William H. Butler was an early leader in Arlington's African American community. Butler, his wife Anne, and their four children were enslaved before the Civil War. They were drawn to Arlington by the Freedman's Village contraband camp. He served in the Union Army from 1863 to 1865. He served as Commissioner of Roads in 1879, as Surveyor of the Roads and Superintendent of the Poor throughout the 1880s, and he was the co-founder of the Butler-Holmes black neighborhood in 1882. The Butler family lived in the family home, pictured here, in that community into the modern era.

Collection: Neighborhoods
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The Johnson's Hill community was founded in 1880 when the white Johnston family began selling lots to African Americans leaving Freedman's Village. Early settlers included Harrison Green, Emmanus Jackson, and Harry W. Gray. These men were leaders in the African American community, helping to found the important United Order of Odd Fellows fraternal organization in the neighborhood.

The community is located on a hill along Columbia Pike, near both Arlington National Cemetery and Fort Myer. Today the area is known as Arlington View.

Collection: Neighborhoods
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First established in 1844 by freemen Sarah and Levi Jones, Green Valley is Arlington's oldest African American community. By 1900 this neighborhood in eastern Arlington County became the largest black community in terms of both geography and population. This large population supported both a church and school within the community. The early strength of Green Valley was due, in large part, to the presence of the Jones family who actively sold land to fellow African Americans. The image above shows the community in the 1970s. At that time the community became known as Nauck.

Collection: Neighborhoods
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Queen City was a working class African American community founded in 1892. Like many African American neighborhoods, Queen City was formed as a result of the closing of Freedman's Village contraband camp, which was the area's largest African American community following the Civil War.

The neighborhood was located along Columbia Pike. Residents chose this site for their new community because it was the location of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church, whose congregation can trace its roots to Freedman's Village. Original residents built simple clapboard homes and grew subsistence crops on their small plots of land.

In 1942 the neighborhood was demolished by the federal government to make way for roads associated with the War Department's Pentagon building. This image was taken just before the community was lost. Mt. Olive can be seen on the left.

Collection: Neighborhoods

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Butler-Holmes was founded in 1882 by African American community leaders and politicians William H. Butler and Henry Louis Holmes. The neighborhood was founded as a middle class African American community.

Butler-Holmes was an early streetcar suburb in Arlington. The community originally grew along the Washington, Arlington, and Falls Church Railway trolley line and followed the suburban ideals of the time in housing type. This photographs shows two popular housing choices in the neighborhood via Butler's Queen Anne style home on the left, and Holmes' Bungalow style home on the right.

Today Butler-Holmes is known as Penrose.

Collection: Neighborhoods
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In 1960 the American Nazi Party protested Mario's Pizza because it was owned by long-time Arlington resident Howard Levine, a Jewish-American. In this photo, George Rockwell holds up a protest signs in front of the pizzeria.

Many of the group's protests and demonstrations centered on local Arlington issues. The group was also actively involved in county government and school board affairs. From their base in Ballston, group activities sometimes focused on national events by engaging in counter-protests and intimidation campaign for Civil Rights activities, such as following the route of the Freedom Riders throughout the South in 1965.

Collection: Civil Rights
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The American Nazi Party was founded in Arlington County in 1958 by George Lincoln Rockwell. Rockwell was born in Bloomington, Illinois in 1918, educated at Brown University and the Pratt Institute of Art in Brooklyn, and served as a Navy pilot in WWII and Korea. Inspired by Hitler, Rockwell blended German fascism with American racism. He and his organization protested local and national Civil Rights activities, picketed businesses, and held white-pride events. They were also very active in politics. In this photo Rockwell attends a School Board meeting to work again school integration. He was assassinated in Arlington in 1967 by fellow Nazi party member John Patler over control of the organization.

Collection: Civil Rights
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The American Nazi Party was founded in Arlington, Virginia by George Rockwell in 1958. The group was headquartered out of Arlington's Ballston neighborhood. The Arlington chapter had 50 to 60 members active in the late-1950s and early-1960s. From this headquarters the group organized protests, demonstrations, and political activities. In this photograph, Nazis sit on the front porch of their offices on Randolph Street, purchased for them by Floyd Fleming.

Collection: Civil Rights
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The American Nazi Party was founded in Arlington County by George Rockwell in 1958. The Arlington chapter of the American Nazi Party had 50 to 60 members active in the late-1950s and early-1960s. Most of these members lived together in a late-Victorian home they used as a barracks on Wilson Boulevard in Clarendon. Local sympathizers not directly affiliated with the group showed their support by bringing the men food to this home during the winter. While some residents complained of the “sieg heil” salutes given by their new neighbors in greeting, the Nazis did not actually break any community or county laws. Many came to call this property "Hatemonger Hill."

Collection: Civil Rights
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At the turn of the last century baseball was such a popular sport in Arlington that the county supported as many as five semi-professional teams. Like most elements of life at the time, sports and recreation were segregated.

Beginning in the 1910s, Arlington's black community formed the Black Socks Baseball team, pictured here. From their home base of Peyton Field in the Nauck community (formerly Green Valley). the Black Socks toured the east coast playing other black teams.

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