Generations of residents who have contributed to the Green Valley community were honored this month at festivities held at Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School.
The event on Nov. 7 — Celebrating Families in Our Green Valley Community — brought to life stories from some of the 200-plus families that helped build the neighborhood during a century of segregation through the present day.
“Nothing is more important to me than being a daughter of Green Valley, the legacy and culture that was instilled in me,” said Marcia Wright Payne, a deputy commonwealth’s attorney in Prince William County who grew up with her nine siblings in a home at 17th Street S. and S. Edgewood Street.
Despite life’s travels taking her out of the community, “I will always come back,” Payne told the large crowd.
“This is where we find safety and peace,” she said of the neighborhood.
The four-hour event was organized by Dewanda Mintz and Barbara Bellamy Smith.
“We didn’t know whether it was going to come together or not, but we kept going — it was on our heart to get it done,” Smith told ARLnow.
Anthony Winger, who moderated the afternoon’s events, considers it vital to pass down tales from the neighborhood’s past.
“Documenting your history is so important,” he said. “There’s a zillion stories in this room.”
Some of the stories came from Pastor Ellihue Henderson, Jr., pastor of Second Baptist Church in Falls Church. He remembered his mother, who worked for decades as Green Valley’s crossing guard, then for the county’s parks department and as an aide to legendary local civic leader John Robinson, Jr.
“If you ever needed something, my mama would be there for you,” Henderson said.
But like most Green Valley parents back in the 1950s-70s, she kept careful watch on not only her own children, but all in the neighborhood.
Henderson was only half-joking when he told the audience he joined the Marine Corps “to get away from my mother and church,” while ultimately returning to the embrace of both.
Dwight Somers echoed the theme of a close-knit community.
“We knew everybody. We helped one another out,” he said.
Somers also worked with John Robinson, and used skills obtained while teaching photography at Arlington Career Center to obtain a position as photographer with the federal government, frequently on assignment at the White House.
But he, too, retained deep roots in his neighborhood.
“This is one of the greatest communities,” Somers said. “People all over the U.S. know where Green Valley is.”
For Cleveland “Bubby” James, whose father and other family members operated the neighborhood convenience store, departing Green Valley for college was just a small detour. He returned to Arlington and served for decades as a school administrator, once being named Arlington Public Schools’ principal of the year for his work at Langston High School Continuation Program.
His memories of growing up in the Green Valley community were positive.
Green Valley was “very prosperous growing up,” James said. “We had everything right there at our disposal. It’s so nice to have a community where we knew each other, we looked out for each other.”
At the family’s James Delicatessen, “anything that you needed was in that store — even credit,” James said with a chuckle.
His father’s store was a daily stopping-off point for local students because of its wide selection of penny candy.
“Everyone came out of that store with their pockets full,” James said.
Staffing a table with family memorabilia was Darlene Robinson. Through photos and documents, she shared the story of her family, including her great-grandfather James William Greene. Robinson proudly displayed his helmets as a member of the county fire department and as a community air-raid warden during World War II.
Green Valley was founded in the 1840s, when Levi Jones settled in the area and recruited other free Black families. In 1876, nearly 70 acres were subdivided and the community took the name Nauck after developer John D. Nauck, a German immigrant who had served on the Confederate side during the Civil War.
Until the 1960s, it was one of the relatively few neighborhoods in segregated Arlington that was open to Black families. Its population remained predominantly African American until the dawn of the 21st century, but demographics shifted as some longtime residents departed due to rising property costs locally and countywide.
In 2019, community leaders opted to drop “Nauck” and return to the original name of Green Valley, citing the namesake’s ties to the Confederacy.
The Nov. 7 event was not just a chance to look back. Some also were gazing into the future.
James said one of his goals was to reopen the community pool, long operated by the Veterans Memorial YMCA but closed in recent decades as Macedonia Baptist Church leaders work on a plan to redevelop the site and reopen pool facilities.
“I would love to see that happen,” James said. “The kids in the Valley need it.”
Other speakers at the program included Tony Bentley, Horace “Buck” Willis, Terry Campbell and Catherine Davis. County Board member Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., also attended.
Smith said she hoped events like this one would remind new arrivals in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood of what came before them.
“Hopefully they just realize they have generations that resided here — and we’re still here,” she said.
