Resilience

Despite many stories of displacement and discrimination, Black history is a history of resilience.

Resilience built schools, churches, and neighborhoods. Despite the lack of help from local governments, leaving communities without basic utilities such as electricity or plumbing, these communities persevered and found a way to support each other. Neighbors put lights in their windows to light the streets, started businesses when white businesses would not serve their own community, and stood in the face of injustice when they were being unfairly treated.

For hundreds of years, Black resilience has confronted a system that did little to help and often worked against them. Resilience can be seen in the stories of Anna Bell Davis, Mary Chase, Jane Crouch, and Harriet Jacobs, who led the effort to expand access to education following the Civil War, before which the education of Black people was illegal. Resilience can also be found in the determination of Black contractors to build homes for Black families that white builders turned away, such as Henry Holmes and William Butler, who built the Butler-Holmes subdivision in the Penrose section of Arlington in 1882. A common theme in Black history, one doesn’t need to look far to find resilient Black leaders who have shaped, and are shaping, America.

More than a hundred Black high school students, supported by several dozen white students, took over a National Socialist White People’s Party rally in Alexandria on November 15, 1970. DC Public Library, Star Collection © Washington Post.
More than a hundred Black high school students, supported by several dozen white students, took over a National Socialist White People’s Party rally in Alexandria on November 15, 1970. DC Public Library, Star Collection © Washington Post.
Parade along Queen Street, in front of the Capitol Theater. The Capitol was the first theater for Black patrons in Alexandria, and continued to serve the Black community throughout the era of segregation. Alexandria, 1950. Source: The American Legion William Thomas Post 129, photographer unknown.
Parade along Queen Street, in front of the Capitol Theater. The Capitol was the first theater for Black patrons in Alexandria, and continued to serve the Black community throughout the era of segregation. Alexandria, 1950. Source: The American Legion William Thomas Post 129, photographer unknown.
Tinner family at their home in the late 1800s. Joseph and Mary Tinner bought land in Falls Church. In the early 1900s, Joseph Tinner and E.B. Henderson fought local segregation laws and founded the first rural branch of the NAACP in the United States. Tinner served as president. The construction of Lee Highway was routed through this enclave in the 1920’s. Source: Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation.
Tinner family at their home in the late 1800s. Joseph and Mary Tinner bought land in Falls Church. In the early 1900s, Joseph Tinner and E.B. Henderson fought local segregation laws and founded the first rural branch of the NAACP in the United States. Tinner served as president. The construction of Lee Highway was routed through this enclave in the 1920’s. Source: Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation.
Eliza Henderson, born into slavery, sold down South to Mississippi, escaped during Battle of Vicksburg, became a grocer in SW DC and then in Falls Church, buying her cousin Fred Foote's store when he died. Source: Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation.
Eliza Henderson, born into slavery, sold down South to Mississippi, escaped during Battle of Vicksburg, became a grocer in SW DC and then in Falls Church, buying her cousin Fred Foote's store when he died. Source: Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation.
Source: Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation.
Source: Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation.
Black adults and children read books in front of a barracks building at Freedman’s Village. As many as 900 students were educated at the Village school. Photographed between 1862 and 1865. Source: Library of Congress.
Black adults and children read books in front of a barracks building at Freedman’s Village. As many as 900 students were educated at the Village school. Photographed between 1862 and 1865. Source: Library of Congress.
Contraband hospital. Source: Library of Congress.
Contraband hospital. Source: Library of Congress.
Decorating a soldier’s grave in one of the Black sections of Arlington Cemetery, Arlington, Va., May 1943. Source: Esther Bubley, New York Public Library.
Decorating a soldier’s grave in one of the Black sections of Arlington Cemetery, Arlington, Va., May 1943. Source: Esther Bubley, New York Public Library.
Article: "Hall's Hill Area Due for Renewal", Northern Virginia Sun, 23 February 1965: "...Negro community of 1650 persons, 322 houses, three churches, and a school... The community is cut off from Glebe Road by dead-end streets and from any entry on the south side by four blocks of solid fences and walls running along North 17th Street." Source: Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia.
Article: "Hall's Hill Area Due for Renewal", Northern Virginia Sun, 23 February 1965: "...Negro community of 1650 persons, 322 houses, three churches, and a school... The community is cut off from Glebe Road by dead-end streets and from any entry on the south side by four blocks of solid fences and walls running along North 17th Street." Source: Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia.
Occupied streets in the Hall’s Hill neighborhood shows an active community.
 Source: Unknown.
Occupied streets in the Hall’s Hill neighborhood shows an active community.
 Source: Unknown.
Langston Blazers boys basketball team, ca. 1950. This team was formed through Arlington's Negro Recreation Division, part of the Parks and Recreation Department. Source: Center for Local History, Arlington Public Library.
Langston Blazers boys basketball team, ca. 1950. This team was formed through Arlington's Negro Recreation Division, part of the Parks and Recreation Department. Source: Center for Local History, Arlington Public Library.
Cartoon for the Office of War Information describing Dr. Charles Richard Drew, by Charles Alston, 1943. Source: National Archives.
Cartoon for the Office of War Information describing Dr. Charles Richard Drew, by Charles Alston, 1943. Source: National Archives.
Banquet in Hoffman Boston school cafeteria, 1950s. Source: Center for Local History, Arlington Public Library.
Banquet in Hoffman Boston school cafeteria, 1950s. Source: Center for Local History, Arlington Public Library.
Richard Walker at his Green Valley/Nauck business, the only shoe repair shop in Arlington that served Black customers. Arlington, 1980. Photo by Lloyd Wolf.
Richard Walker at his Green Valley/Nauck business, the only shoe repair shop in Arlington that served Black customers. Arlington, 1980. Photo by Lloyd Wolf.
Leonard “Doc” Muse in front of Green Valley Pharmacy, 1980. Howard University School of Pharmacy graduate and owner of Green Valley Pharmacy, a fixture of the Nauck community and likely the first Black-owned pharmacy in Arlington. Muse opened the pharmacy in 1952, during a time when most pharmacies did not welcome the Black community. Photo by Lloyd Wolf.
Leonard “Doc” Muse in front of Green Valley Pharmacy, 1980. Howard University School of Pharmacy graduate and owner of Green Valley Pharmacy, a fixture of the Nauck community and likely the first Black-owned pharmacy in Arlington. Muse opened the pharmacy in 1952, during a time when most pharmacies did not welcome the Black community. Photo by Lloyd Wolf.
Chinn Brothers Funeral Home. Green Valley/Nauck, Arlington, 1979. Photo by Lloyd Wolf.
Chinn Brothers Funeral Home. Green Valley/Nauck, Arlington, 1979. Photo by Lloyd Wolf.
Gospel guitarist and family pictured after a rally at the Drew School in Green Valley to make MLK Jr.’s birthday a national holiday. Arlington, 1980. Photo by Lloyd Wolf.
Gospel guitarist and family pictured after a rally at the Drew School in Green Valley to make MLK Jr.’s birthday a national holiday. Arlington, 1980. Photo by Lloyd Wolf.
Portrait of Maria Carter Syphax, 1870. The success of the prominent Syphax family of Arlington began when George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of Martha Washington, manumitted his enslaved maid, Maria Carter Syphax. The Syphax family acquired 17 acres of his Arlington plantation in 1866, where they built a house and farm. Source: Wikicommons, public domain.
Portrait of Maria Carter Syphax, 1870. The success of the prominent Syphax family of Arlington began when George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of Martha Washington, manumitted his enslaved maid, Maria Carter Syphax. The Syphax family acquired 17 acres of his Arlington plantation in 1866, where they built a house and farm. Source: Wikicommons, public domain.
Portrait of William Syphax, son of Maria and Charles Syphax. William went on to work in the U.S. Department of the Interior, and John served as a delegate to the Virginia legislature. Source: Wikicommons.
Portrait of William Syphax, son of Maria and Charles Syphax. William went on to work in the U.S. Department of the Interior, and John served as a delegate to the Virginia legislature. Source: Wikicommons.
Robinson House. Manassas, 1862. Source: Library of Congress.
Robinson House. Manassas, 1862. Source: Library of Congress.
An unpaved street in Queen City. Source: Center for Local History, Arlington Public Library.
An unpaved street in Queen City. Source: Center for Local History, Arlington Public Library.
Juanita E. Gray at work at Washington Navy Yard, circa 1942. Black women and men in Northern Virginia found jobs in the District of Columbia, increasingly during World War II. At the time of the photo, more than 300 black women had been trained by the National Youth Administration War Production and Training Center. Source: Library of Congress.
Juanita E. Gray at work at Washington Navy Yard, circa 1942. Black women and men in Northern Virginia found jobs in the District of Columbia, increasingly during World War II. At the time of the photo, more than 300 black women had been trained by the National Youth Administration War Production and Training Center. Source: Library of Congress.
Portrait of Harriet Jacobs, 1894. When the Union Army occupied Alexandria early in the Civil War, the Black community began opening schools at a remarkable speed, led by women such as Harriet Jacobs, Anna Bell Davis, Mary Chase, and Jane Crouch. Source: Wikicommons.
Portrait of Harriet Jacobs, 1894. When the Union Army occupied Alexandria early in the Civil War, the Black community began opening schools at a remarkable speed, led by women such as Harriet Jacobs, Anna Bell Davis, Mary Chase, and Jane Crouch. Source: Wikicommons.
East Arlington Volunteer Fire Company, also known as “The Fire Eaters.” For decades during segregation, Fire Station #8 was the only Arlington, Va. station staffed by African Americans. Formed in 1925 and disbanded by the County Board in February 1941 as the neighborhood was transformed by construction of the Pentagon. Source: Center for Local History, Arlington Public Library.
East Arlington Volunteer Fire Company, also known as “The Fire Eaters.” For decades during segregation, Fire Station #8 was the only Arlington, Va. station staffed by African Americans. Formed in 1925 and disbanded by the County Board in February 1941 as the neighborhood was transformed by construction of the Pentagon. Source: Center for Local History, Arlington Public Library.
Arlington trailer camp occupant tending to his wartime “victory” garden, 1942. A clear act of patriotism in the midst of overt discrimination and government-sanctioned displacement. Source: Library of Congress.
Arlington trailer camp occupant tending to his wartime “victory” garden, 1942. A clear act of patriotism in the midst of overt discrimination and government-sanctioned displacement. Source: Library of Congress.
A woman hanging out washing with her young son in front of the community building in a FSA (Farm Security Administration) housing relief camp for African Americans. Arlington, Virginia, 1942. Source: Library of Congress.
A woman hanging out washing with her young son in front of the community building in a FSA (Farm Security Administration) housing relief camp for African Americans. Arlington, Virginia, 1942. Source: Library of Congress.
Arlington, Virginia. FSA (Farm Security Administration) trailer camp project for Negroes. Interior of an expansible trailer, showing one wing used as a bedroom. Source: Library of Congress.
Arlington, Virginia. FSA (Farm Security Administration) trailer camp project for Negroes. Interior of an expansible trailer, showing one wing used as a bedroom. Source: Library of Congress.
Arlington, Virginia. FSA (Farm Security Administration) trailer camp project for Negroes. Interior of expansible trailer, showing kitchen equipment. Source: Library of Congress.
Arlington, Virginia. FSA (Farm Security Administration) trailer camp project for Negroes. Interior of expansible trailer, showing kitchen equipment. Source: Library of Congress.
Arlington, Virginia. FSA (Farm Security Administration) trailer camp project for Negroes. Children playing marbles outside the community building. Source: Library of Congress.
Arlington, Virginia. FSA (Farm Security Administration) trailer camp project for Negroes. Children playing marbles outside the community building. Source: Library of Congress.
Previous
Next

Fast Forward

The legacy of white supremacy still exists in many social structures today. Although the civil rights movement brought great progress in advancing social justice, discriminatory practices continue to limit access to housing, transportation, education, jobs, and fair wages for people of color. Although recent generations saw progress in broadening the civic engagement of the Black community and participation in elected office, from the city council to the White House, efforts are now underway to roll back some of those advances, including as efforts to obstruct the right to vote. Black people should not have to rely on resilience and their own actions to challenge modern forms of white supremacy. National, state, and local governments–including those in Northern Virginia–should support minorities by actively dismantling the historic policies established by past decision-makers and by safeguarding the rights of people today, of all backgrounds, to access quality affordable housing and education, transportation, employment opportunities, voting rights, and clean and safe communities.

Stories

Dig deeper into the topics by exploring the stories of the past that have shaped the present.

E.B. Henderson

Edwin Bancroft (E.B.) Henderson spent most of his childhood living in an integrated neighborhood in Washington D.C. But during the summer, he stayed with his

Read More »

The Syphax Family

When he was young, Stephen Hammond did not believe he was related to the family of George and Martha Washington. But when Hammond traced his

Read More »
See all Resilience Stories

© 2021 Center on Society and Health

nvhf_logo_white-150-01