Virginia

By the time she was 23, Mulholland had participated in more than fifty sit-ins and protests. She was a Freedom Rider, a participant in the near riotous Jackson, Mississippi Woolworth Sit-in, and helped plan and organize the March on Washington in 1963. On a local level, she was part of the first Arlington sit-ins, which integrated lunch counters across northern Virginia, and helped to coordinate demonstrations at Glen Echo Park, Bethesda's Hiser Theater amongst other locations.

It's a foreign concept now but for many years, Arlington County did not have its own fire department. Instead, the county was served by a number of independent volunteer fire departments. These were organized locally, typically within neighborhoods where citizen leaders saw the need for some level of fire protection and established a resource right in their own neighborhood. When a fire broke out, the volunteers would leave their homes or businesses and go fight the flames. With the growth of the county, Arlington established a career fire service in July of 1940.

In 1932, amid the Great Depression, thousands of WWI veterans marched on Washington demanding early pension payments. Their encampment near the Anacostia River and protests on Pennsylvania Avenue alarmed President Hoover, who ordered their forcible removal after Congress rejected their demands. The clash, dubbed the Battle of Washington, deeply impacted Eleanor Roosevelt and shaped her resolve to prevent future injustices.

Before she topped the charts and won Grammys, Roberta Flack was a humble music teacher from Arlington, Virginia with a velvet voice and fierce perfectionism. Discover how Capitol Hill nightclub Mr. Henry’s became the launchpad for her legendary career.

In the 1940s, Jim Crow held strong in Arlington, Virginia. African-Americans encountered discrimination at segregated eating establishments, businesses and recreation facilities. Even access to medical care was divided along racial lines and African Americans were forced to travel to hospitals in Washington, D.C. or Alexandria. It was difficult – especially in a medical emergency – as many could not afford cars of their own. In 1947, three men with bright ideas and business ingenuity stepped up to fill the void.

Precision, discipline, and reverence—every 21 steps taken by the Tomb Guards at Arlington National Cemetery is a tribute to sacrifice. Discover the history and powerful symbolism behind their silent vigil, the elite training it takes to earn the badge, and why this sacred duty is one of the military’s highest honors.

In June 1960, a biracial contingent of college students from the Non‑Violent Action Group staged sit‑ins at Arlington lunch counters—facing taunts, arrests, and even a counter‑demonstration by American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell. Their persistence forced local stores to integrate within days and marked a major victory in the local civil rights movement.

In the 19^th century, the North and South waged an important battle. No, not the Civil War- horse racing! Before the war between the states with military and espionage there was a stirring contest fought with the finest horses that either side could breed, and the first battle took place right in the heart of Washington D.C., at the National Course somewhere around 14^th Street, north of Euclid Street and south of Columbia Heights.

For about 10 years following the fall of Saigon in April 1975, Arlington, Virginia became a destination for Vietnamese immigrants fleeing communist rule. Then, almost as quickly as it had developed, Arlington's so called "Little Saigon" faded away. 

High on Lewis Mountain, to the west of the picturesque college town of Charlottesville, sits a house that looks down on the University of Virginia. According to legend, Massachusetts resident Dr. Theodore Giesel  – better known as Dr. Seuss – bought the house after his application to the university was rejected. Is the story true?

One of the big challenges to writing a history blog is finding good images. Well, things just got a lot easier with Getty's announcement that it is making up to 35 million images available for bloggers to embed in their sites for free. The company has created a new embed tool that allows images to be shared and includes proper photo credit information. 

Director Steve McQueen's Oscar-winning film, 12 Years a Slave, serves to highlight a horrific and shameful part of local history — the area's role as a transit depot and resale market for humans held in involuntary servitude. The acclaimed film tells the true story of Solomon Northup, a free African-American violinist who in 1841 traveled from his home in New York to Washington, DC, with the promise of a high-paying job as a circus musician. He didn't know that his prospective employers actually were slave traders.