For the past year and a half, New America has been conducting in-depth video interviews with researchers and community members in Alexandria, VA about the legacy of the library sit-in of 1939. Taking place well before the lunch counter sit-ins and bus boycotts of the 1950s and ‘60s, the sit-in led to the arrests of five young Black men for peacefully demonstrating their right to use the public library. This series explores the viewpoints and contributions of those with personal or professional connections to this event. Their reflections not only add to the historical record—they will also resonate with anyone experiencing today's education challenges. We hope they can help to deepen discussions of exclusion and inclusion in public libraries and schools.
–> See more about our larger project to illuminate this story for educators and the general public.
An introduction to New America's growing collection of video interviews with researchers and community members in Alexandria, VA, about the story of the 1939 library sit-in and its lessons that still apply today.
See the abridged transcript and video of our interview with Brenda Mitchell-Powell, author of Public In Name Only: The 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In Demonstration.
See the abridged transcript and video of our interview with Rose Dawson, the first African American director of the Alexandria Library in Alexandria, VA.
See the abridged transcript and video of our interview with Audrey Davis, longtime curator for the Alexandria Black History Museum and director of the African American History Division in Alexandria.
See the abridged transcript and video of our interview with Justin Wilson, mayor of of Alexandria and one of the officials helping to clear the arrest charges from the 1939 sit-in.
See the abridged transcript and video of of our interview with Bryan Porter, Commonwealth's Attorney for Alexandria and the official who submitted the order clearing the arrest charges from the 1939 sit-in.
See the abridged transcript and video of of our interview with Michael Johnson, a community activist in Alexandria, VA, who experienced the transition to desegregated schools and is related to a participant in the 1939 sit-in.
See the abridged transcript and video of our interview with Cathy David, who in 1999 became the first principal of Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School, named after the organizer of the library sit-in of 1939.
See the abridged transcript and video of our interview with Adaarema Kelly, principal of Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School, which is named after the organizer of the library sit-in of 1939.
See the abridged transcript and video of our interview with Matt Spangler, creator of the documentary film Out of Obscurity.
See the abridged transcript and video of our interview with Nancy Noyes Silcox, author of a biography of Samuel Tucker written for late elementary and middle school students.
See the abridged transcript and video of our interview with Eugene Thompson, the first director of what was eventually called the Alexandria Black History Museum, and the first to install a marker to the library sit-in of 1939.