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Gloria D. Thompson was born in 1946 to parents Clarence and Ethel Thompson. The Thompson family lived in Arlington's African American Hall's Hill neighborhood. Her mother Ethel was involved with the NAACP and added her children to Arlington's school integration cases. On February 2, 1959 twelve-year-old Gloria became one of four black students, and the only female, to integrate Arlington's Stratford Junior High School. She joined fellow Hall's Hill residents Ronald Deskins, Michael Jones, and Lance Newman. Stratford was the first school to integrate in the state of Virginia. After participating in such a major Civil Rights victory, Gloria continued her activism as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Charles Drew was an African American surgeon and scientist whose pioneering work with blood plasma and transfusions saved countless lives during World War II. He ultimately left military service after the US Government attempted to segregate blood donations without any scientific need for such a policy. Drew served as a Professor at Howard University, the chief surgeon at Freedmen's Hospital, and became the first African American examiner for the American Board of Surgery. He died in a car accident in 1950 at the age of 45, leaving behind his wife Minnie and four children.

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.

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.

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.

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."

On June 23, 1960, after two weeks of coordinated sit-in efforts across the county, leaders from the Non-Violent Action Group (NAG) enjoy cups of coffee at the Drug Fair. The company announced the day before that it would integrate its lunch counters in the Washington area. Within weeks more restaurants and lunch counters in Arlington desegregated their services as a result of the sit-ins.

Those pictured include Dion Diamond (corner seat),Laurence Henry (far right), and Paul Dietrich (second from left).

Non-Violent Action Group (NAG) activists Dion T. Diamond (left) and Laurence Henry are arrested by Arlington Police Sergeant Roy G. Lockey (left) and Lt. Ernest A. Summers. The two were arrested while demonstrating at the Howard Johnson's restaurant in Arlington.

This scene was a part of a coordinated sit-in movement which occurred across several Arlington lunch counters in June of 1960 to protest segregated accommodations. These demonstrations ultimately led to the integration of restaurants in Arlington. But unfortunately this did not end racism. African American resident Princeton Simms recalled that despite integration proprietors would “pick up the plate and throw it in the trash” after they were used by black patrons. This kind of outward hostility meant many black customers continued to prefer to patronize black owned restaurants despite integration.

Gwendolyn Greene (later Britt) sits at the People's Drug Store Counter in Arlington Virginia. When she sat down to request service the workers left the store, only returning once management closed the counter.

This scene was a part of a coordinated sit-in movement which occurred across several Arlington lunch counters in June of 1960 to protest Arlington's segregated accommodations.

Non-Violent Action Group (NAG) activist Dion Diamond is harassed by young white men during a sit in at the Cherrydale Drug Fair in June of 1960.

This scene was a part of a coordinated sit-in movement which occurred across several Arlington lunch counters in June of 1960. to protest segregated accommodation.