Things to Learn

• Check out an interactive timeline of the sit-ins that desegregated Arlington County’s lunch counters in 1960.
• Delve into Project DAPS, an online exhibit and archive about the desegregation of Arlington Public Schools, featuring holdings of the Center for Local History.
• Read the Story of Arlington Public School Desegregation
• Learn about the New Stratford Commemorative Trail, which honors the desegregation of Stratford Junior High School, and watch the dedication ceremony.

• The Activists who Desegregated Arlington’s Movie Theaters

• Explore places that tell parts of the story of Black History in Arlington:
  • Green Valley Pharmacy
  • Lomax African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church
    • Read an oral history remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Arlington
  • Stratford School
  • Harry Gray House
  • Calloway Cemetery
  • Mount Salvation Baptist Cemetery
• Read A Guide to the African American Heritage of Arlington County, Virginia(PDF, 11MB)
• Explore the history of the Langston Boulevard area with the Langston Boulevard Zine
• View the African American Historical Sights in Arlington and the Capital Region Guide 
• From Freedman’s Village to Queen City
• View a timeline of the rich history of the Hall’s Hill Volunteer Fire Department
• Learn about the history of racial equity in Arlington with Racial History Timelines

• Birdie Alston
• Dr. Roland Bruner
• Joan Cooper
• Dr. Charles R. Drew
• Edmond C. Fleet
• Saundra Green
• Dorothy Hamm
• Portia Haskins
• Floyd Hawkins
• Ernest Johnson
• Wilma Jones Killgo
• Leonard “Doc” Muse
• Lutrell Fleming Parker, Sr.
• John Robinson
• Sarah Summerville
• Julian Syphax
• Dr. Alfred O. Taylor

• Artist Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. explains his Project “The Desegregation of Arlington Lunch Counters(PDF, 686KB)”
• Discover Black Voices from the United States, Africa and the global diaspora with the Arlington Public Library Book list. 
  • Explore over 20 hand-picked booklists for all ages and interests, featuring a diverse lineup of fiction and non-fiction titles by contemporary Black authors. These booklists range from WWI to Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter, from picture books to graphic novels to genre fiction, and much more — highlighting the Black experience yesterday and today.
• Arlington’s African-American Baseball Teams

Racial inequity affects our present-day lives, but just as importantly, our future. In September 2019, the County Board adopted an Equity Resolution. To further this commitment to equity, Arlington County Government and Arlington Public Schools participated in a 10-month racial equity cohort program convened by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments in partnership with the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, specifically identifying racial equity as a priority. This means closing race-based outcome gaps so race does not predict one’s success while improving outcomes for everyone; moving beyond services to focus on policies, institutions and structures. The County puts forward a framework for a Racial Equity Action Plan to be developed with the community and organization.

The Race and Ethnicity Dashboard has been updated with the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) estimates released in December 2022. The dashboard now includes trend data, showing the changes between 2011 to 2021—and splits the 22 variables into thematic categories by demographic, household, and labor force data. Explore the latest update.

The CPHD Population and Demographic Estimates Dashboard (beta version) provides demographic profiles for Arlington’s Civic Associations, which do not align to U.S. Census Bureau geographies. 

Acknowledging the racialized origins and policies of United States history is fundamental for communities to gain knowledge and understanding of racial equity. The following timelines document key historical events in Arlington County related to housing, education, community facilities, public safety, transportation, urban planning, public infrastructure, and more. Learn more or check out the timelines below.

1930-1945

1946-1960

1961-1975

Recommended web browsers: Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. If your browser is logged into a Microsoft Office account, you may need to log out before trying to view the timelines.

Addressing racial equity and reducing disparities requires Arlingtonians across the County to share their perspectives. Through these shared perspectives and small interactive virtual conversations, individual residents, community groups, and leaders have an opportunity to participate in facilitated dialogue with each other to learn about and directly address racial equity issues in Arlington County.

The Dialogues on Race and Equity (DRE) are part of the County’s broadercommitment to racial equityand follows the County Board’s2019 equity resolution.

The Leading with RACE online learning series was developed by the Arlington County County Manager’s Office of R.A.C.E. in collaboration with individual contributors. It has been adapted and made available as a resource that can be used by anyone to learn terms, definitions, and concepts around racial equity.

Completing this series will increase your awareness and knowledge and provide examples of tools that will help you understand how to eliminate race-based opportunity gaps in policies, institutions and structures to improve outcomes for all.

As you move through the modules, we hope you gain an understanding of how we work in Arlington County to become a community where all are valued, educated, healthy, and safe, regardless of race.

Leading with RACE Access Form