NOVA Parks News

Tinner Hill History Remembered Event, January 18, 2021

Remarks by Michael Nardolilli, NOVA Parks Chair

We are gathered here today to remember the life of a great Civil Rights Leader, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And we do so here at this site that is a reminder of the local struggle for Civil Rights that preceded Dr. King and that continues even today in the Black Lives Matter movement. I don’t profess to speak for Dr. King nor for the Brave Black leaders who gathered on this spot over 100 years ago to fight an  partheid ordinance of the City of Falls Church. Others can do so much better than I.

I do note that we are here at a property of NOVA Parks. My agency was actually a creation of the Civil Rights movement. In 1936 when the Virginia State Park System began, those parks made no accommodations for people of color. In 1948, Maceo Martin was denied entry into Staunton State Park. His lawsuit led to the establishment of “Prince Edward State Park for Negroes” but the other State Parks barred nonwhites. Advocates of a state park in Northern Virginia refused to accept a state park here unless the facilities were open to all. In 1950, these advocates won the right to establish their own desegregated regional park system but with so many restrictions as to be meaningless. Each session, park advocates made amendments to the legislation.

In 1954, the Supreme Court struck down the “separate but equal doctrine” in schools and the state park system tried many ways to avoid desegregating the state parks including leasing Seashore State Park to a private entity. An injunction led the Governor to declare “No New State Parks” in 1957. That provided the needed impetus that led to the founding of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority in 1959. In 1968, NOVA Parks was building its first pool at Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville. At the same time, the “public” pool in Leesburg was being closed instead of opening it to all races.

NOVA Parks pushed forward and opened the largest pool in Virginia, and had it open and integrated from day one.

In closing, I will offer one quote from Dr. King who said in 1966: We have come a long, long way but we still have a long, long way to go

Thank you.