A Tribute to the Desegregation of Arlington Lunch Counters

by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.

^{Photographs by Garrett MacLean for Arlington Arts}

TAKE AND DISCOVER: A map to find letter-pressed cards located at many of the original sit-in locations that honor the 60th anniversary of the seven lunch counter sit-ins.
LEARN: About the desegregation of Arlington’s lunch counters through seven sit-in protests that occurred from June 9-22, 1960.

Arlington Arts visiting artist Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. has been working for the past three years to bring awareness to Arlington’s civil rights history with a focus on the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of Stratford Junior High School in 2019 and the 60th anniversary of the lunch counter sit-ins in 2020.

Mr. Kennedy creates prints, posters and postcards from handset wood and metal type, oil-based inks, and eco-friendly chipboard. Much of his work is inspired by proverbs, sayings, and quotes that are significant to the place where he is working.

Mr. Kennedy has made seven letter pressed cards to honor the 60th anniversary of the seven lunch counter sit-ins that took place in Arlington between June 9–22, 1960. The sit-ins were peaceful protests that challenged widespread segregation policies.

To pay tribute to this history, Arlington Arts has placed a stand at many of the original sit-in locations where commemorative 60th anniversary letter pressed cards can be collected free of charge. It is our hope that you will visit one or more of these locations to gather your own collection of Kennedy’s cards while considering this part of the County’s history.  Each location will feature a different card.

View historic event display and pick up a map (English/Español) of community locations in the lobby of Ellen M. Bozman Government Center, 2100 Clarendon Boulevard and the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington located at 3045 Columbia Pike, Suite B.

Friday, May 21 – Sunday, June 20, 2021 –various locations (see below)
Monday, June 28 – September 2021 – lobby of Ellen M. Bozman Government Center, 2100 Clarendon Blvd
September 2021 – December 2022 –The Black Heritage Museum of Arlington, 3045 Columbia Pike, Suite B
August 2022 – ongoing – See a portfolio of larger prints on archival paper recreated from the letterpressed cards, Shirlington Public Library, 4200 Campbell Ave.

Pick up letter pressed cards at the following community locations:

• Lee-Harrison Drug Fair, now Mattress Firm located at 5401 Langston Boulevard (formerly Lee Highway).
• Peoples Drug Store, now CVS located at 4709 Langston Boulevard (formerly Lee Highway).
• Howard Johnson, now Capital One Bank located on Langston Boulevard (formerly Lee Highway). This card is available at Lebanese Taverna, 4400 Old Dominion Drive.
• Cherrydale Drug Fair, now Hair Vogue located at 3815 Langston Boulevard (formerly Lee Highway).
• Buckingham Drug Fair, now CVS located at 265 N. Glebe Road.
• Woolworth-Shirlington, near what is now Guapo’s and the Lansburgh Department Store, demolished, near what is now Stellina Pizza. These two cards are available at BusBoys and Poets in Shirlington, 4251 Campbell Avenue.

Exclusive photographs and interviews with Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. conducted in his studio by Detroit documentary photographer, Garrett MacLean can be viewed by following @arttruckarlington on social media.  This social media immersion will conclude in June with posts scheduled for the exact moments that the sit-ins occurred 61 years ago. 

This project is organized by Arlington Public Art and the Arlington Art Truck, programs of Arlington Arts in collaboration with the County’s Historic Preservation Program, Arlington Public Library’s Center for Local History and Arlington Transit’s Art on the ART bus program.

The community partner for this project is the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington, Virginia.

Visit Arlington Public Art to learn more about the project and view a banner made for the Arlington Art Truck about the desegregation of lunch counters in Arlington.

Read about the project in the James Renwick Alliance Fall 2020 Craft Quarterly.

These cards are in the permanent collections of:

• The Letterform Archive, San Francisco, California
• Center for Local History, Arlington Public Library, Arlington, Virginia
• Georgetown University Art Collection, Washington, DC