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- August 10, 1981 interview: Ethel Abramson grew up at 711 King Street in Old Town Alexandria. Her family lived above the business her father ran from 1927 to 1947. This interview took place at her husband’s office at 312 S. Washington Street. In this interview, Mrs. Abramson describes what Old Town was like when she was younger, namely who lived where, what businesses existed there, and so on.
- April 22, 1999 interview: Born in 1915 in Baltimore, Mrs. Abramson has lived in Alexandria for the past 80 years. She discusses social life during that time including the Depression. Her father was a successful businessman and her husband the longest practicing dentist in Alexandria. Throughout her interview, she compares social and everyday life in Alexandria today to that of the 1930s and 1940s. Her memories are obviously very happy ones and her descriptions are quite vivid and entertaining.
Sidney Abramson was born in 1911. He lived above his father’s store at the corner of King and Washington streets. During the interview, Mr. Abramson describes the changes in businesses on King Street starting from the 1920s and 1930s over time, and includes references to Wiel’s Butcher Shop, Askins Men’s General Store, and Hoffman’s Tailor Shop, to name a few. Memories of flivver trucks and pianists at silent movies are also recalled.
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Mr. Adem is a semi-retired self-made businessman who came to Alexandria when he was six years old. He was born in 1933. As a child and then a rising businessman, he was aware of the socio-economic changes, which have taken place in Alexandria in the past seventy years. During this interview, he is asked to compare life in Alexandria as he was building his business to everyday life as it exists in Alexandria today.
Mr. Howard Truslow Beach was born in 1920 and has lived in Alexandria for 86 years. Topics discussed include Mr Beach’s childhood, his positions at Potomac Yard from 1941 to 1982, training, benefits and opportunities at the Yard, a work-day, a description of the Yard and its history, social life and minorities at Potomac Yard, railway terminology, and changes to the Yard over time.
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Mrs. Maydell Casey Belk is around sixty years old at the time of this interview, and had lived on Fort Ward near Old Town Alexandria for fifteen years from 1952 until 1967 before moving to her current house. The objective of this interview is the development of the African-American neighborhood on Fort Ward, situated on a steep hill just outside Old Town. In it Ms. Belk describes what it was to live there before there was indoor plumbing, running water, or air conditioning, and how life centered around the local church.
Born in Alexandria in 1914, Sigmund Bernheimer, "Sig", relays his family history and childhood memories. Memories include those of the family businesses on King Street, such as the Torpedo Inn. Sig remembers selling newspapers at the Torpedo Factory as a young boy and taking newspaper routes for the local papers, and also describes for us Alexandria's trolleys and taxis.
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Julia Maria Adams Bradby was born in June 8, 1920, and has lived in Alexandria for 72 years. She traces the lineage and locations of the Bradby family and also dicusses other community members and the neighborhood she grew up in, including the Episcopal Theological Seminary, several churches, Fort Ward, and Donaldson's store.
Although Courtney Brooks worked for the Records Center of the General Accounting Office, his real interests as an adult were in activities that he started in childhood. One was a drummer in the Armstrong High School Band. The other was playing sports in the neighborhood. He played in his own band, the Courtney Brooks All Stars, and others all around the country. In 1946 he started a semi-pro football team, the Alexandria Rams, which was integrated by 1951. A decade later he started a football team for boys coming out of high school. He was also instrumental in starting a baseball league for youth. In all of these, he experience and moved along, the shift from segregation to integration. Today he is still helping his neighbors by volunteering at a food mission, directing the Blues Society, and organizing neighborhood festivals.
Mabel Burts has fond memories of her neighborhood around St. Asaph and Franklin Sts. where she was raised by an extended family, including her grandmother who had been a slave. She worked at the torpedo factory and Ft. Belvoir's Army Hospital. She has been very active at her church assisting in many social activities and benefit programs.
Walter H. Cable, Jr., lived and attended school in Alexandria as a boy and continued to live in the City for much of his adult life. Both before and after four years of service in the United States Navy, his principal adult employment was with Potomac Yard, where he worked for forty-three years. He describes his Alexandria boyhood as well as operations and various positions that he held at Potomac Yard. He also briefly discusses his wood-carving hobby. He made a gift of his carving of Bruce Ball, a Chief of Police, to the Lyceum: Alexandria’s History Museum.
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Dee Campbell had a long and distinguished career coaching rowing in the Alexandria City’s high schools, starting in 1959 when he became an assistant boys’ coach at what was then Francis Hammond High School. He eventually became the girls’ coach at T.C. Williams High School and held that post until he retired in 2005. He spent his boyhood on Prince Street and the Potomac was always a major force in his life. He describes himself as a wharf rat as a child, living the life of a Huckleberry Finn. He learned to row at Old Dominion Boat Club after World War II and competed when club rowing was a high-profile sport on the Potomac, drawing rowers from as far away as New York City to compete in regattas such as The President’s Cup. Campbell remembers getting girls’ crew established at the new T.C. Williams High School when female rowers had to keep their clothes in a drawer in the microfilm section of the Torpedo Factory and their boats on racks outdoors. Known as the dean of girls’ scholastic rowing, Campbell saw many changes in rowing in the city, including the construction of the Alexandria schools’ new boat house, now the Dee Campbell Rowing Center.
Mary Moss Child was born in the early twentieth century and has lived in Alexandria since 1938. She volunteered for the Alexandria Boys and Girls Club and became Personnel director for the City in 1955. The city had about 800 employees, by her estimate, at that time. At first each department offered different benefits. Mrs. Child oversaw benefit restructuring so that they were more equal across the board.
Vernon Cockrell was born in Alexandria in 1920 near where Patrick Henry School is now. His grandfather, Charles Branner Cockrell, owned a farm in that area, as well as a mill located near the intersection of Quaker Lane and Duke Street. The mill used water from Holmes Run and got shipments of corn via the railroad. Mr. Cockrell’s father, Charles Norman Cockrell, worked at the mill and owned a feed store, which Mr. Cockrell converted to a hardware store. He later built a new store on Duke Street that has since been replaced by another building. Mr. Cockrell talks about growing up in Alexandria and the many changes he has seen in the City. He was interviewed by one man (Interviewer 1) and two women (Interviewers 2 and 3).
Joseph Dodd, with help from wife Carol, tells us about growing up on South Royal St – about his schools, playmates, the neighborhood, and the city market among other things. Together they comment about Alexandria’s different neighborhoods, such as Old Town, Del Ray, and Rosemont, throughout the years.
Elizabeth Douglas was born in 1919 and has lived in Alexandria, Virginia her entire life. She discusses the adventures and hardships of Elizabeth’s youth and schooling in Alexandria, Arlington and Washington, D.C. Stories of everyday life in the 'Macedonia'-area of Alexandria, as well as some of its more notable residents are also told. Elizabeth gives us her family history and tells us about her favorite childhood games, favorite foods, and unusual pets.
March 12, 1999 interview: Margery Fawcett was born in 1904 and lived in Alexandria since she was 17, after moving here from Washington, D.C. During the interview, Margery relays a description of the stores that populated King Street and stories associated with them, including the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop and Shuman's Bakery. Memories of living during the Depression and bootleggers during Prohibition are also shared, as are those of Presidential visits to Alexandria through the decades.
July 27, 2004 interview: Margery's father was rector of St. Paul’s and she was very active in the affairs of the church, the activities which are discussed in this interview. The interview also includes memories of World War I and World War II, stories of her great grandfather and older brothers, as well as her experiences as a Red Cross nurse and driving a Model-T.
Robert Fischman
Bob Fischman was born in Del Ray in 1925 and is a lifelong resident of Alexandria. He grew up in Del Ray during the Depression, when livestock, coal deliveries, and revival meetings were part of neighborhood life and everyone found some way to cobble together a living. Bob shares stories about his grandfather and father, both railroad workers at Potomac Yards, as well as stories about his grandmother’s rooming house in Del Ray. An award-winning dress designer, Bob opened and ran clothing and tailoring shops in three Old Town locations and continued tailoring later, for a total of 55 years in the business. Toni Fischman, Bob’s wife, suggested several interesting topics as the interview progressed and shared her own memories of the Palm Theatre, eating at Lipp’s and the character of some Alexandria neighborhoods at an earlier time.
Ben Hayman
Ben Hayman was born in Alexandria to parents who had emigrated from Eastern Europe. His parents owned property and sold goods on King Street in downtown Alexandria. Ben Hayman, his wife Betsy, and his son Jimmy owned and/or operated several stores in different neighborhoods of Alexandria, including downtown, Del Ray, and Arlandria. Ben and Jimmy Hayman talk of the many different types of stores in Alexandria that attracted customers from as far away as Manassas when Alexandria was the major shopping destination for Northern Virginia. They describe the effects of Urban Renewal on the city, as well as the effects of the establishment of malls at Bailey’s Crossroads and Landmark. The City of Alexandria took special note of the Hayman family’s contributions to the city, including the annual fashion show benefiting Alexandria Hospital.
Mary Crozet Wood Johnson was born in Alexandria and lived in a house near the corner of Quaker Lane and Woods Lane. She tells of the neighbors who lived in that area. She also talks about the one-room schoolhouse she attended at Fort Ward, which she knew as "The Fort," and the clothes she wore and the games she played. She tells of the occupations of her parents and grandparents, as well as the local churches her parents attended.
Virginia Knapper was born December 25, 1897 in a house located at 911 North Fairfax Street. Mrs. Knapper recalls her home, which was in the area of town known as Cross Canal. She describes the Cross Canal, its’ respective bridges and locks, its width and depth, as well as other vignettes of life near the Canal. Mrs. Knapper shares memories of family members, as well as her job at the glass factory, fishing in the Potomac River and the terrain of north Alexandria.
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Born in 1929, Edward Gailliot was raised in a ‘Sears and Roebuck’ house, (built by his father) located in the Del Ray neighborhood and still extant today. Ed shares memories of Hoover Airport, Potomac Yard whistles, his father’s carpool to Washington Navy Yard, as well as his years working for the phone company. Shirley Gailliot moved to Alexandria in 1941 as a child; she reflects on her childhood in Del Ray, playing with the girl’s basketball team, and her years as a bank employee.
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James Gochenour was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1933 and has been in Alexandria since 1957. He started working at Potomac Yard in 1960 in a variety of positions all the way up to foreman when he retired in 1995. During this interview, he describes the type of freight that came through Potomac Yard and the various problems that would arise and their solutions. He also speaks of the many skilled workers necessary for the success of the Yard and their job descriptions, many of which he filled during his tenure. Mr. Gochenour is also on the Board of Directors of the Potomac Yard Retired Employees Association and, as such, is very active in its operation maintaining social contact with fellow retired employees. Throughout the interview, he is very upbeat and positive about all of his memories of the Yard and maintains a very humorous attitude, finding obvious enjoyment in his recollections.
Helen Knight and Marion Knight Redmond are two lively sisters who lived in Alexandria their entire lives. The elder, Helen, remembers details about growing up at 427 South Fairfax and also recalls many of the family's neighbors and relatives. The sisters discuss summer vacations, childhood games, their first family car and moving from Old Town up to the hill near the Masonic Memorial.
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Click to enlargeGladys Lail, known to her friends as “Dani” was born in 1911 and grew up in Hume Springs outside of Alexandria, Virginia. She discusses what life was like while she was growing up and how the town has changed since her childhood. She discusses the progress that the city has made and what she thinks about the differences in the city that she grew up in but in some aspects does not recognize anymore.
Mabel Lyles spent her early childhood with her mother's family in the rural countryside of Spotsylvania County, VA. She tells stories of washing clothes in the stream there and going to school in a one room schoolhouse. She was able to attend Virginia Union University in Richmond on scholarship and went on to become a teacher. She moved to a segregated Alexandria in 1950 where she taught school and served her church in Christian Education and other activities.
Gilbert and Maudy both grew up in rural Brunswick County, Virginia. Gilbert joined a segregated U.S. Army just prior to World War II, served during the war in Europe in truck support, went to college under the G.I. Bill, and obtained a Master’s degree from the University of Virginia in 1957. He worked for the Virginia State Department of Education (1958-1970) and later served as Assistant Principal and Principal in the City of Alexandria. He retired in 1983. Maudy grew up in family of 16 children, nine of whom were boys. She graduated from St. Paul’s College in Virginia with a degree in education and worked with teachers to improve their awareness of subtle as well as more explicit forms of prejudiced behavior.
Charles McKnight was born in Alexandria and talks about growing up in the Fort Ward area. His great-aunt, Clara Adams, was a founder of Oakland Baptist Church, and Charles and his family lived with her while he was growing up. He describes Clara Adams’ house and its beautiful yard facing Braddock Road. He also talks about the schools he attended, relating how he had to take a bus all the way to Manassas to attend high school. He also tells of how safe he and his family felt in Alexandria; doors were left unlocked. Charles served as secretary and Sunday school superintendent for the Episcopal mission at St. Cyprian.
Edmonia McKnight was born in Fort Ward (Fairfax) in 1921 and has lived in Alexandria, Virginia, her entire life. During the interview she discusses life on Fort Ward during the Depression, as well as the families who made their homes there. Mrs. McKnight gives us a rich and vivid description of her family’s garden, animals, and food preservation methods. She recalls her primer, Baby Ray. She also speaks from her heart about slavery and integration in Alexandria.
Helen Miller proudly traces the history of civil rights for African Americans through her own family. Her grandfather, himself the son of a slave owner, was one of the first black residents of Aurora Hills. Her father was a cook at the Capitol and "kept his place" in spite of the many famous people he saw each day. Because of his steady job he was able to buy a house for his family when his children were small. Helen, and many others, marched and participated in sit-ins in order to open libraries, restaurants, banks, and ABC stores to blacks, as customers as well as employees. She marched for city jobs in the Fire, Health, and Police Departments. She pioneered as one of the first black graduates of the Police Academy. Her daughter was one of the first black bank tellers in the City. In addition, she tells us delightful stories about her childhood - swimming in the Potomac, the fire at the Vinegar Factory, and bootleggers during prohibition.
Mr. Wilbur S. Morris was born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia in 1924. Having obtained his first position for the RF&P Railroad in 1943 in Fredericksburg, Mr. Morris worked his way up to Master Mechanic at Potomac Yard in Alexandria in 1968. During the course of the interview Mr. Morris explains his responsibilities as Master Mechanic and the intricacies of the Potomac Yard operations.
Mr. Parker was a life long resident of Alexandria. His father owned a grocery store in the 700 block of King Street between 1904 and 1945. Mr. Parker discusses the store, including the pickle barrels our front, the cakes popular with children and how his father initially made deliveries via horse and wagon. Other businesses in the 700- and 800-blocks King Street are recalled, such as Lemenschawsky's shoe repair and the Hoy's stove and tinware shop. The streetcar line's route between Mount Vernon and Washington, D.C. is also vividly described.
Harold Payne was born in Alexandria and lived here all his life. His family moved often to different neighborhoods so he has great stories about many different areas of the city. He was a member of the Lions' Club for forty five years.
Click to enlargeJohn D. Pierpoint was born in Hume Springs in 1928. Mr. Pierpoint recounts stories surrounding his family’s home in the Hume Springs area, as well as his grandfather’s heating business and helping out with his uncle’s store. Sharing memories of his boyhood paper route via bicycle, and his experiences as a teen working at the Torpedo Factory, Mr. Pierpoint paints a vivid portrait of Alexandria and its streets during the 1930s and early 1940s. During the interview, memories of dating, the prom and meeting his wife, Pauline are also fondly remembered.
Charles Sampson was born in Alexandria and lived here all his life. He was a member of the fire department from 1937 until his retirement in 1975. As a result, he knew the streets, businesses, and landmarks of Alexandria like the back of his hand. He carefully kept a collection of photos and mementos from his career which he has donated to the Alexandria Library and is now available in its Special Collections.
During World War II, Chinquapin Village was established as housing for workers at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. Mr. Sare, his six siblings and mother came from Wyoming to Alexandria in 1940, when his father received employment at the Torpedo Factory. First living in temporary housing at Rosemont, the family soon moved into Chinquapin Village (located on the grounds of the present day Chinquapin Park Recreation Center). Mr. Sare recalls Alexandria and the close-knit Chinquapin community in the 1940s and 1950s. He provides descriptions and design layout of the Chinquapin houses and the grounds and relays humorous stories of being a teen in Chinquapin Village, including working at the grocery store, Halloween, swimming holes and innocent mischief.
Charlotte Spittle Smith
Charlotte Ann Spittle Smith was born in Alexandria in 1921. Her parents were also born in Alexandria, as was her grandmother. Charlotte lived in several neighborhoods as a child, including Seminary Hill, Rosemont, and Old Town. The Great Depression had an impact on her family and where they lived. She talks about growing up in Alexandria and about the city during World War II, how she met her husband, and the changes in Alexandria over the years. She was a graduate of George Washington High School and worked for the government during the war. She recalls the trolley that ran through Alexandria to Mount Vernon, and she tells of being taken to view the damage caused in Old Town by a tornado.
Dorothy Hall Smith and Barbara Ashby Gordon
Dorothy Hall Smith and Barbara Ashby Gordon grew up in Alexandria. Mrs. Gordon grew up in the vicinity of what is now the Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site, which they called “the Fort.” Mrs. Smith, her cousin, visited there in summer. The women describe the homes and families “up Fort,” and they talk about growing up at a time when Braddock Road required new tar be put down each year; when Barbara walked to her aunt’s house to get milk from the cow; and when no one felt it necessary to keep their doors locked. They also describe in detail the house belonging to the Jacksons at the Fort. During Reconstruction, the Fort Ward area was a neighborhood of African Americans. The women talk about the importance of remembering the neighborhood as it was before it became a Park.
John and Mary Sullivan live in the Del Ray area of Alexandria. John grew up there and Mary has lived there since her marriage in 1946. They describe the businesses and families of their neighborhood, and what it was like for their children in the fifties and sixties as they were growing up. John had a long career with the FBI. Mary was a homemaker, a community and church volunteer, and also held some professional positions. They are a couple who has seen the neighborhood change throughout the years.
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- April 21, 2002 interview: Elsie Virginia Tucker Thomas was born in 1919 in Alexandria. She lived on Queen Street between North Patrick and North Alfred, and she talks about what the neighborhood was like. She also talks about the church she attended with her family. She went to school in Alexandria and graduated from Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. She also followed her mother’s path and attended Virginia State College while her brothers went to Howard University. She supported her brothers in their work for civil rights; they protested the exclusion of African Americans from the Alexandria public library as early as 1939. Her father was among the citizens who supported the establishment of Hopkins House as a community center for young African Americans in 1939. This is the first of two interviews conducted with Mrs. Thomas; the second interview occurred in December 2006.
- December 15, 2006 interview: In this additional interview, Elsie recalls her work as the second President of Hopkins House in Alexandria, established in 1939 (from 1954 to 1965). She also recalls the music at Zion Baptist Church as well as parades sponsored by the Odd Fellows.
John "Jack" Ticer
John Ticer, known as Jack, was born in 1923 in his family’s house in Alexandria, and never lived farther than seven blocks from there. Both of his parents also grew up in Alexandria, and while Jack was growing up here, his father was on the City Council, served as mayor, and had a long career with the railroad. Jack attended the old Washington School, now the Campagna Center, the old Jefferson School which has been torn down, George Washington High School, and graduated from the University of Virginia. He worked as a soda jerk at Nicklin's Drugstore, served as an enlisted man in World War II, and worked for Westinghouse Electric and Atlantic Research Corporation. He and his wife Patsy both served on the City Council, and Mrs. Ticer is now a senator in the Virginia General Assembly. Jack continued to have an active interest in Alexandria’s history until his death in 2007.
Marian Van Landingham
Marian Van Landingham, an Alexandria artist, is a founder of Alexandria’s Torpedo Factory Art Center and former Delegate to the Virginia General Assembly, where she represented Alexandria for 24 years, from 1982 to 2006. During the interview, she discusses how the Art Center was established and its early years --when there was little heat and no air-conditioning for the artists. She also recalls her years in the Assembly, where she was one of the few female delegates.
Natalie Vaughn
Natalie Thompson Sanks Vaughn was born in Alexandria in 1920. She worked as a substitute teacher at Parker-Gray School in Alexandria and for a short time during World War II for the Office of Price Administration in Washington, D.C. She then taught in North Carolina and at Manassas Institute when it was the only high school for African American children in rural Northern Virginia. She was Dean of Women at North Carolina A&T College and taught at Bowie State Teachers’ College before becoming a teacher, vice-principal, and then principal in the Alexandria public school system. She talks about segregation of the schools in Virginia and about their integration in Alexandria. She talks about what happened in the schools at the time of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Mrs. Vaughn also gave an interview to the Oral History of the Public School Principalship Program in May 1988.)
During World War II, Chinquapin Village was established as housing for workers at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. Mr. Warthen moved to Chinquapin with his family when he was 11 years old. He shares memories of the community’s softball team and other activities provided for the children and teens. He describes the Chinquapin homes, its community center and the neighborhood context. “…It was a very friendly place to live.”
Shirley Grimm Warthen
Shirley Grimm Warthen describes her childhood growing up in the 1930's and ‘40's in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria. She had a special attachment to the city because her dad was one of its policemen. As the youngest of six children, she saw a larger view of life through her siblings, even experiencing World War II through the death of a brother. She describes walking to school, enjoying life at its best at the roller skating rink, going to the movies at the Palm Theater, and other common activities.
Charles K. "Buster" Williams was born in Alexandria in 1908 and has lived here all his life. He attended elementary school at St. Josephs and Parker Gray, then went to high school in Washington D.C. because there were no secondary schools in the city for African Americans at that time. Some of the jobs that he talks about are hauling ice on an ice cart, boot black at a local barber shop, truck driver and delivery person for Virginia Public Service, working at the White House, and barnstorming as a semi-pro baseball player. He has fond memories of growing up in a small city as a child.
Click to enlarge Sgt. Lee Thomas Young lived in the Fort Ward neighborhood before the fort was established as an historic Civil War and recreational park. He reflects what it was like living in the neighborhood and describes some of the houses and recalls his neighbors. His Fort Ward home, originally a church, was adjacent to one of the family graveyards that are still there. He was one of the last people moved from the Fort Ward area to new housing in order to make way for the park. This interview was videotaped; Sgt. Young and interviewer, Patricia Knock walked through the areas as they talked about them.
