find this collection and more online in our Arlington’s Story Digital Archive
You can’t imagine the surprise and delight to look at these photos! The super surprise came while looking at them and to see a picture of myself and cousin in kindergarden at Carver Center, a photo of two of my uncles, and my mother. These were never seen before photos! Wow!
That’s my (maternal) GRANDFATHER, on the right!!!
Opps! pictures keep scrolling. It’s the photo titled “Teenage male tennis player receiving trophy with two men”
As a late-comer to Arlington (1966) was good to see this history posted on line to give folks like me an appreciation of the active life that existed in the pre-integration days. One thing I have always wondered about — what is the history of the name Halls Hill? That was what the community near the corner of Culpepper and Lee Hwy was called when we first came here.
Hello Gretchen,
The name Hall’s Hill comes from Bazil Hall, who owned much of the property in the area and then sold parcels to freed slaves.
To read more of the story, here’s a history from the John M. Langston Civic Association:
http://www.johnmlangston.org/Membership/highview_park
The Library also recommends these pages and publications:
http://www.arlingtonarts.org/cultural-affairs/heritage-arts/up-on-the-hill.aspx
http://stayarlington.com/default/index.cfm/explore-arlington/blog/discover-arlingtone28099s-african-american-heritage/
http://www.arlingtonblackheritage.org/AAbrochure.pdf
Thanks for visiting our slideshow. There’s plenty more to come as we make the Virginia Room collections readily available online.