Jennie Dean Park
During the planning process, Arlington worked closely with the Green Valley Civic Association and its history working group to incorporate several features to honor and celebrate the park’s past. Starting in the 1930s, the park became a major hub for Black baseball clubs in the region, where game days were lively, social epicenters for the community. Over the next few decades, more teams were formed, both semi-pro and recreational, run by members of the Green Valley community.
Along the fence of the diamond fields are several pennants of the historic semi-pro and recreational teams from Green Valley – team names included Green Valley Quicksteps, Green Machine, and Over the Hill Gang – designed by local graphic artist Ted Irvine in collaboration with the Green Valley Civic Association. The two fields have been named after Ernest E. Johnson and Robert Winkler to recognize their deep contributions to the Green Valley Community.
Johnson became the director of Arlington County’s “Negro Recreation Section,” a separate division of the County’s segregated Department of Recreation in 1950. Under Mr. Johnson’s leadership, the “Negro Recreation Section” expanded to include a variety of sports, dance, theater, musical and community events for all the Black American communities in Arlington. He was a vital figure in the County’s African American community and ultimately oversaw the desegregation of Arlington recreation in the early 1960s. He went on to serve the County for two more decades.
Excepted from Arlington County Jennie Dean Park website.
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones, March 29, 2019
Site 1 - Welcome to Jennie Dean Park
The surrounding neighborhood of Nauck, also known as Green Valley, is one of the oldest African American communities in Arlington County. Its history traces to 1844, when freedman Levi Jones purchased land to build a home and farm here. The neighborhood grew after the Civil War when recently emancipated African Americans settled in the area.
y the 1930s, residents played sports at Green Valley Ball Park, a property then owned by James B. and Lettie L. Peyton. In 1944, Arlington County purchased this property, which became one of the first parks developed by the Arlington County Department of Recreation. This park's name honors Jennie Dean, a freed slave who became a noted advocate and fundraiser for education. In 1894, Dean established the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth to meet the need for vocational and liberal arts education in this area.
Site 2 - Welcome to Jennie Dean Park
After the purchase by the County, the County Board delegated Anna P. Belcher, a member of the Arlington Interracial Commission, to name the playground. She named it after Jennie Serepta Dean, who founded the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth. Established in 1893, it was the only school for higher education for Black American students in five northern Virginia counties including Prince William, Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier, and Arlington.
Robert Winkler was raised in Green Valley. While never a full-time employee, he worked for Arlington's Department of Parks and Recreation for more than 40 years in the second half of the 20th century. Mr. Winkler coached sports for Green Valley youth, as well as the women's Drew softball team. He often paid the registration fees for Black American children, who had no other means for participating. He was a community activist who protected and preserved local fields for community sports. Mr. Winkler also assisted two young men, who qualified for Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) baseball, in traveling as far as California to participate. He was also known for obtaining food from food banks to feed local children in afterschool educational programs. Mr. Winker passed away on February 27, 2008.
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones, January 22, 2023