Browse Resources (209 total)

During World War II, ration coupons, issued to individuals in book format, specified what and how much people could purchase of items in limited supply because of the war. Cooking oil, coffee, automobile gasoline, and sugar were among rationed…

Women on the homefront in Fairfax during World War II coped with shortages of wartime. Through monthly meetings at Home Demonstration Clubs, they worked together to plant victory gardens and to learn how to use and preserve food and clothing.

During World War II, elementary school children in the Braddock District joined in home front support of the war. Children would buy stamps, put them in books, and trade in each completed book for a war bond to help the war effort.

During World War II, soldiers overseas sent letters home by V-mail. V-mail letters folded into their own envelopes and saved valuable shipping space for war materials. During the war, Delbert [Bill] Sheads wrote to his bride, Doris Hollis, who…

Drafted at the age of 19, Delbert [Bill] Sheeds was shipped to Europe, landing in France after D-Day in June 1944, and moving through France, Belgium and into Germany within 20 miles of Berlin.

On April 1, 1973, an F-3 strength tornado swept through Fairfax County. Teacher Trudy Todd stands in her roofless classroom at Woodson High School. The federal government declared the county eligible for disaster assistance and damages to the…

On April 1, 1973, an F-3 strength tornado tore through Fairfax County, leaving an estimated $14 million in damages and making the county eligible for federal disaster assistance. Winds were estimated at 125 miles per hour. Woodson High School was…

Fairfax County Police Department, June 1941. Left to right. Front row: Det. Sgt. Henry Magarity, Alton Poole, Chief Carl McIntosh, Sgt. Lewis Finks, James Mahoney. Second row: Joseph Howard, Willard Mohler, Paul Dove, Grafton Wells. Third row:…

May Caudle, wife of an early Burke Volunteer Fire Deparment chief climbs "Old Red." The used 1930 Ford cost $500; it was the first fire truck owned by the Burke Volunteer Fire Department (VFD), established in 1948.

Fairfax County is sometimes blanketed by snowstorms that shut down the community until snowplows can reach into the neighborhoods. In 1970, snow covered streets that became impassable, complicating commuting to work and school.