Tag: Alexandria VA

Coming Home—Army -T/5 Julius J. Smith

Julius J. Smith

It was a chilly day on December 7, 1941, in the Northern Virginia area when a Japanese Plane bombed Pearl Harbor. On the following day, the United States (U.S.) declared that they were at war with Japan and Japan’s allies. The U.S. announced a military draft, and many men were drafted; some enlisted, including men from Alexandria. One of those men who enlisted from Alexandria was Julius J. Smith.

Julius was the son of Moses Smith and Hester Carter Smith. On May 29, 1942, Julius married Lillian Virginia Newman. Both were only nineteen years old. Before his marriage, he lived with his parents at 606 South Washington Street, and Lillian lived with her parents at 601 North Pitt Street.  

Julius worked at Leon Baltimore Radio Shop on Washington Street when he was a teenager. The skills he developed at the Radio Shop became helpful in the Military. When he married Lillian, he was working at the Southern Railroad. But his life changed quickly when the call for eligible men to enlist in World War II.

Twenty-nine days after he married, Julius enlisted in the Army in Alexandria on June 30, 1942. He did his basic training in the U.S. While waiting to go overseas, he could visit his wife, daughter, and parents. Julius was not assigned to a particular unit. He was classified as a T/5, which was a Technician Fifth grade. This rank was established in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1948. The rank was created to recognize enlisted soldiers with exceptional technical skills who were not trained as combat leaders. Julius was one of those specially trained people. In his teens, he worked as a radio repairman and knew the ends and outs of a radio.

Individuals with the T/5 rank were addressed as “corporal,” the same as the corresponding non-commissioned officer at the same pay grade. The technician ranks were removed from the U.S. Army rank system on August 1, 1948.

Julius was sent overseas to France in late 1943. While he was in France, he was directly in the combat areas. Several months into his assignment, he was involved in a fatal trucking accident. He died on July 3, 1945. Julius left his wife, daughter, and his one-year-old son, Linwood Smith, whom he never had a chance to see.

Arlington’s National Cemetery

He was buried in St. Avold Metz, France, but his family petitioned the government to return his remains to the United States. On the Army’s transport, Carroll Victory Ship, on November 18, 1948, sixty-five deceased U.S. Soldiers from the District, Maryland, and Virginia area came home. Julius was one of those soldiers. His coffin was draped with the U.S. Flag and delivered to Alexandria, waiting for his last resting place at Arlington National Cemetery.

On December 15, 1948, over three years after the death of Julius, his family attended his burial ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. Julius finally came home.

©2024-Char McCargo Bah  

Behind the Scenes of “Finding A New Path”

In this week’s Alexandria Times Newspaper is an article on Charles Lyles. Charles has faced many obstacles in his life. One of the obstacles not mentioned in the article was when he was 16, he and his siblings played Cowboy and Indians using BB guns. One of the BBs hit Charles in one of his eyes, which caused him to lose his vision. In addition, to losing his sight in one eye and having other accidents in his life, Charles excelled as a model employee.

This photo shows Charles Lyles receiving an award for his excellent contribution to the Department of Justice, Drug and Enforcement Administration.

You can read other incidents in his life in the Alexandria Times Newspaper on page 11 at https://alextimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/8.10.23-Layout-1.pdf.

Alexandria’s African American History

If you were visiting Alexandria in the 1950s, you would notice distinct African American neighborhoods like the Berg, Uptown, Hump and so on, but the history of African Americans in Alexandria remained unknown.  Due to the efforts of Lance Mallamo former Director of Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA), Gretchen M. Bulova, Director of OHA, Audrey P. Davis, Director of Alexandria Black History Museum (ABHM) and McArthur Myers, Alexandria 2020 Living Legend/Community Activist, the history and stories of early African Americans in Alexandria have become known.

One of Alexandria’s first national African American projects was the 2014 dedication of the Alexandria Freedmen Cemetery. Hundreds of descendants whose families are buried in the Freedmen Cemetery attended the weeklong events. The former Director of OHA, Lance Mallamo, initiated the weeklong celebration. That event was a turning point for many Alexandria’s African Americans who felt that their history had been forgotten. The event received national-wide coverage from newspapers to television media. Today, the Freedmen Cemetery still attracts tourists as well as Alexandrians. After Mallamo retired, Gretchen M. Bulova was hired in 2019 for Mallamo’s position.

Gretchen and Audrey

Bulova and Davis continue to reveal the rich history of Alexandria African Americans. Some of the projects included the purchase of the “Freedom House”, the former 19th Century Slave Pen from 1828 – 1861. The Freedom House is now a museum. Another one of the City’s projects is the Alexandria African American Heritage Trail that highlights the history of African Americans from the time Alexandria was founded to the 20th Century. In addition, OHA, ABHM and others assisted in getting Earl Lloyd’s Street sign. Earl was an Alexandrian who became the first African American National Basketball Association player.

Under the leadership of Bulova and Davis, the City joined the Equal Justice Initiative to find out whether the City of Alexandria had any history of lynching. Through the committees that OHA formed, they found out that two individuals were lynched in Alexandria. OHA immediately found the financial resources to hire experts to do further research about the two individuals, and to locate their descendants. OHA, some City employees, and the descendants of the lynched victim, Joseph McCoy, and some private citizens traveled in October of 2022 to Alabama. The party carried the soil from Alexandria where the lynching took place in 1897 and 1899 to Alabama. That event also brought national recognition to Alexandria.

Outside of OHA, a dedicated citizen has tirelessly committed his time to identifying historical sites that are associated with African Americans. McArthur Myers retired from the District of Columbia government in 2015. He advocated for fifteen historical signs at sites that are associated with the history of African Americans in Alexandria. His efforts in reclaiming Alexandria African American’s history speaks to volumes about his dedication to the City. He attends City Hall meetings, and he walks the streets of Alexandria identifying sites connected to African American history. Myers is very passionate about the history of Alexandrian African Americans. He, without doubt, is one of the most dedicated advocates for the history of African Americans in Alexandria.

McArthur Myers

Looking at Alexandria today is not the Alexandria that I once knew in my childhood because African American history was absent.  In the 20th Century leading up to the 1970s, the local history of African Americans in the City of Alexandria was not available to the public, nor in the school system. Now, one can walk the streets of Alexandria and see the presence of the history of African Americans of long ago. Although Alexandria looks different in the 21st Century, with old housing communities of the 1930s and 1940s that have been torn down and new ones replaced the old structures, I feel that there are still sites in the City that remind people about the history of African Americans.

Thanks to the City of Alexandria for making efforts that tell the history and stories of their local African Americans who played an important role in the history of Alexandria from the time the City was founded.

Char McCargo Bah is a published author, freelance writer, columnist, independent historian, investigative/genealogist researcher and a Living Legend of Alexandria.

“An Early Victim of Multiple Sclerosis”

“Behind the Scenes of The Other Alexandria’s Column”

It was a cloudy rainy day when Corrine Henry was born on Tuesday, November 15, 1927. She was her parents’ sunshine.

Left to right, Hilda Wanzer, Mamie Casey, Vivan Rust,
Corrine Henry, Lillian Terrell and Frances Wanzer

Throughout Corrine’s childhood, she was outgoing and full of life. In her teens, she and several of her friends formed a group called the Silver Slippers. Like all teenagers, Corrine made sure she looked her best. She enjoyed applying her makeup even when she was sick. Her family and her friends played an important role in her life.

In her late teens, she became engaged to John Sidney Holland, Jr. He was in the United States Army. By the time he gets out of the military, Corrine would have started experiencing early stages of Multiple Sclerosis.

Multiple Sclerosis is a disease that attacks the nervous system. Symptoms can vary, but in many cases, one will feel weakness, numbness, shaking (tremors), loss of vision, pain, paralyses and loss of balance.

Corrine’s daughter, left to right – Sylvia Henry and Toniette Henry Duncan

Corrine’s day-to-day life was limited due to her illness, but she kept a smile on her face and enjoyed her two children, Sylvia and Toniette. She lived with her parents who provided for her and her children.

On Monday, August 29, 1966, at 12:20 a.m., Corrine died. She was 38 years old. You can read more of her story on page 15 in the Alexandria Times Newspaper at, https://alextimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/5.12.22-Layout.pdf.