Arlington Public Library

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Throwback Thursday

Edmond C. Fleet, Community Swimming Pool Supporter

Edmond C. Fleet (1902-1983) was a civilian pastry chef for the United States Navy, who found significant ways to put his organizing talents to good use for the Nauck community.

Besides being a member of the local African-American Elks Lodge, Masonic Lodge, and Oddfellows, he was a co-founder of the Veteran’s Memorial Branch of the YMCA, located at 3440 22nd Street S, one block away from Macedonia Baptist Church.

Built in 1953, the Veteran’s Memorial YMCA served the “non-white” residents of the county. Located near Drew School, it naturally had a strong bond with the children of Nauck, especially since the county’s Parks and Recreation system was still segregated.

In the late 1950s, this YMCA started a campaign to build a swimming pool as there were no pools in the County that would allow African-Americans in.

Front page of mailer asking for donations for construction of Veteran's Memorial YMCA pool.
Third page of mailer sent out to get contributions for construction of the Veteran's Memorial YMCA swimming pool.

This 1962 pledge brochure, which lists Fleet as a member of the Advisory Committee, details plans for the pool and asks for community support. Fleet put his money where his mouth was, and donated money to the YMCA and other organizations in which he was involved, including Mt. Zion Baptist Church where he was in the choir.

Fleet was involved in local politics too, hosting Lady Bird Johnson at his home for a Chuck Robb campaign event in 1977, when he ran for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. (Chuck Robb is married to Lady Bird and President Johnson's daughter, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb.)

Lady Bird Johnson flanked by Edmond C. Fleet and an unidentified Robb supporter, 1977.

To learn more about Edmund C. Fleet and the Veteran’s Memorial YMCA, visit the Center for Local History on the first floor of the Central Library.

Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? 

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1945: The Arlington War Memorial Association Plans a “Living Memorial”

Have you heard of “living memorials”? A popular concept after World War II, they resonated with Depression-era and war time slogans and values such as “better living,” and intersected with the interest in urban planning that intensified during World War II.

In July 1945, Arlington County residents formed the Arlington War Memorial Association. The purpose of the organization was to “establish and maintain a useful memorial to the veterans of the present war and of all wars of our nation.”

The Arlington War Memorial Association aimed to build a living memorial—a memorial that would honor the sacrifice of Arlington citizens who served in a war, but also that would “become the heartbeat of the county contributing to everyone’s wellbeing.” They planned to do this by building a community center on Lee Boulevard, much like the one depicted in these images from a promotional flyer advertising Potomac Engineering Corporation's services for planning and building a living war memorial.

The Arlington War Memorial Association’s efforts ultimately failed. But you can learn more about their plans, and see these images in person, at the Center for Local History.

To see more items like these, or to learn more about Arlington's history, visit the Center for Local History on the first floor of the Central Library.

Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? 

Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.

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Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.

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The Unusual History of the Washington Nationals

Did you know that today - Thursday, March 28, 2019 - is the earliest Opening Day in the history of Major League Baseball?

These pages are from a Washington Nationals game against the Chicago White Sox on July 16, 1912, attended by a member of the Olcott family from the Glencarlyn neighborhood.

The first page has the 1912 American League schedule and 1911 standings, while the second page has a score card and roster for the competing teams. The Washington Nationals/Senators beat the Chicago White Sox 7-2 in the July 16 game and finished second in the 1912 American League, losing the Pennant to the Boston Red Sox.

The Washington area may have a fraught history when it comes to baseball teams, but that has not stopped Arlingtonians from cheering for our local team - whatever their name may be.

The Washington Senators—one of the American League’s charter teams—was founded in 1901. In 1905, the team officially changed its name to the Washington Nationals, but was still commonly referred to as the “Senators” until it relocated to Minnesota in 1961, where it became the Twins. The original Nationals/Senators team was almost immediately replaced with another American League team, this time officially named the Washington Senators. The Senators lasted for a decade (1961-1971) before moving to Texas as the Texas Rangers. In 2005—33 years after the Senators departed for Texas—Major League Baseball finally returned to the Washington area, this time as part of the National League and as the Washington Nationals.

So go out this weekend and cheer for your favorite team. We’ve got our Nats caps ready!

To see more items like these, or to learn more about Arlington's history, visit the Center for Local History on the first floor of the Central Library.

Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? 

Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.

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Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.

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Green Valley Pharmacy

Dr. Leonard “Doc” Muse

Have you traveled down Shirlington Rd in the Nauck neighborhood, and stopped for a snack at the one story, white, shingled building on the corner of Shirlington Rd and 24th Rd S?

Established in 1952, the Green Valley Pharmacy is the first (and only) pharmacy and lunch counter in Arlington that would serve African American patrons during the Jim Crow era.

The man who opened the pharmacy was Dr. Leonard “Doc” Muse, a pharmacist and social activist. Muse was born in Florida in 1923 and after serving in World War II used his GI benefits to attend the Howard University School of Pharmacy. In 1952, he and his partner Waverly Jones bought the former Hyman’s Grocery and opened the Green Valley Pharmacy. The pharmacy served black and white customers, but mainly served as a neighborhood hub for Nauck- as a lunch counter, a drug store, and a first job for many young people in Green Valley. Doc provided free lunches for the hungry and free medications for those who could not afford their prescriptions.

In 2013, Green Valley Pharmacy was named as an Historic District by the Arlington County Board, and Muse himself was honored by the Arlington NAACP with the Community Appreciation Award. Muse’s commitment to social activism established him as a pillar of the Nauck community, positively influencing the young people of Green Valley and providing a social and political hub for the residents of Nauck.

Dr. Leonard Muse died on August 20, 2017.

A celebration of life service was held in his honor at Drew Model School on Saturday, August. 27, 2017.

The photo of Green Valley Pharmacy was taken by Matthew Welborn in 2010, as part of a student photography contest, "Capturing Arlington," sponsored by the Center for Local History.

To see more items like these, or to learn more about Arlington's history, visit the Center for Local History on the first floor of the Central Library.

Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? 

Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.

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Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.

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Cub Scout Pack 589 and Ernest Johnson

Cub Scout Pack #589 was Arlington’s first African American Cub Scout Pack, established in 1952 and founded by Ernest Johnson. 

This photo shows the April 1953 induction of new pack members, with Johnson standing to the right.

Founding Cub Scout Pack #589 was part of Ernest Johnson's efforts to give African American children in segregated Arlington a variety of activities to help them grow and have fun. As the director of the Arlington Department of Parks and Recreation’s Negro Recreation Section, (founded in 1950), Johnson worked tirelessly to expand the Section’s sports, arts, and culture programs for African American children in the County. He oversaw the development of Jennie Dean Field and a new recreation center at Hoffman-Boston on S. Queen Street, known as the Carver Center. The Section also organized picnics, beauty pageants, and socials.

The County recognized Johnson’s abilities as an organizer and developer of programs, and when Arlington desegregated their Parks and Recreation facilities and programs in the spring of 1961, he became the Supervisor of the Centers Section, overseeing “teen clubs, free classes, and meeting of non-Department sponsored clubs in the centers.”

Johnson stayed with the Department until his retirement in 1982. Arlington then celebrated Ernest Johnson Day with a parade, softball game, and testimonial dinner.

Ernest Johnson's work for the County is remarkable in another way: he had the foresight to hire a professional photographer to attend many of the Negro Recreation Section’s activities.

To see more of these photographs, visit the Ernest Johnson Collection, Photograph Collection 218, in the Arlington Community Archives online.

George Melvin Richardson

Hoffman-Boston Principal, 1954-1965

Do you remember your first school field trip to visit the Smithsonian dinosaurs? 

In this photo, a group of late 1950s/early 1960s Hoffman-Boston high school students examine the relics on display at the Museum of Natural History.

Their principal at Hoffman-Boston (the combined elementary, junior high, and senior high school for African American students) was George Melvin Richardson, a man of quiet authority and the ideal leader to cope with the complex issues then facing his school and the County.

Richardson was on the initial 1954 committee to study desegregation of the Arlington Public Schools, and principal of Hoffman-Boston from 1954 until the school was closed in 1965. Faced with inadequate classrooms and facilities, Richardson worked for years to improve and expand the school. Field trips such as the one pictured here helped to compensate for the lack of equipment and resources, and to educate students beyond the classroom.

As a resident of the Arlington View neighborhood, Richardson also worked to create the area’s Neighborhood Conservation Plan (one of the first in the county), and later served on the executive board for the Arlington Committee of 100.

George Melvin Richardson’s photographs, oral histories, papers and more can be found on the Center for Local History’s ProjectDAPS.org website, a repository for the Center’s collection of archival documents and photographs relating to the story of the desegregation of Arlington public schools.

View the George Melvin Richardson Collection in ProjectDAPS.org

Rosslyn in the 1960s

Do you remember Rosslyn Ten Pin Bowl or A & H Plumbing Supply CORP.?

Aerial photo of Rosslyn neighborhood taken looking over the Potomac river towards Georgetown

This image, taken in the 1960s, shows a time when Rosslyn was full of parking spaces, small businesses, and clear views of Key Bridge and Georgetown.

Like many Arlington neighborhoods, Rosslyn has undergone significant growth since this photo was taken. With its proximity to Washington, D.C., the neighborhood has naturally morphed into an urbanized hub, complete with skyscrapers, hotels, numerous restaurants and businesses. It even boasts the title for the third longest continuous span escalator in the world!

Do you remember Rosslyn in the 1960s, before the skyscrapers went up? Did you ever go bowling at Rosslyn Ten Pin Bowl?

To see more images from the “Arlington Photographs: Before and After, The Guy W. Starling Collection,” or to learn more about the history of Rosslyn, visit the Center for Local History on the 1st floor of Central Library.

Where Were These Photos Taken?

Can you guess the location of these images? 

Here are a few clues:

  • The photos were taken in the early 1960s, shortly after the building was completed.
  • This building was the first publicly financed construction project for this County department, and has housed this department since the 1960s - although it underwent a major renovation in the early 1990s.
  • In 1995, the department installed the first public internet terminals with the help of a grant.

If you guessed that the photos feature Central Library, you are correct!

Although Central Library no longer looks the way it did in these photos, the spirit of the Library has remained the same – to serve the residents of Arlington County and create space for culture and connection.

To learn more about the history of Arlington Public Library visit The Center for Local History's online exhibit “Women’s Work.”

To see more photos from Arlington’s diverse history visit the Center for Local History, located on the 1st floor of Central Library.

Nauck Activist Joan Cooper

For nearly 50 years, community activist and Nauck resident Joan Cooper worked for change in her neighborhood. 

She also challenged others to make changes to improve the community, stating, “People have to realize, that we as community members have to do our job, too.”

During her active years Cooper helped to advocate for an integrated school system in Arlington County, drove individuals to drug and alcohol detox programs, helped patrol corner blocks of the Nauck neighborhood, and worked tirelessly to rid her streets of illicit narcotics.

“Be persistent, consistent, and insistent,” was her message, and in July 1992, through an initiative called “Crackdown on Drugs,” Cooper’s efforts and leadership on this campaign were recognized by then President George H.W. Bush, when he visited Drew Model School.

cooper003

In the same year, she was also named a Notable Woman of Arlington by the County’s Commission on the Status of Women.

To learn more about Joan Cooper, visit the Center for Local History located on the 1st floor of Central Library. To learn more about the Nauck and Green Valley neighborhoods, you can also visit the the Nauck/Green Valley Heritage Project website.

How To Prepare Tin Cans For Collection in 1943

This colorful advertisement from 1943, produced by the Arlington County Salvage Committee, describes “To the Housewives of Arlington County” how to properly clean and prepare tin cans for recycling in order to aid war efforts during WWII.

The two sided circular, which “makes known to you the vital need of tin in the War effort,” is part of the Robert McAtee, (1913-2014) archival collection. Mr. McAtee, who lived in Arlington for most his life, and in the Maywood neighborhood for decades, owned Seven Corners Rentals on Leesburg Pike. McAtee was an active community historian who documented both his neighborhood and physical changes throughout Arlington county. Thanks to donors like Mr. McAtee, who spent a majority of his life collecting material culture about Arlington County, historians today are able to see the significant shifts and changes of the community over the last century.

To learn more about Robert McAtee, life in Arlington during WWII, or to see more items like this, visit the Center for Local History located on the 1st floor of Central Library.

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