Restonians Share Their Civil Rights Era Experiences

Citizens of different ages and races gathered at the at Lake Anne Plaza on Saturday evening to remember the struggle for civil rights and the groundbreaking integration principals on which Reston was founded.

The Black History Month celebration was an opportunity for members of the Reston community to share their experiences, reflect and and share their memories.

Some speakers were black, some were white. All had a story to tell - their portion of the much larger story of civil rights in the United States. In addition, they each looked at why the Reston community has been a welcome haven for people of all backgrounds to call home.

Ellen Graves of the Reston Historic Trust introduced  the seven speakers, including Reston founder Robert E. Simon Jr.

Simon spoke for a few minutes, looking back on the early years of Reston.

“When I got started here, it was inconceivable that we would not be an open community. Inconceivable,” said Simon.

Simon said he is very impressed at the diversity in Reston now and hopes Reston continues to grow as a true community.

Other speakers included Carol Ann Bradley, a longtime educator who now serves on the Reston Community Center Board of Directors. Her whole career has been about bring education to children, no matter their background.  She said that living in Reston allowed her children to learn to live with all kinds of people.

Vicky and Vern Wingert told their parallel stories, of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “inviting us and challenging us” to be part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference working in Chicago.

The crowd murmured their recognition of people and place, events and experiences. Many members of  the audience had walked in the March on Washington, or participated in boycotts or sit-ins during the civil rights movement.

“Reston is part of the dream to help shape the future for everybody,” said Vern Wingert.

Dave Slater also had stories of hostility and solidarity as a college student in North Carolina, and later in Atlanta.

Closing the program of speakers was 95-year-old Oscar Haynes, who had the whole room chuckling with his stories. His wise philosophy is to simply “greet each other with love and respect” to overcome racism and sexism. He shared a poem that eight year old Eli Au, a young Chinese-American friend, had written about Martin Luther King Jr.

At the end, the whole group was led in song by Squire Muse, who demonstrated how many freedom songs came from spiritual songs. The group started slowly, but gained strength and confidence as they sang. Towards the end of the last song, there was hand clapping and harmonizing throughout the room.