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Director’s Message: Summer is a Time to Read for Fun. Seriously.

Diane Kresh stands at a podium with her hands raised.

Diane Kresh warms up an Arlington Reads audience. Photo by Daniel Rosenbaum.

Public libraries across the nation are in the heat of Summer Reading Programs and Arlington Public Library is, too. We believe summer reading is for everyone—and if you have not yet signed up, you can do it now. Join the 5,673 who have already registered and you too can earn Washington Nationals tickets, a free book and more.

The New York Times recently reported on the “new, low test scores for 13-year-olds,” the lowest level in decades. “The percentage of 13-year-olds who reported reading for fun has also declined. Last fall, 31 percent said they ‘never or hardly ever’ read for fun, compared to 22 percent in 2012.”

Not good news.

What is good news? This is a problem that can be fixed. One book, one reader at a time.

Patrons at the Friends of the Arlington Public Library Book Sale. Photos by Christopher George.

The benefits of reading are well documented: reading increases creativity and imagination; reading together builds strong family and community bonds; reading expands one’s vocabulary and promotes and enhances critical thinking skills; reading teaches all of us, and especially young people, about the complex world we live in. And I haven’t even mentioned the health benefits which include reducing stress and anxiety and even countering mental decline.

One of the joys in my life is reading.

And not just reading itself, but sharing and talking about what I am reading with others: friends, coworkers, patrons. And with print, eReaders and eAudiobooks, one can read pretty much anywhere at any time—on family trips in the car, commuting to work on the bus or subway, in a book club, at a coffee shop or on a comfy couch. And if you can’t find something to read, we are here to help with suggestions for every taste and reading level through our website, new app and book displays throughout our library locations.

Let’s read, share, and then read some more. Let’s make a habit of reading for fun. It’s a habit you’ll never want to break.

Always open. Always free. Always reading.

Signatue of Library Director Diane Kresh.

Diane KreshDirector, Arlington Public Library

Airport and A Movie

Airport Drive-In

Did you know that Crystal City was home to Arlington’s first drive-in movie theater?

Back of screen at Airport Drive-In Theater, Spring 1949. Photo Courtesy of Rex Paul Foley

The “Airport Drive-In” was operated by Paul J. Foley from 1947-1963 at 2001 Richmond Highway, just behind National Airport. Advertising a capacity for 1,000 cars, the Airport Drive-In quickly became a favorite of citizens in post-war Arlington.

The Airport Drive-In officially opened on September 10th, 1947, showing the film “Dragonwyck” starring Gene Tierney. Guests of honor included Arlington County officials, as well as Miss Arlington 1947, Peggy Wilson.

As the first drive-in in Arlington and one of the first in Virginia, the venture was initially very successful. Thanks to its strategic location between D.C. and Arlington, as well as frequently hosting fundraisers for the Arlington Safety Council, the Airport Drive-In began to establish itself as a staple in the community. 

Dedicated to providing a family-oriented service, kids under 12 were admitted free, and cartoons were frequently played as part of the program. Families and couples were drawn from D.C. as well as the developing suburbs of South Arlington.

Washington Post, September 10th, 1947

Arlington Daily, September 15, 1947, CLH Collections

NoVa Sun, April 16th, 1948, CLH Collections

Growing Up at the Drive-In

Rex Paul Foley, son of Paul Foley, remembers what it was like growing up at the drive in.

“My father Paul J. Foley owned and operated this drive-in. I have wonderful memories, especially about having carte blanche access to the snack bar when it was open and closed. Our snack bar had delicious Smithfield Bar-B-Que sandwiches and other choices such as Pepper Steak from Murry’s Steaks. It was also the place where my brother and I learned how to drive. When we would come during the daytime with my dad (guess he was counting the money???) we would drive around the 25 acres, hoping not to hit any poles…I believe that the last movie that played for the last two weeks was The Dirty Dozen and I think I was there every night those last few weeks. 

Advertisement for opening day, Photo Courtesy of Rex Paul Foley

Movie showtimes, Washington Post, August 11th, 1954

Segregation at the Drive-In

Virginia’s laws regarding "Separation of Races" in public settings had been adopted in 1926, requiring racially separate seating at any “public hall, theater, opera house, motion picture show or any place of public entertainment or public assemblage.” This law also provided that any proprietor who failed to segregate their audience would "be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500 for each offense” and that any patron of the theater who refused to take a seat in the assigned section or refused to move to the assigned section when requested, "shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof fined not less than $10 no more than $25 for each offense.”

An Arlington judge ruled in 1957 that the segregated seating laws were valid, but in 1958 another judge ruled the law unconstitutional. And though no court had reversed the 1958 ruling, the laws still existed in practice. The Virginia State Government officially ended segregation in movie theaters in 1963. Learn more about the activists who desegregated Arlington's movie theaters in our 2022 blogpost.

Smart Growth Ends Airport Drive-In

Unfortunately, the drive-in’s convenient location would be its undoing. Finally falling victim to the expanding development of Crystal City, the Airport Drive-In closed in 1963. Today, the site is the location of the Crystal Plaza Apartment Complex.

Help Build Arlington's Community History

The Center for Local History (CLH) collects, preserves, and shares resources that illustrate Arlington County’s history, diversity and communities. Learn how you can play an active role in documenting Arlington's history by donating physical and/or digital materials for the Center for Local History’s permanent collection.

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

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Union Army Balloon Corp

September 1861 - August 1863

While the first successful hot air balloon flights were completed in France in the 1790s, due to the work of Thaddeus S.C. Lowe (1832-1913), Arlington is home to their first use by the United States military. Lowe was a scientist and inventor who would go on to be known as the “Grandfather of Military Aerial Recon in the United States.”

Professor Lowe, c. 1860, Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress

Professor Lowe, 1861, Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress

By the 1850s, Lowe was well regarded for his advanced meteorological theories and his reputation as an amateur balloonist. He gained national attention in 1861 when, on a test flight for a Trans-Atlantic balloon voyage, he was blown off course and imprisoned in South Carolina as a Union Spy.

Shortly after being cleared as a scientist, Lowe was released from jail and invited to Washington D.C. to perform demonstrations of his balloons for President Abraham Lincoln. On July 11, 1861, by hanging telegraph wires to his staff on the ground, Lowe sent a message from 500 feet above the White House that read,

“This point of observation commands an area near 50 miles in diameter. The city with its girdle of encampments presents a superb scene. I have pleasure in sending you this first dispatch ever telegraphed from an aerial station.”

President Lincoln was so impressed with Lowe and his balloons that he offered him the civilian position of Chief Aeronaut of the newly formed Union Army Balloon Corp.

Lowe’s Balloon Being Prepared in front  of the Capitol Building, 1861, Photo Courtesy of Ghosts of D.C.

Balloon View of Washington, May 1861, Photo Courtesy of U.S. Senate

Formation of Balloon Corps (Summer 1861)

Stationed at Fort Corcoran, in today’s Rosslyn/North Highlands Neighborhoods, the Balloon Corp’s mission was to provide aerial reconnaissance of Confederate troops just outside of Arlington.

The Balloon Corp was expanded after the first Battle of Bull Run. Lowe’s fleet of Balloons would grow to seven balloons that could be stationed up and down the Potomac River. To transport their balloons, the Balloon Corp was given use of a coal barge converted to be the world’s first aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington Parke Custis.

During the summer of 1861, Lowe and the Balloon Corp would make multiple ascensions over the Arlington Heights and Balls Crossroads (now Ballston) area in order to observe Confederate positions at Falls Church.

Drawing of USS George Washington Parke Custis with balloon ascending over Potomac River near Mount Vernon, November 1861, Photo Courtesy of United States Naval Institute

Lowe’s balloons were perfect for defensive observations, as he could safely evaluate the Confederate’s position and strength from the relative safety of his balloon. By using signal flags and a telegraph in the balloon, Lowe was able to relay messages quickly to the forces on the ground.

Lowe filling balloon from portable hydrogen generator, Gaines Mill Virginia, June 1, 1862, Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress 

The U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission reported,

"On September 24, 1861, Lowe ascended to more than 1,000 feet (305 meters) near Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, DC, and began telegraphing intelligence on the Confederate troops located at Falls Church, Virginia, more than three miles (4.8 kilometers) away. Union guns were aimed and fired accurately at the Confederate troops without actually being able to see them—a first in the history of warfare."

Although the Confederate troops were unable to see the Union guns firing at them, they were often able to see the reconnaissance balloon. Enemy soldiers and artillery frequently fired potshots at Lowe, often hitting near his staff on the ground below him. This earned him the nickname of "The Most Shot at Man" of the Civil War by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Professor Lowe observing Battle of Fair Oaks from balloon, May 1862, Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress

Distrust of the Balloon Corp

Over the next two years, Lowe and the Balloon Corp would provide reconnaissance for the battles of Yorktown, Seven Pines (Fair Oaks), Fredericksburg, Mechanicsville, and Chancellorsville. But Lowe’s information was often ignored by his commanding officers, and many were reluctant to trust a civilian employee of the Army.

The Battle of Fair Oaks, VA, May 31, 1862, “Intrepid” War Balloon in Distance, Photo Courtesy of National Park Service

Although Lowe reported that he was able to accurately call out Confederate positions in good weather, some Union Army members believed the reports were altered to "render their own importance greater, thereby insuring themselves what might be profitable employment." As a result, many Union generals distrusted the Balloon Corp’s information, instead favoring traditional methods of reconnaissance. George Armstrong Custer, who rode in Lowe’s balloons in April 1862, stated:

“The large majority of the army, without giving it a personal test, condemned and ridiculed the system of balloon reconnaissance”

Lowe filling balloon INTREPID from balloon CONSTITUTION at Fair Oaks, VA, 1862, Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress

Balloon Camp, Gaines' Hill, near Richmond, VA: telegraphing, reporting, and sketching during the Battle of Fair Oaks, June 1, 1862, Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress

End of the Balloon Corp

The Balloon Corp would not last to the end of the Civil War. In 1863, Lowe resigned after a dispute about his pay. Shortly after, the unit was rejected from joining Col. Albert Myer’s Signal School and then disbanded. 

Lowe retired to Pasadena, California, where he later won the Elliott Cresson Medal for the Invention Held to be Most Useful to Mankind for his work in the cold storage industry. He also founded the Mount Lowe Railway and the Citizens Bank of Los Angeles, which is now a part of Wells Fargo. His granddaughter,  Florence Lowe “Pancho” Barnes, was a pioneer aviator who broke Amelia Earheart’s air speed record in 1930.

Help Build Arlington's Community History

The Center for Local History (CLH) collects, preserves, and shares resources that illustrate Arlington County’s history, diversity and communities. Learn how you can play an active role in documenting Arlington's history by donating physical and/or digital materials for the Center for Local History’s permanent collection.

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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Director’s Message: Reflections on the Human Library

Arlington Public Library hosted a "Human Library" this past Saturday.  Some hours after it ended, I felt a deep appreciation for an extraordinary day spent with Arlington County colleagues, friends, families, a baby and more than a hundred curious readers eager to engage in honest, face-to-face conversations. “Human books” and readers sat across from one another, respectfully probed highly personal subjects, listened and learned.   Living as we do in a time when technology makes information constantly available, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the volume of news stories that highlight our differences and headline depressing topics.

The "Human Library" offers an alternative. A promise of increasing understanding, acceptance and mutual respect by simply sitting down and talking openly and unreservedly to one another.

On Saturday, April 29, 16 "human books" were accessed over 110 times by event participants. Photo credit Daniel Rosenbaum.

I was a "human book"—my title, “Coming Out Late.” Each conversation I had was a revelation, an opportunity for me to delve further into my own story and relate to someone as they reflect on their own or those they hold dear.

What an honor and a privilege to share one’s most intimate thoughts and experiences with a stranger and come away feeling seen and heard. 
I am thankful to the Library leadership for their willingness to try something completely different and to our extraordinary staff who spent months planning the program.

I am grateful to those who joined us and gave selflessly of themselves and for demonstrating to the community how to care for one another.

Our "Human Library" was a very big deal, and we hope to bring it back again soon.

Always open. Always free. Always human.

Signatue of Library Director Diane Kresh.

Diane KreshDirector, Arlington Public Library

Director’s Message for National Library Week

There's more to our story.

Library Director Diane Kresh smiles at her desk, with a bookshelf and cherry blossoms outside visible in the background.

April 23-29 is National Library Week. A pretty big deal for libraries across the nation, including this one.

This year’s theme is “there’s more to the story.” Libraries are full of possibilities ranging from picture books to large print, audiobooks to ebooks and now we offer Kanopy (30,000 documentary films and movies to stream for free). In addition, we have the Library of Things where patrons borrow American Girl dolls, games, gardening tools and DIY kits.

A collage of films available on Kanopy. Text reads "Explore a world of cinema with Kanopy."

Library programming connects community members to one another through book clubs, storytimes, musical performances, crafting classes at The Shop and author talks with Arlington Reads. Award-winning graphic novelist Jerry Craft ("New Kid," "Class Act" and "School Trip") will be in person (and streaming) at Central Library on Apr. 27.

Library infrastructure provides high-speed internet and computers, indoor and outdoor Wi-Fi, spaces for meetings or group study, comfortable seating for reading and tables for doing homework. The Teleconnect Space at Columbia Pike Library enables patrons to conduct online healthcare appointments, job interviews, career counselor meetings and social service appointments in a private setting. We invite you to check out our newest location, the Courthouse Library, on the ground floor of the Ellen Bozman Government Center.

Library professionals support businesses, job seekers and entrepreneurs. Youth Librarians help hone literacy skills for our youngest residents. At Arlington Public Library we offer all this for free.

Arlington Public Library’s vision is to be “the heart of a thoughtful, inclusive and dynamic community where people and ideas connect.” Let’s think about a few of those words. Thoughtful: our collections represent diverse points of view and appeal to a myriad of lifestyles. Inclusive: Arlington’s libraries accept all people. We are welcoming spaces where all who enter our doors are accepted for who they are. Where people and ideas connect: libraries are safe places for exploration and discovery. To learn about the world and one’s place in it. To learn who we are.

And speaking of increasing understanding, on Sat., Apr. 29 we will host a Human Library, where human “readers” are invited to check out a human “book” and engage in a conversation.

A person with blue hair, glasses, and a visible tattoo wearing a shirt that reads "I am a Book of the Human Library" speaks to a group of people.

In February, The New York Times published “A Love Letter to Libraries, Long Overdue.” If you have not read it, I encourage you to do so. The article speaks volumes to people like me who have spent close to 50 years working in libraries. There is one line from the article I keep thinking about:

"The modern library keeps its citizens warm, safe, healthy, entertained, educated, hydrated and, above all, connected."
— Elisabeth Egan and Erica Ackerberg for The New York Times

Yes, yes, and YES.

There is and will continue to be “more to the story” in libraries – in their collections and in their services. Let us help you discover new aspects of your story. We will write it together.

Always free, always open, always your library.

Signatue of Library Director Diane Kresh.

 

Diane Kresh
Director, Arlington Public Library

Dawson House

As the only surviving stone structure in Arlington County from the 18th or 19th century, the Dawson House, located at 2133 N. Taft St., is also the only building still standing that was inside Arlington’s Civil War fortifications.

Dawson Terrace – originally known as the “Dawson Bailey House” – was established as early as 1859, when the Dawson Family purchased the 82 acre farm.

Dawson House, CLH Collections

First Owners

The property in which the Dawson House was built on would change hands multiple times before the Dawson family took ownership. Most notably was founding father George Mason IV, who controlled almost all of the Rosslyn and Northern Highlands neighborhoods by 1767. While building his own home at Gunston Hall, the Mason family leased and sold much of his land to local tenant farmers who worked and lived on the land. 

One parcel of land included the future Dawson property. An 1856 newspaper advertisement announced the sale of a valuable farm at auction-

“containing eighty-two acres… The improvements consist of a good stone dwelling, orchard of peach and apples of choices fruits in thriving condition, an excellent spring of water, with two running streams of water, with Oak and Pine Timber sufficient for fencing and fuel; one half has been in cultivation and other is in good condition”

Newspaper advertisement for Dawson property, c. 1858, CLH Collections

The stone dwelling mentioned in the advertisement was likely used as a warehouse for crops or housing for tenant farmers and is believed to be a part of the Dawson House today.

Thomas B. Dawson Family (Owned 1859-1895)

The Dawsons, a wealthy family from Maryland, purchased the advertised land for $2,378 in 1859. Thomas B. Dawson moved in by July 1860 with his wife and three young daughters, naming the property “Rio-Vista” (Spanish for “River View”). As soon as Dawson moved onto the land in July 1860, he immediately began to renovate the structure, and is credited with doubling the size of the original stone dwelling. Dawson’s additions are now the eastern half of the building, built to exactly mirror the original structure. 

A letter from Thomas Dawson’s granddaughter in the 1950s confirms, “My grandfather…bought the house…in 1859. At that time, there were 85 acres and a small stone house, two rooms, one above the other. It is part of the house as it is today, at the west end. He added the rest of the stone house in 1859.”

Still visible today, Dawson carved his initials, “T.B.D-1859”, into the east side first floor window upon completion of the addition.

"T.B.D 1859" carved into east side of Dawson House, CLH Collections

Drawing of the Dawson House before extension, "History of Northern Highlands", CLH Collections

Civil War

The Civil War broke out just two months after Bessie Dawson, the youngest daughter, was born. Strategically, the Dawson house was important due to its position on a hill overlooking Washington. When Virginia voted to leave the Union on May 24th, 1861, the Dawson family ended up in the middle of Arlington’s Union Army Civil War defense ring. While they were lucky to keep the residence as their home, their property was heavily affected by the nearby soldiers, who established Fort Bennett on their property and Fort Corcoran just Southeast of their property.

The soldiers burned their barn, slaughtered the livestock, confined the family to their house, and reportedly used the house for target practice. Because an important military road connecting the forts was laid directly in front of the home, the family needed a special pass to leave the property.

The Dawsons were not alone. Most of the farms along the Potomac were destroyed by Union soldiers in order to build the ring of forts established under the Defenses of Washington. After the war, the Dawson family received $3,369 in reparations for destroyed property and stolen crops from the Union soldiers - much higher than the typical payout of $300-400, indicating an especially high degree of property destruction.

Topographical Map of the Original District of Columbia and Environs Showing the Fortifications Around the City of Washington, 1862, CLH Collections

Dawson Family (1895-1955)

When Thomas Dawson died in 1895, the land was split between his 4 daughters. Over time, as the daughters married and moved away, they began to sell off the surrounding land to developers. Bessie Dawson was the only one who remained in the house, living there with her husband William Conway Bailey. The name “Dawson-Bailey House” originated from this time period, when it was believed that her husband was related to the Bailey family of Bailey’s Crossroads. As this connection has been proven false, the name was changed to “Dawson House” to reflect the family’s importance to the property.

County Use

Bessie continued selling off her father's land, and by 1940 there was nothing left of Dawson’s original farm except for the Dawson House. This allowed for the development of Adams Street, Doubleday’s Road (N. Courthouse Road), the Palisades Apartments, the First Church of Nazarene, and the Bay-Eva Castle, which were all built on the former Dawson property.

While Dr. Jacobs was constructing the nearby “Bay-Eva Castle” in 1936, he found a spring that once belonged to the Dawson Terrace property enclosed with a small metal roof. According to Bessie Dawson, “her father would take black walnuts from the trees near his home to soldiers camped near this spring. Soldiers were cutting down many trees for firewood, and Mr. Dawson asked them to leave the tulip poplar tree which shaded the spring”. Workers used leftover bricks from the Bay-Eva Castle to construct the current structure surrounding the spring, and the tree is still standing today.

Dawson House Spring, CLH Collections

In 1951, Bessie agreed to sell the final acres of her land, except for the house itself, to Arlington County in order to build a playground. Completed a year later, it was dedicated as Dawson Terrace Park to honor her father’s contribution to the area. 

Upon Bessie’s death in 1955, the County acquired the Dawson Home to turn it into a teen and community center, adding a modern building with rec space and an auditorium in the early 1960s. In 1996, the Dawson House was designated as a Local Historic District.

Although Dawson Terrace has been in almost constant use since being acquired by the County, the Dawson House itself was only being used for Parks & Rec storage. Since 2017, The Center for Local History has occupied the building for processing archival collections. Today, The Community Center still holds County and community events on the property.

Help Build Arlington's Community History

The Center for Local History (CLH) collects, preserves, and shares resources that illustrate Arlington County’s history, diversity and communities. Learn how you can play an active role in documenting Arlington's history by donating physical and/or digital materials for the Center for Local History’s permanent collection.

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

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Pelham Town

A Lost Arlington Community

Arlington in the early 1900s included many small Black communities. Today the best known among them are Hall’s Hill in North Arlington, Queen City in what is now the Pentagon area, and Green Valley in South Arlington.

One of the lesser known communities was Pelham Town, a small neighborhood near the Marymount Campus, between today’s 24th Street and N. Wakefield Street.

Map of Pelham Town from Arlington County Atlas, 1935, CLH Collections

Consisting primarily of members of the Pelham family, Pelham Town began in the 1860s, when Moses Pelham Sr. (1828-1904) and his brothers Gibson, Ed, and Burrell, moved to Arlington County from Culpeper, Virginia. Their father was freed from enslavement to the Pelham family in 1819 at the age of 21.

Pelham Sr. initially acquired one acre of land just northeast of Hall’s Hill. In 1874 he built his home and married Isabella Washington, and by 1894 he had acquired an additional acre. Isabella had eight children who lived to adulthood, and the family became an important part of the social support network for a community which sourced almost all of its services from within its boundaries during decades of segregation. In “History of Mt. Salvation Baptist Church (1879-2019),” Deaconess Portia A. Haskins wrote of how “During the late 1800s Moses Pelham Sr. was well regarded for selling some of his property to assist freed slaves in their quest for land ownership.” 

Upon the death of Moses Pelham Sr. in 1904, his land was divided among his six remaining children - Moses Jr., Burrell, Edward, John, Annie Spriggs (née Pelham), and Matilda Robinson (née Pelham) - who each established a home on the lot. 

Drawing of Pelham Town by W. Palmer, c.1940s, CLH Collections

Life in Pelham Town

William Pelham Sr. (1900-2003), the grandson of Moses Pelham Sr., remained as an influential community leader in Arlington his whole life. In a 1986 interview with the Arlington Library Oral History Project, he describes Pelham Town as a rural but close knit community. Life in Pelham Town included walking to school along a dirt Glebe Road, watching mules used for the construction of the Old Dominion Railroad, and baptisms in Spout Run near today’s intersection of Langston Blvd and Kirkwood Road.

Like much of Arlington at the time, houses had livestock including pigs and chickens, vegetable gardens, and no running water. Residents acquired water from a spring almost half a mile away until the neighborhood kids, “would dig that place in the ground until we got so far down in the ground one day a shovel fell on one of the boys' heads and then they cut it off.  And then the neighbors got together – and they finished the well, and that well was 75 feet down in the ground.”

Pelham Family's Community Involvement

Moses Pelham Sr. hosted some of the first prayer services led by Reverend Cyrus Carter after the Mount Salvation Baptist Church was organized in 1872. As one of the few African-American men able to own land at the time, he assisted in the purchase of a permanent church property in 1884. Two of his sons, Burrell, and Moses Jr., as well as his grandson William Pelham would serve as Deacons for the church.

The original church building would also house the predecessor to the Langston School, then called the Sumner School. By hosting school during the week and religious services on Sunday, it became the area's first local school for Black children, which was incredibly important to the community of Hall’s Hill.

Cover of History of Mt. Salvation Baptist Church by Deaconess Portia A. Haskins, CLH Collections

In “A View from Hall's Hill: African American Community Development in Arlington, Virginia from the Civil War to the Turn of the Century”, Author Lindsey Bestebreurtje writes,

"Schools were not only used for education but also to provide neighborhood children with a sense of community, connection, and insulation from negative outside white influences which they would be more likely to experience if they had to travel great distances beyond their communities.”

Segregation laws at the time resulted in severe underfunding and overcrowding, as the building only held two classrooms. Classes were often held at the nearby Oddfellows Hall until a new building was built for the school in 1925. Upon completion of the building, The Sumner School would be renamed the John M. Langston Elementary School in honor of the founding dean of Howard University Law School.  

The End of Pelham Town

Pelham Town ceased to exist in the mid 1900s due to the combination of pressure from local white developers and Jim Crow housing laws aimed to disenfranchise Black residents. A change in Arlington County’s housing laws after World War One required that every home be connected to the County water. However, according to William Pelham, “they put in city water and said you had to be connected to it or you couldn’t get an occupancy permit. But they wouldn’t let me connect my house. The white people who were moving in didn’t like my colored tenants. So I sold.” 

In addition, new roads constructed for a white housing development failed to connect to the existing streets in the community. This prevented residents in Pelham Town from having reasonable access to their homes. In “Up on the Hill: An Oral History of the Halls Hill Neighborhood in Arlington County, Virginia”, William Pelham remembers, “The technicality was they could not get in and out of the property…Now they’ve got condos over there. That’s how these properties get away from us.” 

William Pelham left Pelham Town in 1928 but continued to rent to Black residents until the 1940s.

Map of African-American Settlements in Arlington County, 1970, CLH Collections

Map of Alexandria County, Virginia for the Virginia Title Co., 1900, Library of Congress

Pelham Family

Many of the Pelham Family members stayed in Arlington and moved to the Hall’s Hill/Highview Park area. William Pelham became the longest serving Deacon at Mt. Salvation Baptist Church, serving over 50 years. The cemetery of the church was designated a historic district in 2021, and still holds the graves of many members of the Pelham family.

Mt. Salvation Baptist Church before the modern remodel, 1954, Photo Courtesy of InsideNova

Portrait and Quote of William Pelham, "History of Mt. Salvation Baptist Church" by Portia Haskins, CLH Collections

Help Build Arlington's Community History

The Center for Local History (CLH) collects, preserves, and shares resources that illustrate Arlington County’s history, diversity and communities. Learn how you can play an active role in documenting Arlington's history by donating physical and/or digital materials for the Center for Local History’s permanent collection.

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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Funeral Programs: A Genealogical Treasure

Newly Digitized Resource for Historians and Researchers

The Center for Local History’s online collection now includes over 100 documents from funerals of Black community members, donated by Arlington residents Birdie and Mable Alston. These materials will be an important resource for historians and genealogical researchers.

FUNERAL PROGRAMS FROM THE BIRDIE AND MABLE ALSTON COLLECTION(opens in new tab)

Using Funeral Programs

For African-Americans doing genealogical research, information such as exact dates of birth and death, past residences, place of burial, and maiden names are often difficult to find in the South due to slavery and segregation laws.

According to the Georgia Public Library Service, “The records of many in these communities were often either destroyed, kept in private hands, or never created in the first place.”

These gaps in information can often be found in funeral programs. They may often give valuable personal information about the deceased’s life including hobbies, friends, relatives, and community involvement.

Funeral Program for Evelyn Syphax, 2000, CLH Collections

Obituaries can also give context to a person’s life beyond genealogical information and provide insight to researchers that might not be available elsewhere.

In addition, large groups of obituaries give a broader view of a community's makeup and show larger local historical trends.

Funeral Program for Dr. Nathaniel R. Richardson, 1966, CLH Collections

Funeral Program for Mrs. Viola P. Chase, 1968, CLH Collections

Funeral Program for Lillian Brooks Williams, 1973, CLH Collections

Birdie and Mable Alston

Birdie (1919-2020) and Mable (née Shirley) Alston (1920-2017) were married neighborhood activists and prominent community members in the Halls Hill/Highview Park area. The Alston’s came to Arlington in 1944 and settled in Halls Hill in 1947. Both were heavily involved with the Langston Civic Association and the NAACP.

CLH Staff recently finished digitizing Series 1: Funeral Programs of RG338, Birdie and Mable Alston Collection. This includes over 100 programs from funerals of the area’s Black community members spanning from 1961-2011. Each program contains information about the deceased’s life and family, with many including photographs.

Funeral Program for Clifton Randolph Brown, 1993, CLH Collections

Obituary for Clifton Randolph Brown, 1993, CLH Collections

About the Birdie and Mable Alston Collection

Upon Birdie Alston’s death in 2017, his estate donated much of his personal files, photographs, and other materials to the Center for Local History. The materials relate to the various community organizations that the Alston’s were involved with, such as the NAACP, Langston Civic Association, Halls Hill (High View Park) Neighborhood Preservation Plan, and Calloway United Methodist Church. The material dates from 1905-2019, making it an important resource for documenting the changes in Arlington’s Black community.

Related Collections in the CLH

For other collections of active Black citizens in Arlington, see RG 11, Papers of Edmond C. Fleet, and see RG 349, Dorothy Hamm Personal Papers. There are also several oral history interviews detailing life in the Halls Hill/Highview Park neighborhood, including one from Birdie Alston in 1991. RG 48, Records of the NAACP, Arlington Branch, has more detail on this group where the Alston’s were members.

Help Build Arlington's Community History

The Center for Local History (CLH) collects, preserves, and shares resources that illustrate Arlington County’s history, diversity and communities. Learn how you can play an active role in documenting Arlington's history by donating physical and/or digital materials for the Center for Local History’s permanent collection.

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The Library Director’s 2022 Reading List.

“Every reader his or her book. Every book its reader.”
— S.R. Ranganathan

If you have space in your life to read one more year-end list, I made one too. Books that will stay with me and I will recommend to others. Books that changed my thinking. Books by authors I had never heard of and could not believe I had not. The books I wanted to go on and on and on, the best kind of books. Here’s my list.

2022 Reading List

My tastes are eclectic.  

My guilty pleasure is the police procedural (the more noir, the better) followed closely by the coming-of-age novel. I read both fiction and non — have a fondness for memoir — although not biography.

I read “classics” I believe I should have read. I read author debuts. I am an occasional completist (Elizabeth Strout and Ann Patchett). Reading fantasy novels are still on my to-do list (Octavia Butler is on my bookshelf but has not yet made it into my hands) and authors from outside the United States. I am discovering Graphic Novels (“Black Hole” by Charles Burns is on my nightstand). I have occasionally judged a book by its cover (“Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus) and been pleasantly surprised – in a good way. 

Is reading one of your resolutions for 2023? Have you ever been a reluctant reader but want to read more?  

Here are some tips for creating and sustaining a reading habit. 

  • Try an eAudiobook. I’ve become an avid audiobook consumer which has the additional benefit that your listening skills improve as well.  
  • Ask a friend, coworker, family member or neighbor, “What are you reading?” It’s a great conversation starter. 
  • Frequent our Friends of Arlington Public Library bookstores, each purchase supports the library. 
  • Join a Library book club or the Winter Reading Challenge. 
  • And my favorite tip from Ron Charles, Book Critic at The Washington Post, “Dedicate this year to reading only works in translation. You’ll permanently expand your horizons.” 

If you are like me and have recommitted to a year of reading more, my final tip: there is no harm in setting aside a book and not finishing it. The library has the next one just for you.

Keep reading.

Signatue of Library Director Diane Kresh.

Diane Kresh
Director, Arlington Public Library

The USS Arlington

Arlington's Naval Voyage Through the 20th Century

The first USS Arlington, c. 1947;
Photo Courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command

World War Two

The first United States Navy Ship to be named Arlington was a general cargo ship that was converted into a troop transport in 1944 for World War Two. Capable of carrying over 1,000 soldiers, the Arlington acted as a training vessel for sailors on the West Coast. It then became a troop transport at the end of the war.

The Arlington was decommissioned in 1946 and remained in the Navy’s reserve fleet until it was sold for scrap in the 1960s.

The second USS Arlington after conversion, c. 1960s;
Photo from CLH collections

Cold War Communications

As the technology of the Cold War advanced, need arose for a powerful communications ship that could relay messages anywhere across the world. In 1967, the former aircraft carrier USS SAIPAN was converted into a Communication Relay Ship and officially commissioned as the USS Arlington in honor of the Arlington Radio Towers, which had been the site of the first trans-Atlantic voice communication in 1915.

At a length of 684 feet, a crew of about 1,000 men, and a top speed of 33 knots, the Arlington was the ideal choice to act as a communication relay hub. After beating the USS Boston in a race to Guantanamo Bay, the USS Arlington earned a reputation as one of the fastest ships in the Navy’s fleet. Upon winning the race, the ship adopted the nickname the “Road Runner,” and its crew displayed a flag of the television cartoon character when entering port or pulled alongside another ship for refueling or to provide assistance. They also played the character’s theme song whenever the flag was raised.

After participating in NATO training exercises across Europe, the Arlington acted as communication support for US troops in Vietnam, most notably at the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1967.

President Nixon aboard the USS Arlington with Captain Murphree before the Apollo 11 landing, 1969;
Photo courtesy of NavSource.

Assisting the Space Race

Thanks to its advanced radio and communication capabilities, the USS Arlington assisted in the return of several Apollo spaceships. In December, 1968, it served as the primary communication ship for the recovery of Apollo 8, and in May, 1969, it assisted in the recovery of Apollo 10.

Because the USS Arlington was stationed near the landing zone, it was chosen as one of the main ships in assisting in the recovery of the Apollo 11 astronauts after they reached the moon in July 1969. The role of the USS Arlington was classified, and not revealed to the public until years after the landings.

The USS Arlington’s contribution to the Apollo missions would be its last for the US Navy. The Arlington returned to the United States in January of 1970 to be decommissioned and was officially sold as scrap in 1976.

Although the ship was only formally active for 4 years, it was awarded 7 campaign stars for its efforts in Vietnam.

The third USS Arlington participates in recovery training of the Orion capsule, 2013;
Photo courtesy of NASA

USS Arlington Today

In 2004, the US Navy decided to name 3 of the Navy’s new ships in honor of the 9/11 attacks. The USS Arlington was launched in 2010, along with the sister ships USS New York and USS Somerset.

In 2013, the new USS Arlington helped NASA in stationary recovery training of the Orion spacecraft.

The USS Arlington honors the 184 victims and thousands of emergency, fire and rescue personnel of Arlington Country and localities in the National Capital Region who provided critical emergency assistance after the attack. The ship was built with a museum to honor the victims of the Pentagon which includes pieces of steel from the Pentagon 9-11 crash site. To read more about the USS Arlington, visit https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Topics/ussarlington

To learn more about Arlington's history, visit the Center for Local History on the first floor of the Central Library.

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