Bill Text: VA HJR514 | 2016 | Regular Session | Enrolled

Virginia House Joint Resolution 514 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Commending the Hall's Hill/High View Park neighborhood.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Passed) 2016-03-10 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ514ER) [HJR514 Detail]

Download: Virginia-2016-HJR514-Enrolled.html

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 514 Commending the Hall's Hill/High View Park neighborhood.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 9, 2016 Agreed to by the Senate, March 10, 2016

WHEREAS, the Hall's Hill/High View Park neighborhood, a historically African American neighborhood and now a thriving, culturally diverse community in Arlington, celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2016; and

WHEREAS, the area that is now the Hall's Hill/High View Park neighborhood was settled by freed slaves after the Civil War on estates that were owned by Bazil Hall in the former Alexandria County; many residents of Freedom Village, which is now the site of the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery, later relocated to the neighborhood; and

WHEREAS, originally, the Hall's Hill/High View Park neighborhood was mostly farmland and dirt roads, but local residents made great strides in developing the community by building their own stores, churches, and schools, including Calloway United Methodist Church, Mount Salvation Baptist Church, John M. Langston Elementary School, Mother Goose Nursery, and the longstanding Miss Allen's store; and

WHEREAS, in 1919, the Hall's Hill/High View Park neighborhood established its own volunteer fire station, one of the first volunteer fire stations south of the Mason-Dixon Line operated by African Americans and the first in Arlington with paid African American firefighters; and

WHEREAS, the Hall's Hill/High View Park neighborhood, which is bounded by Lee Highway, Glebe Road, North 17th Street, and George Mason Drive, also saw the publication of Arlington's first African American newspaper, the Virginia Arrow in 1946; and

WHEREAS, in 1924, a group of Hall's Hill/High View Park neighborhood residents formed the John M. Langston Citizens Association to address the needs of the community, facilitate neighborhood improvements, and cultivate a sense of pride and cultural heritage; and

WHEREAS, the residents of the Hall's Hill/High View Park neighborhood have been active in civic and community organizations and efforts throughout the neighborhood's history, and made many valuable contributions to the Civil Rights movement; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Hall's Hill/High View Park neighborhood on the occasion of its 150th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the John M. Langston Citizens Association as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for the Hall's Hill/High View Park neighborhood's storied history and contributions to community life in Arlington.