BLND Project: “Back to School”: An Examination of the Forgotten Historic Location

Author(s): Sydney Hardy

Mentor(s): George Oberle, University Libraries; LaNitra Berger, Office of Fellowships and African and African American Studies; Benedict Carton, History and Art History; Anthony Guidone, Anne Dobberteen, Graduate Assistants

https://youtu.be/DPPl4PqQuLA

Abstract

My aim for this project was simple, find where the Black community lived during the early days of George Mason University expansion. However, this aim was too open-ended and did not avail itself to any answers just a long list of questions. These questions led me to formulate about eight different failed research questions.I spoke to my project mentors,they suggested that I find a neighborhood to start with instead of a whole community. From there I can piece together the lives of the individuals that lived there and what became of their property if it was sold. I began my search with properties listed for acquisitions and appraisal by actors on behalf of George Mason College, listed in the papers of John C. Wood. Those papers lead me to School Street as a remarkable number of properties were located there. From there I visited the Fairfax City Court House and did some archival work. I discovered that School Street was the last Black neighborhood in Fairfax along with some other Black subdivisions that were not as large. For seven decades, School Street had been home to generations of Black homeowners. The neighborhood was first established in 1920 by John Rust, a developer who brought the land surrounding the street, subdivided it, and sold it to interested parties, some of which were freed slaves, more detail will be provided later in the exhibit.The missing pieces came from Elaine McRey of the Virginia Room. With her resources, I was able to piece together a more accurate picture of School St. From this picture, we can trace these properties to present day and link them to the expansion of George Mason College. Starting at the origin, suburban expansion and area transformation seeping into Black suburban areas, placing pressure on the residents.

Video Transcript

Hi! My name is Sydney Alexandria, I am a rising senior, and assigned to Black Lives Next Door. My specific project deals with School St., the last Black neighborhood in Fairfax. For seven decades, School Street had been home to generations of Black homeowners. The neighborhood was first established in 1920 by John Rust, a developer who brought the land surrounding the street, subdivided it, and sold it to interested parties, some of which were freed slaves. Unfortunately, this neighborhood does not exist as it used to be mainly because of expanding suburbs and universities. I aim to cover its story and show its relation to the expansion of George Mason College via an Omeka exhibit. Join me now for a quick preview! Here is a little tutorial on how to use the interactive map on page 2 of my exhibit, it includes the appraisal information for each School St. properties listed for acquisition and appraisal. Don’t worry, its not very hard. To craft this exhibit, I took a trip to the Fairfax City courthouse to visit Georgia Brown, an archival specialist. Together, we were able to uncover names of former tents of School Street and some other majority Black neighborhoods located in Fairfax during the time of George Mason College expansion along with useful tax maps.

For more on this topic see:
Black Lives Next Door – Eleven Oaks Elementary School
Black Lives Next Door
Black Lives Next Door: Student Voices Meets School Silence
Black Resistance in Fairfax County

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