Dulles exhibit to honor historic predominantly Black village
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) — A new exhibit coming to Dulles International Airport will commemorate the Village of Willard, a predominantly Black settlement that existed from 1850 to 1958.
In 1958, the federal government purchased the land to build a new D.C. area airport, paying landowners about $500 an acre, and demolishing 300 buildings. The people of Willard were forced to leave their homes behind, receiving condemnation letters.
Lewis Jett was eight years old when his family received such a letter.
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“lt was a small, vibrant community back in the 50s,” Jett said.
Jett, one of six children, was born in Willard and attended a school nearby. His father worked at a car dealership, while his mother stayed home with the children.
“He built what you call ‘a huge wooden dance floor’ and all the Blacks in that community came [to] dance parties and had a good time,” Jett said of his father. “Alcohol made things get a little out of hand sometimes.”
Jett said his father did not want to leave. The family purchased a home in Hillsboro, Va., where Jett spent the remainder of his childhood.
“Willard was one of a whole series of these communities that were established by freed Blacks, that, as they were being emancipated or released from the plantations, you sort of think that this is like the best thing that could possibly happen to you,” Henry Ward, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) archaeologist said. “However, you are now homeless, you have no job and you have no belongings and you have no savings. So your future is really up in the air.”
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Ward said that much of the village is underneath the tarmac and can’t be accessed for archeological studies. However, nearby sites reveal what life was like for people in the village. Ward named several artifacts uncovered, including a china doll, a men’s pipe, and crystals used for religious purposes.
The exhibit is set to open in mid-March.
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