Manassas Industrial School, circa 1940

Jennie Dean, born a slave in Prince William County, founded the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth in 1894. Originally a private boarding school, it was a segregated regional high school for African Americans between 1938 and 1966. Students came from the area north of the Rappahannock River, providing their own transportation or boarding on campus during the week. Students followed academic subjects and skilled trade courses.

Courtesy of the Manassas Museum System, Manassas, Virginia

Manassas Museum photos are copyrighted and for use only with permission of the Museum.

Home of Moses Parker

Moses Parker, a former slave who purchased his freedom, opened a blacksmith shop on Little River Turnpike with his partner, former slave, Horace Gibson. Gibson and Parker moved to Fairfax from Culpeper, purchasing five acres of land each near the intersection of Guinea Road and Little River Turnpike. By 1878, they owned 400 acres which formed the community of Ilda, likely named after the daughter of Horace Gibson and daughter-in-law of Moses Parker.

Courtesy of the family of Hareem Badil-Abish, from the book Shades of Gray: A Beginning...The Origins and Development of a Black Family in Fairfax, VA by Hareem Badil-Abish

Hareem Badil-Abish photos are copyrighted and may be reproduced or otherwise used only with written permission of the family of Hareem Badil-Abish.

Blacksmith Shop, circa 1890

Moses Parker and Horace Gibson, former slaves who purchased their freedom, moved to Fairfax County from Culpeper. They opened a blacksmith shop on the corner of Little River Turnpike and today's Prosperity Avenue and served travellers between Alexandria and points west. By 1878, the Gibsons and Parkers owned 400 acres of land that formed Ilda, a community of shops and a church likely named after Matilda Gibson Parker, daughter of Horace and daughter-in-law of Moses. In this photo, Matilda Gibson Parker stands in the center.

Courtesy of the family of Hareem Badil-Abish, from the book Shades of Gray: A Beginning...The Origins and Development of a Black Family in Fairfax, VA by Hareem Badil-Abish

Hareem Badil-Abish photos are copyrighted and may be reproduced or otherwise used only with written permission of the family of Hareem Badil-Abish

Page Parker Family, circa 1887

Page Augustus Parker and Matilda Gibson Parker and their daughters, Maude, Molly, and Alice, circa 1887. The couple took over the blacksmith shop founded by Moses Parker, father of Page Augustus, and his partner, Horace Gibson. The blacksmith shop on the corner of Little River Turnpike and today's Prosperity Avenue served travelers between Alexandria and points west. By 1878, the Gibsons and Parkers owned 400 acres of land that formed Ilda, a community of shops and a church probably named after Matilda Gibson Parker.

Courtesy of the family of Hareem Badil-Abish, from the book Shades of Gray: A Beginning...The Origins and Development of a Black Family in Fairfax, VA by Hareem Badil-Abish

Hareem Badil-Abish photos are copyrighted and may be reproduced or otherwise used only with written permission of the family of Hareem Badil-Abish.

Cosmetology Class, Manassas Industrial School, 1950s

Jennie Dean, born a slave in Prince William County, founded the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth. The school, a private facility which offered academic subjects as well as skilled trade courses, opened in October 1894. From 1938 until 1966, it was a segregated regional high school for African Americans living in Northern Virginia. African Americans from almost half of Virginia had connections to the Manassas Industrial School.

Courtesy of the Manassas Museum System, Manassas, Virginia

Manassas Museum photos are copyrighted and for use only with permission of the Museum.

Cheerleaders, Manassas Industrial School

Jennie Dean, born a slave in Prince William County, founded the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth. The school, a private facility which offereed academic subjects as well as skilled trade courses, opened in October 1894. From 1938 until 1966, it was a segregated regional high school for African Americans living in Northern Virginia. African Americans from almost half of Virginia had connections to the Manassas Industrial School.

Courtesy of the Manassas Museum System, Manassas, Virginia

Manassas Museum photos are copyrighted and for use only with permission of the Museum.

Carpentry class, Manassas Industrial School, circa 1961

Jennie Dean, born a slave in Prince William County, founded the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth. The school, a private facility which offered academic subjects as well as skilled trade courses, opened in October 1894. From 1938 until 1966, it was a segregated regional high school for African Americans living in Northern Virginia. African Americans from almost half of Virginia had connections to the Manassas Industrial School.

Courtesy of the Manassas Museum System, Manassas, Virginia

Manassas Museum photos are copyrighted and for use only with permission of the Museum.

Little Zion Baptist Church

In 1891, the Little Zion Baptist Church was built for $25 by freed slaves on land donated by Jack Pearson, a former slave of the Fitzhugh family.

The founding congregation was known as the Old School Baptist Group of Blacks and Whites. Reverend Lewis Henry Bailey, a former slave, was their first hired minister. Reverend Bailey was sold from a slave pen in Alexandria, Virginia to a Texas slave master, freed at the age of 21, and returned to Alexandria where he found his mother. Bailey learned to read and attended seminary with the help of a philanthropist in touch with the American Baptist Publishing Society. Lewis mortgaged his home for $25.00 to finance the new church. Today, in 2007, a Korean Presbyterian congretation meets in the original church building on Burke Lake Road.

Photo by Gilbert Donahue

Copyrighted material, not to be reproduced without permission of owner, Gilbert Donahue

Ashford House

In 1829, Mary Goldsborough inherited land from William Henry Fitzhugh and, in 1856, William Ashford purchased 20 of the Goldsborough acres. The property probably included at least one slave cabin. The Ashford House combines two log cabins, one made of chestnut, the other of pine. Ashford worked on a crew clearing county roads. Five of his nine children with wife, Hannah Ashford, were born in the house.

Photo by Gilbert Donahue

Copyrighted material, not to be reproduced without permission of owner, Gilbert Donahue

Annandale United Methodist Church

The Annandale United Methodist Church was built in 1846. During the Civil War, the Union Army used the church as a hospital, then burned the building and the village of Annandale as it withdrew from the area. A new building with a small balcony for African American worshippers was finished in 1870. The first public school classes for Annandale children met in the basement of the church. The bell, added in 1908, served as Annandale's only fire alarm until 1923. The church stands on the corner of Columbia Pike and Gallows Road in Annandale, Virginia.

Photo by Gilbert Donahue

Copyrighted material, not to be reproduced without permission of owner, Gilbert Donahue