Absolon Kent

FAIRFAX CITY, Va. — Founded on May 15, 1870, Mt. Calvary Baptist Church stands as one of Fairfax County's most enduring symbols of faith, resilience, and community.

Established by formerly enslaved men and women who settled near the Fairfax County Courthouse after the Civil War, their very first act of freedom was not to build homes for themselves—but to build a house of worship. That powerful commitment became the foundation of a congregation that has faithfully served the community for more than 155 years and during the era of segregation and Jim Crow, Mt. Calvary was much more than a church. It became a vital center for Black civic leadership and the fight for civil rights in Fairfax County.

Originally located near today's Route 123, the congregation moved to its present home on Chain Bridge Road in 1957. A Virginia historical marker nearby commemorates the church's early baptismal site on Accotink Creek, where members were baptized through the 1930s.

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WEST SPRINGFIELD, Va. — In front of West Springfield High School stands a marker that reminds us that history is often hidden beneath the places we know best.

An 1856 property inventory for the land where the school currently stands recorded the names, ages, and occupations of 16 enslaved African Americans whose labor sustained the plantation that once occupied this site. While countless enslaved people remain anonymous in the historical record, this rare document preserves the identities of these individuals, ensuring they are remembered as people—not simply as property.

The West Springfield 16 Historical Marker acknowledges a difficult, but essential chapter of Fairfax County's past. It invites students, teachers, and visitors to recognize that today's classrooms stand on land shaped by the lives and labor of enslaved men, women, and children.

By commemorating the West Springfield 16, the marker transforms an ordinary school campus into a place of reflection, remembrance, and learning. It is a powerful example of how public history can honor those whose stories were too often overlooked and help us better understand the foundations of our community. Remembering the West Springfield 16 helps ensure their lives remain part of Fairfax County's story.

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FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Before 1954, African American students in Fairfax County who wanted to attend high school had to travel outside the county—either to Manassas or to schools in Washington, D.C. That changed when Luther P. Jackson High School opened in September 1954 as the county's first—and only—high school built to serve African-American students. Named for historian, educator, and voting-rights advocate Luther Porter Jackson, the school became a source of pride and opportunity for generations of students.

Ironically, the school opened the same year the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision declaring segregated public schools unconstitutional. Despite the ruling, Luther Jackson opened as a segregated school and remained the county's only school for Black students in grades 7–12 until integration began in 1965.

Today, the building continues to serve the community as Luther Jackson Middle School, while a Fairfax County historical marker commemorates the school's important role in the county's educational and civil rights history.

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