Built by the people themselves : African American community development in Arlington, Virginia, from the Civil War through civil rights / Lindsey Bestebreurtje.

Author/creator Bestebreurtje, Lindsey author.
Format Book
PublicationColumbia, South Carolina : The University of South Carolina Press, [2024]
Descriptionxiii, 284 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Subjects

Contents Arlington's people and communities -- "Where they had lived undistrubed for nearly a quarter of a century": Freedman's Village and the expansion of Black Arlington -- "Gone out to do for themselves": the Freedman's Village diaspora and Arlington's suburban villages -- "Suburban homes ... in sight of the monument": streetcar suburbs and white Arlington's expanding control -- "So that we may occupy our rightful place": population boom and changing realities for Black Arlingtonians -- "Everybody was coming to Washington in those days": the arrival of war workers and Arlington's suburban explosion -- "We cannot lose this fight as we lost our freedoms during Reconstruction days": politics, school integration, and neighborhood preservation -- An end to residential segregation.
Abstract "The story of how racial segregation and suburbanization shaped lives, the built environment, and the law in Arlington. Arlington, Virginia, sits on the bank of the Potomac River, just opposite the nation's capital city of Washington, D.C. This proximity shaped the history of Arlington and the economic, social, and political lives of its Black residents. In Built by the People Themselves, Lindsey Bestebreurtje traces the history of Arlington's Black community from the first days of emancipation through the era of civil rights in the twentieth century. She highlights individual stories of how Black families, neighborhoods, institutions, and communities were affected by politics, planning, and policy at the county and state levels. A core insight of Bestebreurtje's account is how common people developed strategies to survive and thrive despite systems of oppression in the Jim Crow South. Moving beyond the standard story of suburbanization that focuses on elite white community developers, Bestebreurtje analyzes African American-led community development and its effects on Arlington County"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in other formOnline version: Bestebreurtje, Lindsey. Built by the people themselves. Columbia : University of South Carolina Press, 2024 9781643364995
LCCN 2024026122
ISBN9781643364971 hardcover
ISBN1643364979 hardcover
ISBN9781643364988 paperback
ISBN1643364987 paperback
ISBNelectronic book
Standard identifier# 40032525826

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Joyner Featured Display - First Floor Reading Lounge F234.A7 B47 2024 Featured Display - First Floor Reading Lounge Want This?