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Arlington Public Library

Throwback Thursday

Neighborhood 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.

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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, make an appointment to visit the Center for Local History.  located on the 1st floor of Central Library. To learn more about the Green Valley neighborhood you can also visit the the Green Valley Heritage Project page.

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.

The Columbia News

“What the old year has done for us is this; it has brought everything forward to the point where hope is real, and apt to blossom in full at any moment. It has turned hope into practical assurance. In this way we can say wholeheartedly to each other, and to the world at large – “Happy New Year!”

This January 1, 1945 message of hope was made during World War 2, from a short lived, hyper local newspaper called the Columbia News.

The Columbia News was published semimonthly in Arlington from 1941 - 1945, by Eugene Beard, starting on January 18, 1941. The Center for Local History holds the Vol. 1, No. 1 edition, some from 1944, and some from 1945. We are in the process of digitizing these holdings, and they will soon be available to view through the Library catalog. (The Library of Congress and the Library of Virginia also have some editions on microfilm.)

To see more historic newspapers like this one, visit us at the Center for Local History located on the 1st floor of Central Library.

Holiday Postcard Collection

Did you know that the study and collection of postcards is called Deltiology?

This 1910 postcard depicts a cheerful traveler braving the snowy roads in an open topped roadster, laden with holly and holiday cheer, on the way to celebrate Christmas with friends or family...

The Center for Local History has a large collection of holiday themed postcards from the early-to-mid 20th Century. Most are colorful, ornate, and have a slogan of merriment wishing the receiver good tidings, like this one. There are also postcards for birthdays, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, and the Fourth of July.

The first American postcard was pressed in 1873. Postcards quickly became an inexpensive form of communication, growing in popularity throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries. They are still sold around the world as a way to share the story of your journey and adventures, or to just send a “hello” to your loved ones.

To see the postcard collection, or learn more about Arlington’s diverse history, visit us at the Center for Local History located on the 1st floor of Central Library.

The Dudley Family Home

Oh, to sled down that hill...

The Dudley Family Home stood on a hill on North Military Road - the same hill where you now find the Cherrydale Branch Library, one of Arlington’s beloved neighborhood libraries.

This photo, taken in the 1920s, comes from the Dudley Family Photographs, 1920-1950 collection. The collection contains an assortment of intimate family portraits, beach adventures, local business, and street scenes, taken mostly during the 1920s and 1930s. Examining the Dudley Family images allows viewers to step back into time and feel as though we are part of their adventures…

To learn more about The Dudley Family, Cherrydale Branch Library, Arlington’s diverse history, or to see more images like this, visit us at the Center for Local History located on the 1st floor of Central Library.

Wakefield High School Student Posters

The students who attended Wakefield High School during the 1969/1970 school year were a busy and creative group.

From after school clubs to theater productions; from student body elections to themed dances; Wakefield students showcased their events, programs and causes with simple but effective hand silkscreened posters:

David Crist, graduate of Wakefield Class of 1970, saved and donated over 90 of these posters to the Center for Local History.

The first image above features an advertisement for “The Night Before Christmas Fashion Show" from December 1969, and was silk screened onto either poster board or construction paper. In a very era-appropriate touch, the poster highlights that “Fashions by Sears” were to be modeled at the evening’s 8:00 p.m. production.

The Center for Local History's online Community Archives includes a large number of high-resolution images of the Wakefield 1969-970 Student Posters.

Murphy & Ames Lumber and Hardware

Arlington has long been home to many flourishing small businesses, including the original Murphy & Ames lumber and hardware company:

Located in Rosslyn from 1908 to the 1960s, Murphy & Ames became known as a prominent company in the County. In 1951 a fire consumed their Rosslyn flagship store, but the devastation did not deter then President, W.P. Ames, Sr. He quickly rebuilt and expanded the company’s service offerings, even adding a new location in Falls Church.

The company’s goal was to serve Arlington County’s (and the surrounding communities) changing landscape and building needs. With the 1950s and 1960s housing boom, Murphy & Ames began to offer additional services, such as having an expert millwork craftsmen on-hand, and the company worked diligently to attend and serve Arlington’s ever-growing and ever-changing population.

By the early-to-mid 1960s, Murphy & Ames had expanded to Fairfax and Herndon thanks to the opening of I-66. Now with four stores in full operation, W.P. Ames made the decision to close and ultimately tear down his Rosslyn store. A ten-story office building was built on the former site, and with the continual decline of residential growth in Rosslyn, the area became an urban hub for office spaces through the remaining decades of the 20th Century.

To learn more about Murphy & Ames, or Arlington’s diverse history, visit the Center for Local History located on the 1st floor of Central Library.



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