When students arrive at Oakton High School, they will now encounter a historical marker honoring civil rights activist Lillian Blackwell, whose own children might not have been allowed inside when the school opened in 1967 if not for her advocacy.
Fairfax County officials unveiled the plaque detailing Blackwell’s legacy, including her fight against the segregation of local public schools and movie theaters, at a ceremony on Saturday (June 1) attended by some of her family members and the students who suggested her for the recognition.
“I’m so glad that Fairfax County is making sure that historical figures that have done a lot for Fairfax County locally are being recognized and remembered and honored,” one of those students, Meron Fikru, said. “Lillian Blackwell was an amazing woman who contributed so much, especially to Fairfax County Public Schools, and the work that she has done, you can feel the effects today, considering that I got to go to school in an area that’s extremely diverse and learn so much about Fairfax County history.”
“I just think it’s very beautiful and wonderful that she’s finally getting the recognition that she deserves, because she’s done so much for the Fairfax County community,” Maddie Haag, another student, added.
The unveiling came over two years after Fikru, Haag and their classmate Delano Telford nominated Blackwell for the county’s Black/African American Historical Marker Project. All three of them have since graduated from South County High School.
Conceived by Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik, the project was started by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2021 to support “a more comprehensive and inclusive telling” of the county’s history, the county says. While initially centered on the Black community, the county hopes to expand its focus in the future.
How Lillian Blackwell shaped Fairfax County
FCPS and the county’s Neighborhood and Community Services (NCS) encouraged youth to suggest individuals, sites and events that could merit an official historical marker from the Fairfax County History Commission, which provided supporting documents and research.
Assigned to participate in the project for their African American history class, Fikru, Haag and Telford came across documentation of a 1959 lawsuit challenging segregation in FCPS that included Lillian Blackwell among its plaintiffs.
With additional research, the students realized Blackwell’s community contributions extended beyond that lawsuit, which eventually forced FCPS to integrate during the 1960s.
Born in Arcola in Loudoun County, Blackwell grew up in Arlington and Oakton. In addition to suing FCPS, she participated in protests against businesses that refused to serve African Americans, and she joined an Arlington County woman in a lawsuit in 1963 that ended segregated seating in movie theaters.
She also organized the county’s first African American Girl Scout troop, founded the local chapter of the National Council of Negro Women and the Black Women United for Action, raised money to establish Vienna’s Patrick Henry Library as an integrated institution, and organized volunteers for a quilt project that depicted black history in the county.
“At the time when we had to fill this out, we had a word count, and we couldn’t fit everything in the word count!” Fikru said. “So, we were strategically thinking about what should go in?”
Palchik announced in September 2022 that a committee of history commissioners had chosen six finalists for historical markers out of 53 nominations. Blackwell’s marker is the first to be installed.
It’s not clear yet when the plaques for the other five markers — which will honor Louise Archer, Annie Harper, Gen. Colin Powell, Gunnell’s Chapel and the West Springfield 16 — will be unveiled.
“It’s a process,” Palchik told FFXnow. “I think they’re all finally printed. It’s just being able to ensure that the people involved with the markers will be available for this unveiling.”
For family, a full circle moment
In addition to Palchik, speakers at Saturday’s ceremony included Fairfax County School Board Chair and Providence District Representative Karl Frisch, Fairfax County History Commission Chair Lynne Garvey-Hodge, and Rep. Gerry Connolly, who said Blackwell “changed an entire community” with her “passion for justice.”
For Preston Blackwell, one of Lillian’s six children, the ceremony served as a homecoming.
A former Fairfax County police officer, he recalls cutting through the woods where Oakton High School now stands to reach his grandmother’s house. His siblings, Lawrence and Donna, graduated from Oakton High School, as did his two daughters.
Given the family’s close ties to the Oakton and Vienna area, Preston was glad the marker honoring his mother was placed outside Oakton High School instead of near the Fairfax County Government Center, as the county initially suggested.
“This is the community that my mother was raised in. She raised us in this community, I raised my children in this community, and it’s appropriate,” he told FFXnow. “The community needs to know what contributions Black folks have made in this county to make their lives better.”
While grateful to see the recognition for his mother, the sensation of being “right back where we started” was also sobering for Preston, who noted that the U.S. is still dealing with the issues that she fought to eliminate.
As legislatures and courts chip away at voting rights and dismantle affirmative action programs intended to counteract decades of discrimination, researchers have found that neighborhoods and schools across the U.S. have become more segregated since the 1990s, despite the country’s growing diversity.
“The thing that disturbs me the most is when I look around, we’re going through the same thing again,” Preston Blackwell said. “I have to tell my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, try to give them some survival skills in America, so I’m tired. I’m tired.”
Multiple speakers stressed the importance of learning about history in order to create a better future. Palchik hopes Blackwell’s marker will serve as a reminder of her contributions to the local community, while also inspiring new generations to continue her work.
“This is so inspiring that this will be here and, I hope, really not only tell Lillian’s story, but encourage our future generation of students to stand up for rights as well and advocate for what’s right and to help fix the inequities that still exist today,” she said.
