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Arlington History: Queen City

On Monday, Sept. 19, 2011, The Virginia Room’s Arlington Reunion History Program will host a community discussion on “Queen City,” Arlington’s black community after Freedman’s Village and before the Pentagon, at the Central Library Auditorium, from 10:00 am – 12:00 p.m.

The original residents of Queen City were descendents of the residents of Freedman’s Village, which had been established by the federal government during the Civil War as a home for displaced/freed slaves. A tightly knit African American community, Queen City was particularly focused on providing education for its children and was described by George Vollin, a former resident, as “a real happy, solid community.”  

The neighborhood eventually disappeared when residents were displaced in 1941 as construction on the Pentagon and surrounding roads began:

“Queen City was not razed for the Pentagon building, but the overall Pentagon project. In order to accommodate the large number of individuals who would be commuting to and parking at the Pentagon on a daily basis, extensive accommodations had to be made for the automobile.

The cloverleaf highway structure, which the Columbia Pike feeds into and is found to the west of the Pentagon, remains the exact location of Queen City. Therefore, Queen City was destroyed for Pentagon’s needed transportation corridor, which eventually would come to include over thirty miles of highways and ramps, including twenty-one overpasses.”

-Claire Burke, Arlington’s Queen City, p. 21

If you can’t make it to the program, and would like to learn more, you can visit the Virginia Room, where the local history archive includes Arlington’s Queen City, by Claire Burke.

 

If you missed this talk, the Ballston-Virginia Square Patch sent a reporter to the program, and published an excellent recap of the event.

 

Altha Hall "It’s All in a Name"

Altha Hall

Altha Hall was originally built by a gentleman from Fairfax named Andrew Adgate Lipscomb II (born 1854), who later became Assistant District Attorney of the District of Columbia during President Grover Cleveland’s administration.

In 1886, not long after marrying his wife Lamar Rutherford, Lipscomb ordered construction in Arlington for a mansion to be modeled after one that had been long admired by his wife, a resident of Athens, Georgia. Actual Georgia pine was shipped by rail and used for the paneling and also for the forty-foot pillars, while hardware and fixtures from a castle in England were used on the front doors. Fine Italian marble was used to build the fireplaces and crystal chandeliers from Europe were also procured.

The Lipscombs moved into their mansion in 1889, having named it “Ruthcomb” as a composite of their names, Rutherford and Lipscomb.

After the death of Mr. Lipscomb, the property was sold in 1905 to Mr. and Mrs. Thaddeus Matthew Tyssowski of Washington. She was the former Alice Walton Green of Lewinsville, Virginia. Emulating the previous owners, the new occupants renamed the home “Altha Hall”, a combination of their names, Alice and Thaddeus. Mr. Tyssowski was a successful businessman and insurance company executive and his son, Colonel John Tyssowski, married Catherine Woodward. John later became Chairman of the Board of Directors of Woodward & Lothrop.

In 1921, the Tyssowski family sold Altha Hall to Dr. W.S. Benedict, who lived there for 14 years before moving to a country estate near Sterling, Virginia. The hall was then leased by Tyssowski to Miss Anna Payne, who held a nursery school and kindergarten there. The property was then sold in 1957 to a group of real estate investors who had the property rezoned from residential, in hopes of turning it into a potential apartment house site. During this time, the house was occupied by the Lentz family until its destruction in 1959.

Further information about Altha Hall can be found in the excellent book “Arlington Heritage: Vignettes of a Virginia County” by Eleanor Lee Templeman, which is available for checkout here at Central Library. The photograph above is from the booklet “A Brief History of Alexandria County, Virginia,” published under the auspices of the county Board of Supervisors, of which early area activist and official Crandall Mackey was a member.

What About You?

Do you remember Altha Hall? Did you ever visit the property? We want to hear from you!

 

All Work and No Play

In 1949, Arlington established a formal Department of Recreation for the rapidly growing and developing county. However, the classes, clubs, and activities sponsored by the department mirrored the school system and were segregated. In 1950, a formal "Negro Recreation Section" was created "with a special emphasis on sports." Its director was Ernest E. Johnson, who was a central figure for African-Americans in Arlington who wished to participate in the Department's programs.

Johnson expanded the Negro Recreation Section to include classes for children in not only a variety of sports, but dance, theater, and music (including accordion classes), and community events like teen beauty pageants and parades. He was forward-thinking, documenting many of these activities in the early to mid-1950s with professional photographs; a collection of 78 of these images are held in the Community Archives. Johnson oversaw the development of Jennie Dean field and a new recreation center at Hoffman-Boston on S. Queen St. This center later became known as the Carver Center. Johnson's activities stretched beyond the Department of Recreation. He was the leader of Arlington's first African-American Cub Scout Pack (#589), chartered in April of 1952.

For the 1962-1963 fiscal year, the Negro Recreation Section was quietly changed to the Carver Section, with Johnson still as its supervisor. In 1964, the Negro Recreation Section disappeared in a department reorganization; Johnson became Supervisor of the Centers Section, overseeing "teen clubs, free classes, and meetings of non-Department sponsored clubs in the centers." With no fanfare at all, the county's Department of Recreation had become desegregated and Johnson was integrated into the department's existing administration.

Ernest Johnson continued to serve Arlington County, and on May 8, 1982, Arlington celebrated Ernest E. Johnson Day with a parade that ran from the Walter Reed Recreation Center to the Carver Recreation Center, a softball game that afternoon, a senior tea and a testimonial dinner that evening. A photograph from the event, showing Johnson (center) and his wife Mignon (left) is shown above. Johnson died in December 1992, after a life to service to the people of Arlington; his work let Arlington play.

What About You?

What are your memories of Arlington's Department of Recreation: classes, clubs, parks, and fields? We want to hear from you!

Too Cool for Yule: 3rd Annual Holiday Tunes from the Director, Part 3

 

Director's Blog

And now we bring you the last part of the Library Director’s annual “Don’t Touch That Dial” holiday-music blog post, designed to chase the dark away.

2010, PART 3….

17. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon, The Harlem Community Choir, Yoko Ono & The Plastic Ono Band, from John Lennon & Yoko Ono Power to the People – The Hits (Remastered) 2010
John Lennon’s death is right up there with the Kennedy Assassination as two of the defining events of my life. Never a fan of Yoko (she broke up the Beatles)

18. A Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives, from Have a Holly Jolly Christmas 1965
Good songs, goofy animation, grrrrreat characters: Hermey, the elf who wants to be a dentist, Yukon Cornelius, Charlie in the Box and his pals on the Island of Misfit Toys. CLASSIC!!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sooHzHHh4kM?fs=1]

19. God Bless The Master, from Folk Songs Of The Four Seasons
. Folk poetry that blesses the Master, the Mistress, the House and Cattle, too. Powerful in its simplicity, the song closes every performance of Revels, a national arts organization founded in 1971 by musician, educator and author John Langstaff to celebrate the seasons through the power of traditional song, dance, storytelling and ritual from cultures around the world.

20. Santa’s Got a Brand New Bag by The Bobs, from Too Many Santas
The a cappella Bobs salute “the hardest-working man in show business, the great James Brown (May 5, 1933 – December 25, 2006).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ss0ww5o_8A?fs=1]

Bonus Tracks in Honor of Holiday Feasting

21. Nobody’s Fat in Aspen Christine Lavin, from Future Fossils 1984
Neo-folkie Lavin reveals the shallow, fallow under-girding the beautiful people. But it’s not a downer when sung by Lavin’s chirpy, quirky soprano. It makes the list because it references snow. And skiing.

22. He’s a Chubby Little Fellow by The Singing Cowboy Gene Autry, from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Other Christmas Classics 2003
Creator of the Cowboy Code (“a cowboy must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action and personal habits”), Autry was famous for his Christmas classics, the most famous of which is the aforementioned Rudolph. But I liked this one better.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCdcT_DY7ew?fs=1]

Too Cool for Yule: Holiday Tunes from the Director, part 2

This week we bring you the Library Director’s annual “Don’t Touch That Dial” holiday-music blog post, designed to chase the dark away.

PART 2….

9. Angels We Have Heard On High by Indigo Girls from Holly Happy Days
Girls with guitars who have known each other since grade school and whose voices blend like a yogurt smoothie.

10. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by The Pointer Sisters from A Very Special Christmas 1987
Silly, sassy and so much fun.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuQRXoIP3uI?fs=1]

11. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Eddie Higgins Christmas Songs 2005
This year’s pick of my favorite Christmas pop song.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArFBB0Ik9-4?fs=1]

12. Greensleeves by Paul Desmond & The Modern Jazz Quartet
Recorded on Christmas Day 1971, by Paul Desmond and the Modern Jazz Quartet, the first and only time they played together.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-brmiryqxxY?fs=1]

13. The Christmas Waltz (Sammy Cahn/Jule Styne) by Peggy Lee from Christmas Carousel, 1960
For those who might remember only her woozy sounding pop charter of 1969, “Is That All There Is?”, Peggy Lee (March 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002) was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer and actress in a career spanning nearly seven decades. This track was recorded in 1960, at the height of her popularity.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n1yapgYn8o?fs=1]

14. Silver Bells by Dean Martin, from My Kind of Christmas, issued 2009
Okay, I needed someone to represent the SammyPerryAndyTonyBingFrankSteveandEdie spectrum, and settled finally on Dino, whose boozy on stage persona eclipsed a croony, real life hipness. Warm and easy; a recording that’s amore.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D5t9wPjhyE?fs=1]

15. I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm by Jo Stafford, from Happy Holidays – I Love the Winter Weather (Re-mastered)
I love, love LOVE Jo Stafford. Play this in any kind of weather. Repeatedly.

16. Last Christmas by Wham! From Music from the Edge of Heaven 1986
Before there was George Michael, paparazzi fodder, there was Wham, his and Andrew Ridgeley’s revival of teen pop. A great song; give it to someone special.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gmARGvPlI?fs=1]

Stay tuned for Part 3, coming Monday night…

Too Cool for Yule: 3rd Annual Holiday Tunes from the Director, in 3 Part Harmony

 

Director's Blog

This week we bring you the Library Director’s annual “Don’t Touch That Dial” holiday-music blog post, designed to chase the dark away.

PART 1….

1. The Gloucestershire Wassail by Waverly Consort, from A Waverly Consort Christmas: Christmas From East Anglia To Appalachia –
What holiday is complete without some good old, wassailing? Take some apples, add some sugar and spice and you end up with something hot and nice.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrZnZ6MZtVA?fs=1]

2. I Wonder As I wander/Noëls Anciens and
3. Coventry Carol by Musica Intima, from Nativité
Two a cappella classics from a Vancouver based ensemble. Breathtakingly beautiful.

4. Angelus Ad Virginem by The Boston Camerata, from Sing We Noel

Founded the year of my birth, Boston Camerata is one of the oldest early music ensembles in the United States. The song is a medieval carol, with text that is a poetic version of the Hail Mary. Interesting Factoid from Wikipedia: AAV was the first piece of music sung at the annual Bracebridge Dinner, a lavish Christmas feast held for many years at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. The song, sung as the guests entered the dining room, was selected by Ansel Adams in 1929, who was director of the pageant at that time.

5. Good People All by Anonymous 4, from Wolcum Yule – Celtic and British Songs and Carols.
Luminous and pure in tone. Play repeatedly.

6. Zat You Santa Claus? by Buster Poindexter and His Banshees of Blue, from How Cool Is That Christmas
In which Buster Poindexter (alter ego of frontman David Johansen, of glam band New York Dolls fame) channels Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), fabled New Orleans trumpeter and titanic entertainer.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP8C_SUKQbs?fs=1]

7. Winter Wonderland by Aretha Franklin, from How Cool Is That Christmas
‘Retha swings in this 1964 rendition of the timeless classic. Sleigh bells ring. Are you listenin’???
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svm0K7ykYbA?fs=1]

8. Good King Wenceslas by John Fahey, from Christmas Guitar, Vol. 1 1982
Local (Takoma Park, MD) folkie, bluesman and acoustic guitar innovator, John Fahey (February 28, 1939 – February 22, 2001) picks apart this medieval carol and creates an off brand holiday classic. A must in any serious music collection, holiday or otherwise.

And this is just the start of of 2010’s Yule Tunes from the Library Director’s collection! Check back on Monday and Tuesday for Part 2 and Part 3…

Summertime and the Listening is Easy

Summer’s here. . . I’m for that. Got my rubber sandals, got my straw hat.

Schools out for summer. Schools out. For. Ever. And the livin’ is easy. Can you surrey? Can you picnic?? You’re gonna need an ocean of calamine lotion. Good day sunshine; gonna make our own lighting. We’re barefootin; hot summer streets and the pavements are burning.


I sit around trying to smile but the air is so heavy and dry; back of my neck getting dirty and gritty. Well I feel that burning flame. Has high blood pressure got a hold on me? Went to the fortune teller to have my fortune read. Well there ain’t no cure for the summer time blues. Girls comb their hair in the rear view mirrors. I really dig those styles they wear. They`re out there a`havin` fun in that warm California sun.

The heat of the day begins to die; the faintest breeze comes drifting by. My fickle friend the summer wind.

Hot fun in the summertime. Sail on Sailor. Here are my favorite summer tunes:

1. School’s Out – Alice Cooper
2. Hot Fun in the Summer Time – Sly and the Family Stone
3. Stoned Soul Picnic – Laura Nyro
4. Summer in the City – Lovin’ Spoonful
5. Summertime Blues – Eddie Cochran
6. Cherry, Cherry – Neil Diamond
7. Heatwave – Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
8. Fortune Teller – Rolling Stones
9. Cruel Summer – Bananarama
10. Summer’s Here – James Taylor
11. Good Day Sunshine – Beatles (but you still can’t legally download them. Here’s “The Hit Crew”)
12. Starless Summer Night – Marshall Crenshaw
13. The Summer Wind /Madeleine Peyroux
14. Summertime – featuring Anita Baker, Cyrus Chestnut
15. California Sun – Dick Dale
16. California Girls – David Lee Roth
17. Poison Ivy – Coasters
18. Sail on Sailor – The Beach Boys
19. Barefootin’ – Wilson Pickett
20. Born to Run – Bruuuuuuuuuuuuce

Bonus: Popsicle – Jan and Dean

Infamous Arlingtonian Mary Ann Hall

Rixey Mansion, now part of Marymount University, stands on the site of Mary Ann Hall’s country house.

 

Mary Ann Hall, sister of Bazil Hall, the farmer and slave owner for which Hall’s Hill (now Highview Park) was named, also owned property in Arlington which she used as a summer home and country house. The main building of Marymount University, Rixey Mansion, now occupies the site of Mary Ann’s farmhouse.

Mary Ann was a high-class madam in Washington where she ran a brothel (located at the foot of Capitol Hill) for over 40 years. She bought the lot and had the brothel built to her specifications, a substantial house with four stories containing 25 rooms and a basement.

When the construction for the National Museum of the American Indian began, professional archeologists were called in to interpret the site where her house stood. The results of the excavation showed that the quality of materials at the site was better than that of the surrounding neighborhood. Tableware was expensive and seeds and bones found showed a nutritional diet that included substantial amounts of beef, poultry and fish as well as turtle, and fruits such as coconuts and berries. Also found were dozens of corks and bottles which seemed to indicate Mary Ann’s fondness for champagne.

A successful business woman, in 1853 she was able to purchase a farm in Alexandria County (now Arlington) to which she gradually added through 1869. As she grew older she spent more time at the farm and turned over business matters to her younger sister Elizabeth.

District of Columbia court records show that when she died, Mary Ann Hall was worth $87,000 (about $2,000,000 today) with no debts. A list of her belongings included Belgian carpets, oil paintings, plush red furniture and an ice box as well as a large number of sheets, mattresses, blankets, feather pillows and comforters.

Mary Ann never married, had children or kept a diary. She left no collection of personal letters or business ledgers, so there is little known about her as an individual. However, her obituary in the Evening Star described her as a person of unquestioned integrity and a heart open to “appeals of distress and a charity that was boundless.”

After her death in 1886, she was buried in Congressional Cemetery. The inscription on her grave monument reads:

Truth was her motto
Her creed charity for all
Dawn is coming.

Don’t Touch That Dial – The Second Annual Yule Blog

Director's Blog

 

Here we come a caroling—‘tis the season to be seasonal. It’s that most wonderful time of the year for decking and hauling, tinseling and snowballing (at least somewhere), so it’s time for another list of much beloved songs to drive the dark away. In looking over last year’s inaugural list, I see we have a hard act to follow. Decisions, decisions—whether to go ironic or indie? Caroler or crooner? Classical or comedy? Hipster or hippie? Rhythm ‘n’ blues-er or rocker? Too much to choose from because ANYONE who has ever dared to call himself or herself a singer has made an album or two (or three) of seasonal favorites, those tunes that nestle in like ear worms as the Macy’s T-Day balloons are launched, not to be freed until early January.

Much as I did last year, I decided to go for the eclectic sampler, the kind of box of treats my family used to buy at the Russell Stover Candies store at Seven Corners Shopping Mall.

No barking dogs, no marauding reindeer committing granny-cide, no warbling, woodland rodents, and not a lot you’re likely to hear in the grocery aisles. Not even a Bob Dylan re-interpretation (too scary). Just a little of this and a little of that—something new, something blue and maybe a tune (or two) new to you.

So grab a hot cuppa, slip into a Snuggie and, once again click, spin or play your way into the holidays. And post a comment below with YOUR list of favorites—be they musical, audio-visual, photographic, literary or memories of the most notable gifts ever given or received as you and yours celebrate the best of the season—be it Christmas, Eid, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Diwali, the Solstice or any other.

Repeat the sounding joy. . .

10. “Winter Wonderland”—Rosemary Clooney. Long before there was dreamy George there was his Aunt Rosie, one of the best of the canaries (girl singers) to come outta the Big Band era. She really swings, “are you listening?”

9. “Do You Hear What I Hear”—The Roches (from “We Three Kings”). A trio of hip sisters, neo-folkies with a twist. I picked this one because I like the song so much but the whole deal is great.

8. “Jingle Bells”—Barbra Streisand. On steroids. A frighteningly fast take on a holiday classic, recorded in 1967 when La Barbra was no doubt still channeling Fanny Brice. Catch it if you can; it must be heard to be believed.

7. “Greensleeves”—John Coltrane, live in 1961 at the fabled Village Vanguard with his greatest band ever, featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones.

6. “River”—Herbie Hancock: The Joni Letters.

It’s coming on Christmas.
They’re cutting down trees.
They’re putting up reindeer.
And singing songs of joy and peace.

Herbie and Joni, it doesn’t get any better than this.

5. “The Wild Wood Carol”—Cambridge Singers (from “Christmas Day in the Morning”), conducted by John Rutter. After a nine millionth hearing of the John Rutter “Gloria” last Christmas, a friend of mine remarked that he was going to devote the rest of his life to destroying every extant recording of it. But that’s Rutter the composer. Rutter the choral conductor puts the Brit stiff upper lip to good use with this crystalline clear collection of classics that stays in my CD changer throughout the whole of December.

4. “A Christmas Song”—Charles Bressler and Ned Rorem (from “Rorem: Songs of Rorem”). And for the truly adventuresome, check out Susan Graham’s “Songs of Ned Rorem.” Take special note of “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Luscious.

3. “Santa Claus is Back in Town”—Elvis Presley. The King.

2. “Run Run Rudolph”—Chuck Berry. Hey hey my my. Rock and roll will never die.

1. “Have Yourself A Merry Christmas”—The Carpenters. Last year I closed my list with Judy Garland’s version . With this pick, I am starting a tradition within a tradition, to close with a different cover of my super all-time fave song of the season. I own a lot of versions and there are scores out there–even one by Twisted Sister. So we should be more than good until 2050. And still I will never, ever put Bob Dylan’s version on this list.

 

Bonus Tracks: One silly, one serious and one off-the-wall.

1. “Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time”—Wings. Sir Paul McCartney doing what he does best. Tossing off a little nothing and making it all look easy.
2. “I Fell Out of A Christmas Tree”—Little Rita Faye. Okay. This is the off-the-wall one. From a goofy and strange Christmas album I owned when I was a kid. It had Lionel Barrymore reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, among other strangenesses. The whole thing is just plain weird.
3. “The Holly and the Ivy”—The Medieval Babes. The whole album is a little new agey and other worldly.

 

 

"A Library is a Dangerous Place"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new Westover Branch Library opened October 31, 2009, at the corner of Washington Boulevard and N. McKinley Road. It is a dual use facility shared with the schools and located on the site of the original Walter Reed School.

When the previous building opened in 1963, 3000 books were borrowed on the first day, a record number of check-outs for a single day at that time, according to then library director Jane Nida.

The whole library system was expanding during this period, and at one of the dedications, County Board member Roye Lowry made the following remarks, a reminder of the importance and power of libraries:

“The serenity of this building and the quiet atmosphere of its interior should not mislead us, for this is meant to be an exciting and even dangerous place…Awaiting us here will be the best and the worst in ourselves and in all men…If you enter this place, you shall not leave unmarked, for this is a place where illusions are shattered, where prejudices are destroyed, where hopes and ideals are kindled anew…

A library is a dangerous place for anyone who is afraid of new ideas. I hope that we will always keep it that way.”

 



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