Description
The author traces the history of the Black community in Arlington, Virginia, from the first days of emancipation through the civil rights era in the twentieth century. A core insight of her account is how people developed strategies to survive and thrive despite systems of oppression in the Jim Crow South. Looking beyond the standard story of suburbanization that focuses on elite white community developers, Bestebreurtje analyzes African American–led community development and its effects on Arlington County.
Lindsey Bestebreurtje, PhD, has served as a curatorial assistant with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture since 2015, where her work has earned the Excellence in Exhibition Award. Her publications have appeared in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography and Reviews in American History.
- Softcover: 284 pages including index, endnotes, and bibliography
- Publisher: University of South Carolina Press, 2024
Every book you buy here on this website helps support the AHS mission to strengthen our community by improving the understanding of local history. These books will be available to buy at the July 10, 2025 event where Dr. Bestebreurtje will talk about her work: https://arlhist.org/event/built-by-the-people-themselves/
