Fairfax County History

LUTHER JACKSON High School "Tiger"
1955 Vol. 1
1956 Vol. 2
1957 Vol. 3
1958 Vol. 4
1959 Vol. 5
1960 Vol. 6
1961 Vol. 7
1962 Vol. 8
1963 Vol. 9
1964 Vol. 10
1965 Vol. 11

From 1954-1965, Luther Jackson High School was the first and only public high school that Black students could attend in Fairfax County. For additional information about the desegregation of FCPS Schools visit Historic Records: Desegregation.

The Virginia Room has transcriptions for the following oral histories conducted with longtime Black residents of Fairfax County.

• Alvin J. Brown on March 27, 1975
  Alvin Jason Brown (1897-1983) was a life long Black resident of the Great Falls/McLean area. In this interview conducted by C.J.S. Durham, Brown recalls the previous owners of Towlston Grange and former residents of the Towlston Road area.
• Camille Brown on March 21, 2021
  Camille Washington Brown grew up in Bailey's Crossroads, VA, and attended the segregated FCPS schools James Lee Elementary, Lillian Cary Elementary, as well Luther Jackson High School before transferring to J.E.B. Stuart High School. She later went on to have a successful teaching career.
• DeArmond J. Carter on March 28, 2021
  "Dee Dee" Carter (1955-) grew up in Vienna and recounts her early years attending Our Lady of Good Counsel School, the discrimination she encountered in Oakton High School in the early 1970s, and her later career.
• Otrich Sharper Jackson Costley on April 10, 1985
  Otrich Costley (1900-1996), was the daughter of Selone Boston and Frederick Douglas Sharper. Her father was a farmer at Langley. The family later relocated to Odrick’s Corner, a Black community along Lewinsville Road and were involved with founding the historic Black church, Pleasant Grove Church in McLean. Otrick married Mott Jackson and then Cornelius Costley. 
• Marion Dobbins on January 21, 2008
  Marion Dobbins, a life-long resident of Merrifield, Virginia, is a sixth-generation Fairfax County resident.
• Phyllis Walker-Ford on March 15, 2021
  Phyllis Walker-Ford (1947-) grew up in Franconia and attended the segregated Drew-Smith Elementary and Luther Jackson High schools. Ford is a member of the Fairfax County History Commission and was very active in restoring the Laurel Grove School Museum.
• Chrystal Gaskins on March 21, 2021
  In this summarized interview, Crystal Gaskins (1972-) recalls growing up in Reston and Centreville.
• Helen Haight on May 16, 2009
  Helen Louise Marshall Haight was born in the Black community known as The Pines off of Woodburn Road. She describes her experiences of growing up near Merrifield in this summarized interview.
• Joseph A. Heastie and Ernestine C. Heastie on May 14, 2008
  The Heasties have lived in Northern Virginia since 1974. Ernestine C. Heastie was the first Black member of the Fairfax County School Board.
• Edwin B. Henderson II and Nickie Henderson on August 7, 2008
  Edwin Bancroft Henderson II, the grandson of Dr. E.B. Henderson, is the founder and Executive Director the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation.
• Robert Gibbs Whitmore on March 6, 2021
  Robert "Bobby" Gibbs Whitmore (1959-) describes his experiences growing up in Merrifield and the discrimination he faced in the 1960s and 1970s.
• Aileen Wright on October 25, 2007
  Aileen Wright grew up in The Pines and Merrifield area in the 1930s.

Other Fairfax County oral histories involving Black History can be found at the repositories below.

Deacon Joseph Ellis (1909-1984) and James Donn (1905-1994)
The 1984 transcribed oral history of Deacon Joseph Ellis, a Black resident of the Dranesville area took place with James Donn. Joseph talks about conversations with Arthur Godfrey, gypsies, health issues life in Wiehle (today Reston), Herndon, and Dranesville. The combined interview can be found in the rare book section (VRARE B Donn) at the Fairfax County Public Library’s Virginia Room, the Great Falls Library, or by contacting the Great Falls Historical Society. Joseph’s December 2, 1982, five page abstract, plus a nine page handwritten abstract, and an October 28, 1983, four page handwritten abstract can be obtained at George Mason University’s Northern Virginia Oral History Project Collection, Series 4, Transcripts: Northern Virginia Changes (1972-1989), Box 14, folder 16 and in CD format at the George Mason University Oral History Project Collection.

Robert E. Frye Sr. (1936-)
Frye moved into Fairfax County in 1967. He served for 19 years on the Fairfax County School Board beginning in 1978. He was the first minority member-at-large on that board. He championed equality and fought against discrimination as the area emerged from the era of segregation to diversity. Frye's oral interview can be obtained in written or DVD format at the Fairfax County Public Library’s Virginia Room in Fairfax City under Braddock’s True Gold Manuscript Collection, MSS 13-02, or online at braddockheritage.org.

Donald Galleher (1941-)
Galleher, a professor of writing and composition at George Mason University, talks about being concerned that the school lacked diversity assisted in getting Black students admitted to the school. He developed the Northern Virginia Writing Project, and spoke about historic and local events that affected the campus, particularly the Vietnam War. Two interviews for Donald, 1999 and 2011, can be found in CD format at the George Mason University Oral History Project Collection.

Leon Gamblel (1929-2015)
Gamblel addresses the racial prejudice that he and his family faced after moving to the Odrick’s Corner community of McLean in 1959 and his continued efforts in trying to overcome it. He was on the board of the McLean Citizens Association, master of Boy Scout Troop 1147, and named Lord Fairfax in 1989. Gamblel’s wife, Betty, headed up young people’s program, run by the Odrick’s Citizens Association, because there was no place for them to go. He further speaks of Neighbors for a Better Community which helped provide facilities for Black children to learn to swim. Gamblel’s 2008 interview can be found in Yesterday, Additional Recollections of McLean & Great Falls, Virginia on page 95. This book can be obtained at the Dolley Madison Library, Great Falls Library, and the Fairfax County Public Library’s Virginia Room.

Dr. Edwin B. Henderson (1883-1977)
Dr. Henderson was a promoter of Black involvement in sports and physical education. He introduced organized basketball on a wide scale in 1904 and is considered to be the “Grandfather of Black Basketball.” He was also an advocate for civil rights and established a branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Falls Church. Two transcribed interviews, 1962 and 1969, can be located at the Fairfax County Public Library’s Virginia Room under the D’Anne Aultmann Evans Papers MSS 06-42. Three interviews, 1962, 1965, and 1969, can be found in cassette and transcribed format at the Northern Virginia Oral History Project Collection at George Mason University under Northern Virginia Community, 1955-1990, Series 1, Box 6 and Series 2, Box 15, Folders 10, 11, and 12. The 1962 interview discussed community life in Falls Church (ca 1910-1960) with emphasis on Black churches, schools, and organizations; Dr. Henderson’s 1965 story focused on race relations, education, and social life in Northern Virginia; and he was assisted by his wife during the 1969 interview in which they talked about the James Lee School in Falls Church. The transcribed interviews 1962 (35 pages), 1965 (21 pages), and 1969 (14 pages) are also available at the same collection under Series 3, Transcripts: Northern Virginia Community, 1962-1988, Box 15, Folders 10, 11, and 12.

Columbus "Lum" Honesty (1894-1974)
Columbus, or Lum as he was known, resided off Beulah Road near Vienna. He was a World War I veteran and had a reputation as a comedian. Columbus often worked as a helper for E. E. Lyons & Company and as a day laborer for Faust and Freemont Day. His 1972 interview discussing life in the Black community in Vienna can be found in cassette format ant a one page abstract at the George Mason University Oral History Project Collection, Series 1: Northern Virginia Community, 1958-1990. Box 6.

Dennis Howard Jr. (1950-2018)
Howard spent over 30 years tracing his family’s history. He included many family members in his story and their role in developing Fairfax County and Northern Virginia. In this interview he speaks of his grandfather’s farm in Merrifield, the First Baptist Church of Merrifield, Gallows Road, Prosperity Avenue, Manassas Industrial Park, integration within the school system, cemeteries, and the Ilda community. This 2005 oral interview can be found in its entirety at braddockheritage.org and in CD-ROM format at Fairfax County Public Library’s Virginia Room.

Ora Lawson (1920-2012)
Lawson, a teacher, settled into a house in the Lewinsville Corridor with her husband, Harold, in 1951. She discusses in this oral interview the Shiloh Baptist Church, Neighbors for a Better Community, the Pleasant Grove Church and Odrick’s Corner School, where her brother Cecil Robinson was the principal and teacher. She spent some time talking about Blakley Weaver, an early Black developer in McLean. Ora’s 2006 interview can be found in Yesterday, 100 Recollections of McLean & Great Falls, Virginia, beginning on page 241. This book can be obtained at the Dolley Madison Library, Great Falls Library, the Fairfax County Public Library’s Virginia Room, or by contacting the McLean Historical Society.

Bladen Oswald Robinson (1910-1999)
Robinson a Black educator, spent over 40 years in the Fairfax County Public Schools, first as a teacher and in 1948 he took on the position of principal at the Vienna Colored School (today’s Louise Archer Elementary). When the schools were integrated in the county, Robinson was a primary force in making it work. His 1970 interview discussing his role as an educator in Fairfax County can be found in cassette format and a two page abstract at the Northern Virginia Oral History Project Collection at George Mason University under Northern Virginia Community, 1958-1990, Series 1, Box 10.

Laures Robinson (1883-1985) and Lillian Robinson (1912-?)
Laures and Lillian Robinson grew up in the Black community in Centreville. In their 1983 interview they talk about life in their community, ca.1895-1982. Lillian specifically addresses attending school in New Jersey, working for a family in the District, taking in foster children, and mid-wifing after marriage. Their interview can be found in cassette format and a five page abstract at George Mason University’s Northern Virginia Oral History Project Collection, Series 2, Northern Virginia Changes (1962-1990), Box 10. The five page abstract and a nine page handwritten abstract can also be obtained at Series 4, Transcripts: Northern Virginia Changes (1972-1989), Box 16, Folder 12.

Capt. Darryl Conrad Smith (1950-)
Captain Smith, born in 1950, was the first Black police officer in Herndon. He spoke of his schooling when growing up, desegregation, how he became Herndon’s first Black officer in 1973, and stories as an officer. Captain Smith’s 2001 interview can be obtained by contacting Chuck Mauro at HMSHistory.com.

Frederick Washington (1926-2016)
Washington was born in Herndon in 1926. He describes some of the difficulties of growing up in Herndon and discrimination against Blacks. He related stories of other Blacks in the area, attending school, Cooktown, and how the police treated minorities. Washington’s 2001 interview can be obtained by contacting Chuck Mauro at HMSHistory.com. 

Nancy Waters
Waters talks about a Black settlement in Herndon known as Cooktown. She said that the area was named Cooktown after Frederick Cook, a Black landowner who purchased the property in 1893 for his family. It remained a segregated community until the late 1960s, when there were about 12 families living there with dirt roads and no running water. Water’s 2001 interview can be obtained by contacting Chuck Mauro at HMSHistory.com.

Ernest E. Webb (1887-1975)
Webb lived in the Lewinsville area of McLean. He was a long time member of Gunnel’s Chapel United Methodist Church on Georgetown Pike and joined the William Watters United Methodist Church when the two merged. After retiring from the government, he sold home grown fruits and vegetables for over 20 years from a stand in front of his house on Balls Hill Road. Webb's 1972 transcribed oral history can be found at the Fairfax County Public Library’s Virginia Room under the D’Anne Aultmann Evans Papers MSS 06-42. This same interview can be obtained in cassette format and a five page transcript at the Northern Virginia Oral History Project Collection at George Mason University under Series 1, Northern Virginia Community, 1958-1990, Box 12.

William A. West (1874-1978)
West, a Vienna resident, talks about his life experiences as a Black man in Fairfax County. He is buried in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery in McLean. His 1974 transcribed oral interview can be found at the Fairfax County Public Library’s Virginia Room rare book section under VRARE B West. Four additional interviews are available at the Northern Virginia Oral History Project Collection at George Mason University under Northern Virginia Community, 1955-1990, Series 1, Box 12 and 13. They are as follows: A 1970 cassette and 14 page transcript titled “Student’s and Teacher’s Reminiscences of the Black School of Fairfax County (ca1875-1955);” A 1971 cassette with no title; A 1974 Part 1 cassette and 72 page transcript titled “Black Community Life in and Around Vienna (ca.1870-1940); and a 1974 Part 2 cassette and 67 page transcript titled “Black Community Life in and Around Vienna (ca.1870-1960).

FCPL Manuscript Collections featuring Black History

Since 1964, The Virginia Room has been collecting and preserving original records and documents of the organizations, businesses, and individuals of Fairfax County. Below is a list of our collections containing subjects related to Fairfax County Black History. Processed collections have a highlighted hyperlink to their finding aids. Unprocessed collections without a finding aid remain closed to researchers at this time. Please email va_room@fairfaxcounty.gov to make an appointment to view processed collections.

Gum Springs, Virginia Collection, MSS 03-10
The Gum Springs, Virginia Collection spans the years 1915-1991 and consists of correspondence, a book manuscript, consulting reports, minutes, newspaper clippings, oral history interview, blueprints, and cost estimates. Subjects covered are freedman; African American community life; the Gum Springs Black History Museum study including related community meetings; and the War on Poverty.

Neighbors for a Better Community Records, MSS 05-08 (unprocessed)
The Neighbors for a Better Community (NBC) was formed in 1963 to fight racial prejudice in the Dranesville District of Fairfax County. This collection dates from 1963-1979 and includes meeting minutes, attendance lists, mailing lists, membership lists, correspondence, histories, and award files.

Carter Family Collection, MSS 07-13 (unprocessed)
This collection contains uncataloged photographs of members of the Carter family of Vienna, Virginia dating from the 1920s-1950s. Also included is a class photo of the Vienna Colored School from the 1930s.

Mary Goins Roots Collection, MSS 07-26    
The Mary Goins Roots Collection spans the years 1915-2017 and consists of family papers, correspondence, programs, yearbooks, awards and certificates, vital records, newspaper articles, identification badges and cards, obituaries, photographs, photo albums, a scrapbook, property records, yearbooks, and other school ephemera. Subjects covered are Mary Goins Roots; her family; and her ancestors including the Coffer, Goins, Jeffrey, Pearson and Wright families; the Sideburn Civic Association; Greater Little Zion Baptist Church; Fairfax County Public Schools; and Charles County Public Schools.

Donald M. Sweig Manuscript Papers on Registrations of Free Negroes, MSS 08-11    
The Donald M. Sweig Manuscript Papers on Registration of Free Negroes spans the years 1976-1977 and consists entirely of photocopies of original archival material of registrations of free Blacks in Fairfax County and Fredericksburg, Virginia from 1790-1862. Sweig used the Fairfax County materials as sources for his 1977 book Registrations of Free Negroes. The "Certificates and Registry of Free Negroes. City of Fredericksburg, Va. 1790-1862" are copied from original records in the Fredericksburg Court House and includes a typed compiled index. 

John Terry Chase Manuscript Papers on Gum Springs: The Triumph of a Black Community (1990), MSS 08-22
The Chase collection covers the years 1987-1989 and contains copies of primary and secondary historical documents, author’s notes, and manuscript drafts for his 1990 book Gum Springs: The Triumph of a Black Community. Subjects covered are the Gum Springs neighborhood in Fairfax County, Virginia; Gum Springs’ founder West Ford; the relationship between Gum Springs and Mount Vernon; Black history; and race relations.

Andrew M.D. Wolf Oral History Tape Collection, MSS 13-05 (unprocessed)
Andrew Wolf's Collection of oral histories contains six tapes featuring oral interviews he conducted as a high school student with seven longtime Black residents of Fairfax County: Mrs. Benjamin E. Brent, Ruby Carter Coleman, Francis H. Honesty, Florence Boston Smith, Margaret Coates Smith, and William West. Wolf used these interviews as source material for his book Black Settlement in Fairfax County, Virginia During Reconstruction (1975).

FCPL Photographic Collections featuring Black History

Black History in The Photographic Archive of Fairfax County, Virginia - The General Collection (Index)
The Photographic Archive of Fairfax County, Virginia includes more than 13,000 images of the people places and events of Fairfax County. To view the index to the entire photo collection click here.

Black History in the Stuntz Collection on Rambler Photographs (Index)
The Stuntz Collection of Rambler Photographs consists of 485 print photographs dating from 1900-1922 and taken in Virginia by J. Harry Shannon for “The Rambler” column which ran in the Washington Evening Star newspaper from 1912 to 1928. The prints were made from the original negatives which are stored off-site. Descriptions of each image are in J. Harry Shannon’s own words, and the negatives are arranged numerically according to Shannon’s numbering system. The subjects vary from the famous to the mundane, including old houses, cemeteries, roads, public buildings, and battlefields. Counties and cities in Virginia include Alexandria, Appomattox, Arlington, Caroline, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Warren, Westmoreland, York, and Jefferson County, WV. o view the index to the entire photo collection click here.

Biographical Files on Notable Fairfax County Black Residents and Families

The Virginia Room's Biography Files consist of two file cabinets of folders arranged alphabetically by the surname of Fairfax County families or individuals. The files include news clippings, articles, obituaries, genealogies, photocopies, correspondence, unpublished reports, family histories, and copies of historical documents. Occasionally, approximate birth and death dates and occupation for individuals have been included in the folder title. The files act as a starting point for researchers seeking local family history or biographical information on local individuals. Library staff are continuously adding to these files. 

Listed below are files pertaining to notable Black residents and families of Fairfax County:

Archer, Louise A. Reeves (1893-1948) - School principal

Beckwith, Minnie (1871-?) - FCPS Teacher

Brooks, Lucy Goode (1819-?) - Freed slave and founder of Black orphanage

Campbell, Lynnwood - Alexandria resident

Cary, Lott (1782-?) - Freed slave and leader of Liberia

Coates, Leslie R. (1907-1997) - Anti-segregationist

Dean, Gladys (1906-2012) - 105-year old resident of Vienna

Dean, Jennie (1852-1913) - Founder of Manassas Industrial School

Foote, Frederick - Black economic pioneer

Ford, West (1784-1863) - Former slave and founder of Gum Springs community

Harris, Jesse (1795-1875) - Early "Free Black" Resident

Holland, Charles (1910-?) - Tenor

Honesty Family - Longtime Black family

Hudgins, Catherine M. - Member, Board of Supervisors Hunter Mill District

Jackson, John (1924-2002) - Local bluesman

Jackson, Luther  (1892-1950) -  Educator and historian

Langston, John Mercer (?-1897) - Virginia congressman

Lovelace, George E. - Vienna's first Black councilman

Loving Family - Interracial married couple

Lusk, Rodney - Member County Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors Lee District

Nickens Family - Free Black family in early America

Peyton, Minnie H. (1889-1985) - Bailey's Crossroads activist

Pinkett Family - Longtime Fairfax County family

Pryor, Henry - 

Quander Family - Longtime Fairfax County family

Robinson Family - Free Black family on Manassas Battlefield

Sharper Family - Descendants of freed slave Daniel Sharper

Shiver, Jube Burrell (1922-2010) - Real estate developer 

Smith, Andrew (1911-1978) - City of Fairfax resident

Smith, Joshua -  Author

Syphax Family - Longtime Fairfax County family

West, William A. (1874-1978) - One of the first Black teachers in Fairfax County

Click Here to Browse the complete index to the Virginia Room's Biographical Files

Historic Landmark Files and Vertical Files on Fairfax County Black History Topics

Since the establishment of the Virginia Room, librarians have continuously maintained vertical subject files on Fairfax County’s history and infrastructure. The Virginia Room's Vertical and Historic Landmark Files consist of over 2,000 files on Fairfax County historical landmarks, communities, buildings, neighborhoods, churches, schools, and general county topics. The files contain newspaper clippings, reports, brochures, photocopies, correspondence, ephemera, and articles and are accessible in the Virginia Room.

Listed below are files pertaining to Fairfax County Black History:

HLF - Carrolltown Community

HLF - Churches - Bethlehem Baptist Church of Gum Springs - Alexandria (Va.)

HLF - Churches - Cartersville Baptist Church - Reston (Va.)

HLF - Churches - Cub Run Primitive Baptist Church - Centreville (Va.)

HLF - Churches - First Baptist Church of Merrifield - Merrifield (Va.)

HLF - Churches - Laurel Grove Baptist - Franconia (Va.)

HLF - Churches - Little Zion Baptist Church - Burke (Va.)

HLF - Churches - Mount Calvary Community Church - Franconia (Va.)

HLF - Churches - Mount Zoar Baptist Church - Fairfax (Va.)

HLF - Churches - William Watters United Methodist Church - McLean (Va.)

VF - Desegregation

VF - Discrimination

FX - Fairfax - Schools - Fairfax Colored School [Rosenwald]

VF - Fairfax County Human Rights Commission

VF - Fx. Co. - Government - Discrimination

HLF - Gum Springs - History

HLF - Herndon - Riot (1974)

HLF - Ilda

VF - Libraries - Desegregation

HLF - Merrifield - Odd Fellows Hall - 2931 Gallows Road

HLF - Merrifield Area - History

VF - Minorities

HLF - Oak Grove

HLF - Odrick's Corner Area - History

VF - Parks - Fairfax Co. - Olander and Margaret Banks Community Park

VF - Roads - Racial Discrimination Suit (1971-1978)

HLF - Rosenwald Schools

VF - Schools - Desegregation - Fairfax County

VF - Schools - Desegregation - Virginia - (Pre-1960)

VF - Schools - Desegregation - Virginia - (1960-1969)

VF - Schools - Desegregation - Virginia - (1970-1975)

VF - Schools - Desegregation - Virginia - (1976 & later)

VF - Schools - Discrimination

VF - Schools - Elementary - Louise Archer E.S.

VF - Schools - Elementary - James Lee E.S.

VF - Schools - Elementary - Floris Colored School

VF - Schools - Elementary - Forestville Colored School

VF - Schools - High - Luther Jackson H.S.

VF - Schools - Students - Minorities

VF - Slavery

VF - Slavery - Underground Railroad

HLF - Springdale Subdivision

HLF - Vienna - Black History

HLF - Zion Road Community - (Sideburn Area)

Click Here to Browse the complete index to the Virginia Room's Vertical and Historic Landmark Files

Files on Historic Fairfax County Black Cemeteries

The Virginia Room Cemetery Files contain files on over 400 Fairfax County cemeteries ranging from private cemeteries to military burials to church cemeteries. The files are largely the work of former Virginia Room Historian-Archivist Brian Conley who published a report in 1994 entitled “Cemeteries of Fairfax County, Virginia: A Report to the Board of Supervisors” which listed the location, condition and contents of the known private cemeteries located within the county. The files contain surveys, articles, reports, tombstone transcriptions, and occasionally photographs.

Listed below are available vertical files on historic Black cemeteries in Fairfax County:

Bethlehem Baptist Church, Collingwood and Riverside Roads, Alexandria (FX197)

Cartersville Baptist Church, 1727 Hunter Mill Road, Centreville (FX241)

Chantilly Baptist Church, 14312 Chantilly Baptist Lane, Chantilly (FX157)

Clark's Chapel, 7520 Rolling Road, Springfield (FX035)

Clifton Primitive Baptist Church, 7200 Main Street, Clifton (FX299)

Clifton Union, 7348 Clifton Road, Clifton (FX075)

Coleman Cemetery, 1900 Collingwood Road, Alexandria (FX196)

Cub Run Memorial Gardens, Naylor Road, Centreville (FX072)

Cub Run Primitive Baptist Church, 15602 Compton Road, Centreville (FX342)

First Baptist Church Chesterbrook, 1740 Kirby Road, McLean (FX021)

Ford/Ellis/Simms Cemetery, 1011 Seneca Road, Great Falls (FX290)

Frying Pan Baptist Meeting House and Burial Grounds, 2615 Centreville Road, Herndon (FX054)

Galloway United Methodist Church, 2750 Annandale Road, Falls Church (FX132)

Grayson Family Cemetery, Blunt Lane, Alexandria (FX401)

Guinea Road Cemetery, Guinea Road and Little River Turnpike, Annandale (FX259)

Harris Family Cemetery, 7700 Bull Run Drive, Centreville (FX200) 

Ilda Methodist Church, 8717 Little River Turnpike, Annandale (FX402)

Jackson Family Cemetery, 5690 Leather Way,  Burke (FX126)

Jermantown Cemetery, south side of Route 50, Fairfax (FX015)

Laurel Grove Baptist Church, 6834 Beulah Street, Franconia (FX033)

Little Bethel Cemetery, 10255 Zion Drive, Burke (FX249)

Little Zion Baptist Church - Pearson Cemetery, 10018 Burke Lake Road, Burke (FX019)

Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, 6477 Lincolnia Road, Alexandria (FX025)

Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, terminus of Milstead Road, Great Falls (FX326)

Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, 13614 Coppermine Road, Herndon (FX063)

Neal Family Cemetery, 2741 Sutton Road, Vienna (FX420)

Old “Colored” Graveyard, 11401 Lee Highway, Fairfax (FX285)

Orrison Slave Cemetery, Backyard of 1606 Permit Court, Herndon (FX412)

Parker/Green Family Cemetery, Blue Topaz Lane, Centreville (FX178)

Peake Family Cemetery, 815 Fordson Road, Gum Springs (FX003)

Pearson Family Cemetery, 6422 Edgewater Drive, Burke (FX107)

Pleasant Grove Methodist Church, 8741 Lewinsville Road, McLean (FX061)

Pleasant Valley Memorial Park, 8420 Little River Turnpike, Annandale (FX188)

Robinson Family Cemetery, Robinson Lane, Centreville (FX073)

Robinson/Pearson/Hicks Family Cemetery, 8100 Wolftrap Road, Vienna (FX005)

Second Baptist Church of Falls Church, 6626 Costner Road, Falls Church (FX136)

Shiloh Baptist Church - New Section, 1331 Spring Hill Road, McLean (FX305)

Shiloh Baptist Church - Old Section, 3215 Dunsinane Court, McLean (FX306)

Slave Cemetery - Beaufort, 7301 Georgetown Pike, McLean (FX216)

Slave Cemetery - Belvale, 5300 Glen Green Court, Alexandria (FX291)

Slave Cemetery - Bull Run Marina, Yates Ford Road, Clifton (FX154)

Slave Cemetery - Compton Road, 13911 Rock Still Court, Centreville (FX277)

Slave Cemetery - Gunnell's Run, 600 Innsbruck Road, Great Falls (FX343)

Slave Cemetery - Kirkside, Kirkside Subdivision, Mount Vernon (FX391)

Slave Cemetery - Mason Neck, 11107 Gunston Road, Lorton (FX392)

Slave Cemetery - Mount Air, 8600 Accotink Road, Lorton (FX283)

Slave Cemetery - Mt. Vernon, Mount Vernon on the Potomac, (FX280)

Slave Cemetery - Salona, 1214 Buchanan Street, McLean (FX270)

Slave Cemetery - Strawberry Vale, Tysons Corner (FX382)

Slave Cemetery - Turley Hall, south side of Barnesfield Road, Chantilly (FX304)

Sons and Daughters of Liberty Cemetery at The Pine Ridge Park, 3401 Woodburn Road, Annandale (FX187)

Sons and Daughters of Liberty Cemetery, Orchard Street, Vienna (FX081)

Unnamed Cemetery - Exact location unknown, (FX390)

Unnamed Cemetery - Sylvan Way, 8250 Sylvan Way, Clifton (FX364)

Unnamed Cemetery - Walney, Centreville (FX407)

Unnamed Cemetery - Wolf Run Shoals Road, Fountainhead Regional Park, Fairfax Station (FX338)

West End Cemetery, 500 Lewis Street, Vienna (FX055)

Williams Family Cemetery, 8327 Wolf Trap Road, Vienna (FX004)

Woodlawn United Methodist Church, 7730 Fordson Road, Alexandria (FX090)

Fairfax Court Slavery Index

In June 2015, Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center staff started a project that would create a master index of enslaved persons (and those subject to some form of involuntary servitude) who appear in the records of the Fairfax Circuit Court Clerk’s Office between the years 1742 and 1870. The Fairfax Court Slavery Index has captured the names of thousands of enslaved and indentured persons who lived in Fairfax County, but the Index will never be a complete record of all the enslaved who lived here. The development of the Fairfax Court Slavery Index is an ongoing project. The index is available as a card catalog at the Historic Records Center.

Northern Virginia History Notes (blog by Debbie Robison)

List of Blacks in Fairfax County, VA, 1866-1869
The following chart is an extract from personal property tax ledgers of the number of black men age 21 years or older living in each African American household in Fairfax County, Virginia by year. 

Slave Marriages in Northern Virginia, 1825-1867
After the Civil War, the Freedmen's Bureau issued marriage certificates to former slaves to document marriages entered into during enslavement. This list documents couples who were married when enslaved. 

Northern Virginia Slavery Database
This database searches for enslaved people in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties. The database was built from birth, death, and probate court records.