Category: Black People of Alexandria

Memories of Long Ago: Margaret V. Campbell Council

Margaret V. Campbell Council – High School Graduating Picture in 1930s

I was privilege in having a conversation with the 78 year-old Leroy Council of Philadelphia who revealed his deep love for his mother, Margaret and the history she shared with him about her life in Alexandria.

His mother, Margaret was born in Alexandria on April 19, 1917. Margaret’s mother came to Alexandria from Orange, Virginia to have her. After she was born, her mother returned to Orange County with her daughter, Margaret.

Margaret’s grandparents, Phillip and Alice Perry Campbell raised her. Out of their great love for their grandchild, Phillip and Alice moved to Alexandria in 1922 so that Margaret could get a better education.

Margaret left Alexandria after the death of her grandparents. She moved to Philadelphia to be with her mother. She came back to Alexandria to get married. She raised her children in Philadelphia but kept her close ties with friends and family in Alexandria. She never missed an opportunity to return to Alexandria to be with family and her childhood friends.

You can read Margaret’s story in the Alexandria Gazette Newspaper that was published on March 30th at:

http://www.alexandriagazette.com/news/2020/mar/30/other-alexandria-memories-long-ago-margaret-v-camp/

The Way It Was: Calvin D. Terrell

Sitting down talking to Calvin D. Terrell was like going back in time to the 1940s. Although I wasn’t born for another 15 years later, Mr. Terrell took me back to his world when he was a child living in the Seminary section of Alexandria.

He was able to tell me what Seminary Road, Quaker Lane, Bailey Cross Roads and King Street looked like from the time he was a child. He named the families that were up and down one side of the street to the other side of the street giving me the family ties to different family members who lived in the area.

Mr. Calvin D. Terrell has a wealth of knowledge about the days gone by. You can read more about him in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper on page 8 dated March 4, 2020 at
http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2020/030420/Alexandria.pdf.

Black Women’s Suffrage Movement and Mary E. Dorsey

Laura, Mary and Hannah’s headstone

Mary Dorsey was the youngest child of Clem M. Dorsey and Hannah V. Lyles. She was born in 1882 in Alexandria, VA. In today’s world, it would have been unheard of for a single black woman who was a domestic and hair dresser to command the lifestyle, prestige and political involvement as Mary in the late 18th and 19th Century.

Mary and her sister, Laura M. Dorsey made their impact on history in Alexandria, Virginia in the Black Women’s Suffrage Movement. In future articles this year, I will continue telling the stories of other black women who took advantage of the 19th Amendment.

You can read more about Mary Ellen Dorsey in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper on pages 6 and 18 dated February 19, 2020 at http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2020/021920/Alexandria.pdf.

Clifton D. Wanzer: The View from the Air Traffic Controllers’ Tower

Clifton D. Wanzer
1971

Clifton D. Wanzer is the oldest son of Daniel Wanzer and Viola Williams. He grew up in the Seminary (West End) of Alexandria, Virginia. A great deal of Clifton’s life has been in the years of segregation, but that period did not stop him for sketching out a better life for himself and his family.

Clifton D. Wanzer
1950s Air Force –
Air Traffic Controller

Although Clifton does not know whether he was the first Alexandrian African American to be an Air Traffic Controller, but it is clear that he was one of the first from his home town to have a view from the Air Traffic Controller’s Tower.

You can read more about Clifton D. Wanzer in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper on page 11 dated February 5, 2020 at
http://connection.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/news/documents/2020/02/05/Alexandria.pdf. Also you can read on page 10 a letter to the editor from Frances Burton.