A Place Called Ilda: Race and Resilience at a Northern Virginia CrossroadsThe compelling history of a racially integrated, and now forgotten, community in northern Virginia Established by two Black entrepreneurs and their families, who provided the economic engine for its initial success, the village of Ilda flourished as a racially integrated community before the Jim Crow era. More than simply a history of a racially and socially pioneering community, this remarkable book tells a broader story, recounting the Black experience in Fairfax County over generations and shedding new light on the racial, economic, political, and bureaucratic factors that drove the development of Northern Virginia and the nation as a whole. Weaving together accounts of horse thievery, attempted murder, savage beatings, hate crimes, and a long-forgotten cemetery, this gripping and often moving narrative provides a rich and unusually detailed record of the rise, decline, and rediscovery of a crossroads whose secrets and mysteries depict an America that might have been, and might still be. Winner of the Nan Netherton Prize from the Fairfax County History Commission |
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A Place Called Ilda: Race and Resilience at a Northern Virginia Crossroads Tom Shoop No preview available - 2024 |
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African American Andy Williams archaeological archaeologists Baptist Church Barile Berger Group Inc blacksmith Board of Supervisors Brian Conley build Bulova buried City of Fairfax City Regional Library Confederate County History Commission county’s Court Data Recovery deed Dennis Howard Department of Transportation descendants District enslaved excavation Fairfax City Regional Fairfax County Board Fairfax County History Fairfax County Public Fairfax Herald Falls Church family members Fitzhugh Gibson and Parker Gibson-Parker family graves graveyard Guinea Road Cemetery Hareem Badil-Abish Horace Gibson Ilda Jermantown Cemetery land later Little River Turnpike lived located Louis Berger Group Maddy McCoy Merrifield Moses Parker Netherton Northern Virginia Oak Hill October officials oral history interview oral tradition Owsley preservation Ravensworth records Recovery at Guinea remains Road Cemetery file Road intersection school board slave story Turnpike and Guinea VDOT Virginia Department Virginia Room Wakefield Chapel Washington Post wrote Zoning Appeals