As a Co-Chair of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee I try to share information that will keep our local black history and overall history of Arlington alive.  Back in April, I conducted a walking tour of the Segregation Wall located in the historically black neighborhood Halls Hill/High View Park.  There are other very significant contributions to the history of Arlington from that same neighborhood, which includes the first four black students who integrated schools at Stratford that came from Halls Hill and made statewide and National news.  Then we have the Fire Station 8 located on Lee Highway that still services that neighborhood that had to be built by the locals in order to even have fire services for blacks back then.  A few years ago, the County tried to relocate this station to better serve a white neighborhood that didn't even want it!  The Halls Hill/High View Park community rallied together to fight this effort and was successful in keeping it in it's existing location.  There's so much rich history that has never been shared or discussed and I'd like to bring attention to it as much as I can because this is where I come from as a native of Arlington - these are my roots!  I am very proud of this and wanted to share with my Discovery community. 

 

So today I'd like to extend an invitation to celebrate in some of our local Arlington history.  We will be participating in the "Winter Festival of Lights" tomorrow, Saturday, December 1, 2018 from 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. at Langston Brown Community Center.  This event is being presented by the Lee Highway Alliance and will stretch the length of Lee Highway from the Lee Community Center to the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire House with various activities along the way.  In conjunction with the festival of lights, there will be an unveiling of the John M. Langston portrait at 12 Noon at Langston in the 1st floor lobby.