Black History Committee Oral History Project 2000-2006

Access and use

Location of collection:
Thomas Balch Library
Thomas Balch Library
208 West Market Street
Leesburg, Virginia 20176
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Alexandra S. Gressitt
Phone: (703) 737-7195
Fax: (703) 737-7195

Summary

Creator:
Black History Committee of Friends of the Thomas Balch Library, Inc.
Abstract:
This collection consists of oral history recordings and written transcripts of the recordings related to African American history in Loudoun County. These sound recordings were made on cassette tapes and include information on family histories, race relations, segregation and desegregation, the Civil Rights Movement, and the socio-economic issues faced by African American communities in Loudoun County. The majority of the interviewees were African American, but some whites with African American connections were also interviewed. The collection also includes photos of many of the interviewees. The collection is filed by format in 8 boxes. There are 3 boxes of transcripts and photos and 5 boxes of cassettes. The oral history recordings are only accessible in digital format (.wav files), which can be placed on CD on request. The date of each interview (transcript and tape) is included in the container list.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of oral history recordings and written transcripts of the recordings related to African American history in Loudoun County. These sound recordings were made on cassette tapes and include information on family histories, race relations, segregation and desegregation, the Civil Rights Movement, and the socio-economic issues faced by African American communities in Loudoun County. The majority of the interviewees were African American, but some whites with African American connections were also interviewed. The collection also includes photos of many of the interviewees. The collection is filed by format in 8 boxes. There are 3 boxes of transcripts and photos and 5 boxes of cassettes. The oral history recordings are only accessible in digital format (.wav files), which can be placed on CD on request. The date of each interview (transcript and tape) is included in the container list.

Biographical / historical:

The Black History Committee of Friends of the Thomas Balch Library Inc. (BHC) was formed in June 2000 as a result of an anonymous $50,000 donation. The committee's first task was the naming of one of the rooms in the recently renovated Thomas Balch Library in honor of an African American as stipulated by the donation. Howard W. Clark Sr. (1876-1960) was selected. The mission of the Black History Committee was and still is "to preserve, collect, promote, and share the history of African-Americans who lived in and contributed to the emergence of Loudoun County" (Black History Committee, 2000). Upon its creation, Pauline Singletary took up the mantle of the first chair of the Committee.

BHC continued in operation following naming of the room, and discussed possible projects and goals. Mary Randolph expressed the concern that many black communities around the county were disappearing due to people moving away or being destroyed by development; as a result the BHC began the Community History andamp; Mapping Project. The committee applied for and was awarded a grant from the Loudoun Library Foundation to collect and transcribe oral histories and document these communities. The BHC began working on the Oral History Project in 2000. The project's goal was to preserve and share Loudoun County's African American history.

Deborah Lee, a member of the BHC, resigned as a voting member of the BHC and began managing the project. With the help of the committee, Lee identified thirty-two stand-alone African American communities and thirteen communities that were part of larger towns and hamlets. She worked with Loudoun County Office of Mapping and Geographic Information to produce a map of African American communities for Thomas Balch Library and county planners. The result was African American Architectural Surveys in Loudoun County, 2004 (M 013 and OMB 003). Thanks to the initiative of Planning Commissioner Kathryn Miller, the map was a catalyst for the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to commission History Matters, LLC to do a formal historic resources survey of the county's African American sites. The files of both projects have been placed in the archives at Thomas Balch Library.

The Loudoun Library Foundation and the BHC continued to fund the oral history project and a grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities was used to develop and print Loudoun County's African American Communities: A Tour Map andamp; Guide (2004), written by Deborah Lee with the editorial assistance of members of the BHC.

Work on the Oral History Project continued until 2006. Many African Americans and a few whites were interviewed for this project. These interviews were transcribed and recorded on tape by individuals associated with the BHC.

Acquisition information:
Black History Committee of Friends of the Thomas Balch Library, Inc.
Arrangement:

Box: folder