Oct 12, Saturday. Fairfax City Fall Festival.
It is in downtown Fairfax from 10 am-5 pm. Our booth will be located on Main Street between Chain Bridge Road and University Drive. Here is further information: Fall Festival | City of Fairfax, VA (fairfaxva.gov)
October 19, Saturday. GMU Parent’s Weekend Tours.
The morning tour is from 8:30am – 12:30pm. The afternoon tour is from 1:00pm – 5:00pm. Sites visited include the GMU Civil War Redoubt, Historic Blenheim and Civil War Interpretive Center, Historic Fairfax Courthouse, Truro Anglican Church, Jermantown Cemetery, and the formerly segregated School Street area.
October 27, Sunday. Presentation at the Burke Historical Society.
“Please mark your calendars for an in-person meeting of the Burke Historical Society, 3:00 p.m. Sunday, October 27. Co-authors Etta Willson, Rita Colbert, Linneall Naylor, Rondia Prescott, and Jenee Lindner will speak on their book Black Communities of Fairfax: A History. The program will be presented in person at Pohick Regional Library (6450 Sydenstricker Rd, Burke, VA, 22015), in the large meeting room to your left as you enter. No registration is necessary.
This month, we’ll learn about historic Black communities in the Fairfax City area, as recounted by our panel of speakers in their recently published book. The free Black population of Fairfax Court House dates to at least the 1820s and expanded significantly after the Civil War, including the areas of Jermantown, School Street, and Ilda. Persisting into the 20th century despite discrimination, these neighborhoods gradually lost their distinct character as the city annexed more of the surrounding land.
Etta Willson is a longtime genealogist and poetic writer about her family and her ancestors. Rita Colbert is the Fairfax City Black community photo acquisitions coordinator, receiving photo albums after friends and family pass away. Rondia Prescott is vice-president of the Jermantown Cemetery Preservation Society and Fairfax County Public Schools SAC program assistant director. She and Rita make well-researched historical Black Fairfax community storyboards and displays. All three were longtime residents of the Black Fairfax City communities, now gone. Linneall Naylor, another family historian, president of the Jermantown Cemetery Preservation Society and FCPS teacher, was raised in D.C. but returned to find her roots. She and Etta Willson give outstanding family history lectures. Jenee Lindner is a Fairfax County historian, County History commissioner, and longtime resident of Fairfax County. She gives well-regarded Fairfax City/County historical lectures and county-wide tours. She has also found family roots in these communities.”
Nov 2, Saturday. Fairfax County History Commissioner’s Conference.
At the Stacey C. Sherwood Community Center, 3740 Blenheim Blvd, Fairfax, VA 22030. We will be receiving an award for our book. Pictures will be taken. It is from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. We will be selling books, as well. There will be breakfast and lunch included. The awards are done at the beginning of the conference that starts at 9:00 am. Free.
Nov 25, Monday. Presentation to GMU Class HNRS 240: Reading the Past: Slavery and Freedom in Virginia
“It would be an honor for my class to welcome you to George Mason University.”
