School Integration in Arlington

When four African American students, seventh graders Gloria Thompson, Ronald Diskins, Lance Newman and Michael Jones (above, left to right), entered Stratford Junior High School (now H.B. Woodlawn) on February 2, 1959, Stratford became the first white public school in Virginia to admit black students.

In opposition to the state’s plan of “massive resistance,” the Virginia NAACP developed a strategy to focus their energy first where the black population was small, and the Byrd machine weak, and it worked. Arlington, with an African American population of about five percent, fit that description. In addition, it had a strong core of black activists, as well as whites who supported their cause and also did not want the Arlington schools closed down.

On that cold winter day, half of Arlington’s police force, wearing white battle helmets and equipped with gas grenades and masks, were deployed around the entire perimeter of the school grounds. Fifteen plainclothesmen were on duty inside the school building, to which only students and teachers were allowed access. Press and other media, while present in large numbers, were barred from the premises of the school. Because of the precautions taken and the careful groundwork that was laid, the day passed without serious incident.

This date, however, marked the beginning of a process, for it was not until 1971 that Arlington schools were fully integrated.

The Virginia Room holds a wide array of materials on desegregation of the county’s public schools. There are several oral histories, archival collections, photographs, vertical files that include newspaper clippings, and recordings of Library events featuring students and administrators of the time.

What About You?

What do you remember about Arlington at this time? Did you go to Stratford Junior High in the late 1950s or early 1960s? Let us know what you remember!

Funded by a bond referendum in 1961, the Westover Branch Library, seen here in the 1970s, was opened to the public in June of 1963.

Prior to this, the Westover branch, founded in 1949, was located in small rented basement rooms at 1530 N. Longfellow Street, but the needs of the community soon outgrew the space. The new location at 1800 N. Lexington Street was designed by J. Russell Bailey, who also designed the Cherrydale branch building and the original Central Library in 1961.

From the Westover Library Dedication program:

“The modern split level design permits the entrance-level circulation desk to serve both the adult area on the upper level and the children’s room on the lower level. The latter opens to a grass terrace for story hour use. Full length windows on the north wall provide good light. Air-conditioning has been installed.”

Local women’s and civic groups planted trees and maintained flower beds on the grounds, and helped purchase new furniture and books for the shelves. The Westover Library had quickly become part of the community. However, that community has kept on growing, and the Westover branch has packed a lot of books and information in a small space to keep up with community needs.

A larger, more modern Westover Branch Library opened in October 2009.

What About You?

What do you remember about Westover library? How about other Arlington branch libraries? Do you have any photographs of those buildings? Let us know what you remember!

While they may seem quaint or even primitive by modern standards, upon their completion in 1913, the Navy’s Radio Station Arlington Towers were considered to represent the height of cutting edge communications technology.

In their day, “The Three Sisters” as they were known, were the second largest manmade structure in the world behind only the Eiffel Tower, with the tallest of the three standing a full 45 feet higher than the Washington Monument.

Located at the intersection of Columbia Pike and Courthouse Road, the towers were built to launch the Navy’s effort to establish a worldwide communications network. Using the call letters NAA, the towers functioned to provide the first long distance radio conversation, the first transoceanic radio telephone circuit (fittingly, to a French station broadcasting from the Eiffel Tower), and served to introduce the regular broadcasts of time signals, which was important to ships at sea who relied on accurate time checks for navigational purposes.

The towers were taken down in 1941 upon the opening of National Airport as they were considered to be an aviation hazard. Today, the site at Columbia Pike and Courthouse road continues to be occupied by military communications departments, chiefly the Defense Communication Agency. There are photographs like the one above, showing the Three Sisters and cavalry exercises from Fort Myer, and you can find out more information on the towers using newspapers on microfilm, all in the Virginia Room.

What About You?

What do you remember about the Arlington radio towers? What was early radio like in the Washington area? Let us know what you remember!

The Little Tea House Restaurant, located on Arlington Ridge Road, opened in 1920 and remained there until 1963 when it was demolished to make room for a high-rise apartment building.

During its heyday, many famous people ate at the restaurant, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Known for its lovely gardens and views, it was also one of the first places in Arlington where racially mixed groups could meet.

Gertrude Crocker, who started the restaurant, was active in women’s issues throughout her life and started the restaurant so she could be independent and her own “boss.” When Mrs. Crocker leased, and later sold, the business to Gertrude Allison, it became known for a period as Allison’s Little Tea House.

The Virginia Room’s Oral History Project includes an interview with Ellen C. Puterbaugh, daughter of Gertrude Crocker, and the Arlington Community Archives has a photograph collection, PG 215, of images of the Little Tea House dating primarily from the 1920s.

What About You?

Do you remember the Little Tea House? Did you ever eat there? Let us know what you remember!

We Need Your Help!

Do you recognize this intersection?

This photograph above was taken around 1937. The signpost on the far right reads “Clarendon” in the center and “Ballston” on the bottom, but we have not identified the road or neighborhood where this photograph was taken.

The original photograph is here in the Center for Local History at the Central Library, if you are interested in taking a closer look. The Library holds many photographs where the people and places are unknown. The staff always welcomes input on these unidentified works.

What About You?

Do you recognize this intersection? Do you have old photographs of a similar location? Let us know what you remember!

For a century the company called Rucker Reality has been part of the Arlington business community.

The company was founded in 1906 by George H. Rucker who was the county clerk of Alexandria County from 1899 until his death in 1919. Rucker and his wife Elizabeth began purchasing land in the county in 1899, and by 1906 they had acquired a large tract that he filed for subdividing as “Rucker’s Addition to Clarendon.” That same year Rucker started an insurance business and was a founding officer of Virginia Real Estate Title Company. By 1909, the company had grown and he asked two of his brothers-in-law, Ashton C. Jones and N.A. Rees to join him in the business.

When George Rucker died suddenly in 1919, at the height of his business career, Ashton Jones replaced Rucker in managing the business and in 1920 created the subdivision Ashton Heights. The company was also involved in developing many areas such as Lee Heights, Cherrydale, Tara-Leeway Heights, Ballston and the Westover Shopping Center.

Over the years the company diversified and eventually became the George H. Rucker Realty Corporation. Today, all ownership shares of the privately held company are still owned entirely by descendents of the founders, except for some stock option incentive shares held by the company president and CEO. The Virginia Room holds copies of many important Rucker Realty documents and has some photos of their Clarendon offices.

What About You?

Did you or your family have dealings with Rucker Realty? Let us know what you remember!

In 1919, the Arlington County Department of Health was one of the first full-time county departments for health services in the nation. 

A home well inspection, 1942.

Unique for this type of county service, the Department received most of its funding from private rather than public resources.

The Department of Health was organized to improve the county’s state of public health by enforcing laws regulating sanitation and disease. Over the years, the Department evolved into a social agency serving the community and enhancing the quality of life through many local social programs.

Researchers interested in the early development and organization of municipal health systems and health care services should find this collection (RG 21) from the library’s Community Archives very valuable. The photograph above, a well house inspection from 1942, is from that collection. Information about RG 21 can be found in the library catalog and a full finding aid is available in the Virginia Room.

Today, the Department of Health has become the Arlington County Department of Human Services. 

What About You?
What do you remember about the Health Department? How did you interact with them? Let us know what you remember!