Built by the People Themselves : African American Community Development in Arlington, Virginia, from the Civil War Through Civil Rights.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bestebreurtje, Lindsey.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Community development--Virginia--Arlington--History.

Community development.

African Americans--Virginia--Arlington--History--19th century.

African Americans.

African Americans--Virginia--Arlington--History--20th century.

Freed persons--Virginia--Arlington County--History--19th century.

Freed persons.

Freedman's Village (Arlington County, Va.)--History.

Freedman's Village (Arlington County, Va.).

Arlington (Va.)--History.

Arlington (Va.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (300 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Columbia : University of South Carolina Press, 2024.

Summary:

"The story of how racial segregation and suburbanization shaped lives, the built environment, and the law in Arlington. Arlington, Virginia, sits on the bank of the Potomac River, just opposite the nation's capital city of Washington, D.C. This proximity shaped the history of Arlington and the economic, social, and political lives of its Black residents. In Built by the People Themselves, Lindsey Bestebreurtje traces the history of Arlington's Black community from the first days of emancipation through the era of civil rights in the twentieth century. She highlights individual stories of how Black families, neighborhoods, institutions, and communities were affected by politics, planning, and policy at the county and state levels. A core insight of Bestebreurtje's account is how common people developed strategies to survive and thrive despite systems of oppression in the Jim Crow South. Moving beyond the standard story of suburbanization that focuses on elite white community developers, Bestebreurtje analyzes African American-led community development and its effects on Arlington County"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Built by the People Themselves

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Arlington's People and Communities

CHAPTER 1 "Where They Had Lived Undisturbed for Nearly a Quarter of a Century": Freedman's Village and the Expansion of Black Arlington

CHAPTER 2 "Gone Out to Do for Themselves": The Freedman's Village Diaspora and Arlington's Suburban Villages

CHAPTER 3 "Suburban Homes . . . in Sight of the Monument": Streetcar Suburbs and White Arlington's Expanding Control

CHAPTER 4 "So That We May Occupy Our Rightful Place": Population Boom and Changing Realities for Black Arlingtonians

CHAPTER 5 "Everybody Was Coming to Washington in Those Days": The Arrival of War Workers and Arlington's Suburban Explosion

CHAPTER 6 "We Cannot Lose This Fight as We Lost Our Freedoms during Reconstruction Days": Politics, School Integration, and Neighborhood Preservation

Conclusion: An End to Residential Segregation

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781643364995

1643364995

OCLC:

1460466701