New Report Highlights Historical past of Clashes Between Civil Rights and Historic Preservation in Alexandria | ALXnow

At a Board of Architectural Review meeting earlier this week, local heritage conservation advisor John Sprinkle shared some research from an upcoming book on the interface – and sometimes the fiery conflict – between the city’s heritage conservation efforts and the civil rights movement.

“From Historic Preservation to Neighborhood Preservation: Displacement, Urban Violence, and Architectural Uprising in Alexandria, Virginia” describes how the city’s efforts to preserve history over the past fifty years sometimes contradict efforts to make preservation affordable There were black neighborhoods in and around the city.

The conservation efforts as they are known in the city today generally took shape in the 1960s, but were influenced by the cultural and political movements of the 1970s. Things came to a head in 1970 when a 7-eleven shopkeeper shot 19-year-old Robin Gibson and tried to set him up for a robbery by planting a knife on his body. Riots broke out across the city.

“Alexandria marched in a very traditional way until 1970,” Sprinkle said. “Then something happens in 1970 with a period of experimentation in the mid-1970s that deals specifically with what will become Parker-Gray.”

Also in 1970, a city report ranked buildings across the city on a scale of 1 to 4, listing the least in need of preservation. This was common in the United Kingdom at the time, but was controversial in the United States. In Alexandria, it gave landowners an idea of ​​what was really important and what could be replaced by modern development, Sprinkle said.

The report also included a planned expansion of the old town by 30 blocks to the north, although the city eventually opted for a smaller expansion of 13 blocks.

“Alexandria was puzzled,” said Sprinkle. “[They] acknowledged that expanding the old and historic district would result in the displacement of lower-income families, but they also saw that expanding the district would increase property values ​​and the tax base for residential buildings within the district. “

Sprinkle said that, given the economy in the early 1970s, expanding the old and historic neighborhood must have been an enticing prospect. The move was rejected at the time by local black community leaders, who stated that increased property values ​​would drive black families and communities from their homes. As a result, black leaders promoted “neighborhood preservation” as an alternative to historical preservation.

“Driven out of the Old Town neighborhoods, African-Americans have integrated formerly all-white labor communities in Del Ray and Arlandria,” Sprinkle said. “Despite the heroic narrative in Remember the Titans … the twofold path of desegregation and displacement was indeed controversial.”

Sprinkle noted that conflicts between movements of equal justice and the celebration of the lost cause were as active in the 1970s as they are today. The rioters targeted a building next to Robert E. Lee’s house, which had recently been converted into a museum. A Molotov cocktail and flames extinguished much of the interior. A carriage house that was being refurbished was set on fire, destroying most of the building’s architectural elements.

Sprinkle said the riots had a profound impact on the city’s planning efforts. The preservation of historical monuments at that time began to shift in the direction of neighborhood protection. The city was tracking grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, which focused on conservation, as part of an “Experiment to Address Predicted Displacement of African Americans in the Northwest Quadrant.”

In 1973, the city council rejected the expansion of the old and historic district to include the area known as Parker-Gray after resistance from the area’s mostly black citizens. The Parker-Gray District was established in 1984 to protect the neighborhood from in-depth development. The Old and Historic Districts and Parker-Gray District remain separate Historic Districts, although both will be reviewed by the same Board of Architectural Review as of 2019.

Staff photo by Jay Westcott