This collection was created to honor, preserve, and communicate the rich heritage of Arlington's Black community. If you can provide more details for any item in the archive or would like to partner with us to preserve your family's or group's materials too, please get in touch by email or leave a message for the Local History Librarian at 817-459-6795.
The following images are just a preview of what is to come! This archive will contain more than 100 items when the first phase of digitizing & describing is complete. So stay tuned and watch us grow!
To learn about the history behind these items, see the following:
The Hill: A Report on the Growth & Development of Arlingtons Historic African-American Communities, 1845-1999 — Hardy, Heck, Moore & Myers (1999)
The Hill: A Proud African-American Community in the Original Township of Arlington, Texas — Mount Olive Baptist Church (1999)
Forgotten Images of Arlington's African-American Past — Mark Dellenbaugh for APL's Black History Month Festival (2017)
LINK: Arlington's Historic 'The Hill' Neighborhood: A StoryMap — Anthony Cisneros for Arlington's Landmark Preservation Commission (2021)
The Hill: Arlington's Historic African-American Community — Jason Sullivan for the Arlington Historical Society Newsletter (2021)
Unknown child in downtown Arlington's Rogers-McKnight Store around 1902.
Willie Strickland, a soldier during the First World War, sent this photo home to his mother in Arlington as a postcard in about 1917. It is ironic that Stricklin himself could not be served at most restaurants or hotels in the States at a time he was serving his country.
The Olivers.
Rare family portrait of Black mother and daughter in early 20th century Arlington
Ticket for event in what is now Meadowbrook Park near downtown Arlington
A paycheck from the City of Arlington for Arthur Manning. With the "Col." suffix, each check from his employer reinforced that that they saw him as "Colored" as much as they saw him as an employee…
BACK ROW (L to R) Velma Cooper, Thelma Walker, Edith Reed, Lou Henry Taylor, Victoria Rose, Jessie Mae Ditto
FRONT ROW (L to R) Gussie Mae Gilmore, Sister Brown, Rev. Brown, Elizabeth O’Neal, Frances Psalms, Oneta Johnson, Blanche Purvis, Mattie Rea Hickey.
1940s - Tyree Taylor (right) with unknown woman
Lou Henry Taylor was a pioneering business woman in The Hill. She opened a small grocery store on Taylor Street in 1946 and eventually moved her enterprise to the corner of Indiana and Houston Streets about 1957. There she developed a side-by-side grocery and lounge known as Lou's Blue Lounge or The Blue Magic Club. The building stood until as late as 2015, across from the Church of God in Christ on Indiana Street. This portrait of Lou Henry was taken in Memphis Tennessee in December 1944.
Group portrait of ushers serving the Mount Olive Baptist Church in 1945, as depicted in 1960's era Annual Yearbook