NOVA Parks News
NOVA Parks Wins Award for Sharing Northern Virginia’s Inclusive History
The Fairfax County Branch of the NAACP has acknowledged NOVA Parks Executive Director Paul Gilbert with a Freedom Fund Community Advocate Award, which celebrates community members who are constantly fighting for equality and a better future.
InsideNova
Sun-Gazette
The Connection
The Fairfax County Branch of the NAACP has acknowledged NOVA Parks Executive Director Paul Gilbert with a Freedom Fund Community Advocate Award, which celebrates community members who are constantly fighting for equality and a better future.
“The Black community has been an important part of Northern Virginia from its inception. NOVA Parks has been partnering with the Fairfax County NAACP to help tell these stories,” said Karen Campblin, President of the NAACP Fairfax County Branch. “As the Executive Director of NOVA Parks, we were pleased to recognize Paul Gilbert’s contributions with an award this year.”
This award is the result of a partnership between the NAACP Fairfax County Branch and NOVA Parks that is focused on telling a more inclusive history of Northern Virginia. Under Gilbert’s leadership, NOVA Parks has unveiled nine new interpretive signs in the past 12 months that focus on a more diverse history. In addition, NOVA Parks’ recently adopted 2023-2027 Strategic Plan prioritizes ‘Belonging’ as one of its five main pillars. The end result of diversity, equity, and inclusion are parks and programs that engage the various cultures and communities that make up Northern Virginia and create a sense of belonging for all.
Reverend Lynda Alicudo, Chair of the Religious and Community Coordination Committee for the NAACP Fairfax County Branch, said, "Fairfax NAACP has enjoyed a strong partnership with NOVA Parks. We owe that to Paul Gilbert. Paul has been tireless in his commitment to a vision that includes programming that engages our community ̶ the African American community ̶ and tells a more inclusive history."
The stories recently highlighted have been both painful and inspiring. In February, NOVA Parks partnered with the NAACP Branches in Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun Counties and dedicated signs in all three jurisdictions to tell the story of Jim Crow era laws, which discriminated against people of color who rode the Washington & Old Dominion railroad in the first half of the 20th Century. Also, in February, which is Black History Month, NOVA Parks dedicated a site at Bull Run Marina in the Clifton area that had been a graveyard for enslaved.
In June, the Fairfax County Branch of NAACP and NOVA Parks partnered to host the first annual Juneteenth event at Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville. This event, attended by nearly 100 people, also unveiled newly discovered history. In the 18th Century, Bull Run Regional Park was part of the Leo Plantation owned by Robert Carter III. After a religious experience, Carter built a church that was open to both Black and white residents of the area, then emancipated over 500 enslaved and allowed them to own land. Carter's actions resulted in a thriving Freedmen's community at Bull Run 70 years before the Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation.
A descendant of one of those freed, Alfred Harris, grew up at what is Bull Run Regional Park today. Shortly after the Civil War, Harris earned his law degree from Howard University, served on the Alexandria City Council, and later moved to Petersburg where he became a State Delegate. Delegate Harris championed the bill that created the first University open to people of color in Virginia. These and other related stories are on display for visitors at Bull Run Regional Park. From the interpretive signs, visitors can follow a trail that leads to the site of the former Bull Run Baptist Church, which was created by Carter, and its cemetery. NOVA Parks has discovered over 90, mostly unmarked, graves in this area using ground penetrating radar. During the Juneteenth event and the unveiling of these newly discovered stories, the accomplishments of Delegate Alfred Harris were celebrated with resolutions from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, City of Alexandria City Council, and Virginia House of Delegates.
