Echoes from the Hill - A Juneteenth Celebration of Arlington's Black History

Event Details

A documentary film crew sponsored by Arlington's MLK Celebration Committee, Inc. is currently developing a multi-episode history series telling the largely forgotten story of Arlington's Black past, tentatively called Echoes from the Hill.

This Juneteenth, members of that documentary project team will hold a panel discussion at the library to share some evocative preliminary research they've gathered in the form of photos, maps, documents, and excerpts from interviews with elders and their descendants.

Together this research reveals a side of Arlington that many today might not recognize—unless it shaped your family's experience here:

Little known Black-owned stores, juke joints, and secret gambling clubs
The segregated Booker T. Washington School that went to 8th grade, and how it demonstrated the vital importance of education to Black families in town
Carpooling twenty miles to attend I.M. Terrell High School in Fort Worth, because hometown Arlington High School did not accept Black students until 1965
A Ku Klux Klan rally in Arlington's Meadowbrook Park in the 1920's
Heroic Black soldiers and sailors of WWI & WWII
Black churches that created and shaped generations of capable leaders

This event will also mark the official launch of our Arlington Black History Community Archive! This digital collection, created and hosted by the library, will provide free searchable access 24/7 to many of the historical photos, recordings, and documents that will be featured in the Echoes from the Hill documentary projects… along with many, many others!

Come learn about the film project, help us launch the digital collection, and learn how to contribute your own family stories or contacts to the effort!

Event Type(s): Genealogy and Local History

Age Group(s): Adult (18+), Seniors

Mark Dellenbaugh

(817) 459-6795

mark.dellenbaugh@arlingtontx.gov