Oral History, Part 1: Delbert (Bill) Sheads and Elsie Sisson(1921 - 2008)

In Part 1 of two interview sessions, Bill and Elsie (Sheads) Sisson, brother and sister, reminisce about their family, which came to the Braddock District from Culpepper, Virginia, in 1903. They talk about people and places, schools, lumbering and saw mills, and church life.

Oral History: Robert Mizer

While in the U. S. Navy in 1979, Robert Mizer was stationed at the Pentagon. He moved his family into the Ravensworth area of the Braddock District and remained. A volunteer fire fighter, he talks about the history of the Burke Volunteer Fire Department, how it operates, and area-wide fire fighting organizations.

Oral History: Laura McDowall

Laura McDowall grew up in Northern Virginia as a child in the post-World War II era. When she and her husband moved to the Braddock District during the 1960s, she volunteered with the county's first anti-poverty agency and continued her involvement in primary health care provision to the community. She later served for 12 years on the Fairfax County School Board and has continued her career of public service in a variety of volunteer positions.

Oral History: Paul Kincheloe

Paul Kincheloe grew up on a dairy farm on Burke Road his father bought in the early 1940s. The farm was sold and developed into the Lake Braddock community about 1970. His boyhood home, Greenfield, still stands on Burke Road. Now an attorney, he talks about his memories of growing up on a working dairy farm, his childhood chores, education, and recreation.

Oral History: Robert Hunt

Robert Hunt moved to the Kings Park neighborhood in the late 1950s. He became president of the Kings Park Civic Association and later, a member of the Fairfax County School Board. He discusses family life, community growth, and his memories of world events.

Oral History: Tom Giska

Tom Giska joined the faculty as a science teacher at Lake Braddock High School in 1974, the school's second year in operation. He discusses the growth of the school and historic events in the early history of Fairfax County. Tom Giska has compiled a comprehensive history of the Burke area including people and events.

Oral History: Stewart Lynn and Becky Bryce

The Bryce family represents four generations of Fairfax County residents. They discuss daily life growing up in the country from the time of dirt roads to present-day development.

Oral History: Paul Brown (Jul. 25, 1929 - Sep. 16, 2005)

Paul Brown grew up in Fairfax County. He remembers childhood activities, pickup neighborhood baseball, long bus rides to school, and neighborhood grocery stores. He reminisces about family history and about the days when the Braddock District had no electricity and telephones were party lines. Paul Brown's family lived in Brimstone Hill, whose construction dates to the 1820s.

Burke International Airport, Opposition

A newspaper headline in 1951 announced that Burke farmer, Jones Jasper, asked the District Court for a preliminary injunction against any airport within 12,500 feet of his 100-acre farm. The suit charged that "frequent operation of large, heavy, powerful multi-engined civil aircraft over plaintiff's property at an altitude below the navigable air space. . .would constitute a continuing trespass on his property. . .and endanger persons and animals."

unknown newspaper

Oral History: Jennifer Cornelson Addington

Jennifer Cornelson Addington grew up in Old Burke where her family lived in Whiteoaks, the original edifice of the Burke Elementary School. She reminisces about her childhood and neighborhood growth.

A Look Back at Braddock Oral History Project