Give Us Five

Five-Minute Engagement

Take advantage of these 5-minute engagement opportunities for the Historic Preservation Master Plan Update.

2-3 minutes to watch. 2 minutes to respond.

An easy way to help guide the County's historic preservation work for the next 10 years.

All video clips were excerpted from the Nov. 2020 virtual panel discussion (viewable in its entirety here) that launched the first update to Arlington’s Historic Preservation Master Plan since its adoption in 2006.

Segregation Walls

“We had one way out…to do anything that we needed to do…”

“…probably a mile and a half walk [to the local school] instead of a two or three-block walk…”

The Hall’s Hill segregation wall is a tangible reminder of segregation in Arlington. In this clip, longtime County employee and Transportation Bureau Chief Luis Araya, and community activist and Hall’s Hill resident Saundra Green, describe the segregation wall built in the 1930s that separated the African American community of Hall’s Hill from the white subdivision of Woodlawn Village. The segregation wall is on multiple private properties, and sections of it still stand today.

Arlington’s Historic Preservation Program works to tell the County’s stories, including those of racism and segregation, in a way that fosters understanding and commitment to justice. Are there places that you’ve visited, or of which you know, that have preserved and interpreted difficult histories in a constructive or creative way? 

Historic Preservation in Action

Here, Eric Nicoll, a resident of Colonial Village Local Historic District, describes working with the County’s Historic Preservation Program to manage change in his neighborhood. 

What are some historic preservation activities going on in YOUR neighborhood?

And/or, looking beyond architecture and physical places, what stories from your neighborhood or the County's history do you want to ensure are protected and shared? (e.g., the local brickmaking industry in the 19th and 20th centuries or the 1960 lunch counter sit-ins)

Hall's Hill Commemorates Its History Makers

In this clip, Saundra Green, a Hall’s Hill resident who has participated in historic preservation projects, describes recent community-driven preservation efforts and some of Hall’s Hill’s prominent history makers. (Pictured: A section of the mural that Saundra describes. Artist: Roderick Turner. Image: Arlington Public Library) 

What individuals or demographic groups do you believe are key to Arlington’s history? Are there individuals or groups about whom you’d like to learn more? 

Historic Preservation as Change Management

Here, preservationist Jackie Barton describes historic preservation as change management. The effort is not to prevent all change, but to preserve the stories, traditions, and other cultural elements—material and immaterial—that define and knit together a community. 

Do you agree?

What stories, places, traditions, characteristics, etc. define Arlington for you, or build community in your neighborhood?

What are some ways that the Historic Preservation Program can help better manage change in a rapidly changing Arlington?