Gloria Runyon - July 11, 2014

Gloria Runyon's family have lived in Vienna, Virginia, as she puts it, since "before it became Vienna." Her roots in the town grow at least as far back as her great-grandfather, a Cherokee Indian, who built the home in which she still lives. Gloria Runyon's family has always been deeply involved in the Vienna community, and her life and work is no exception.

Growing up in Vienna, Gloria Runyon belonged to the First Baptist Church and a local bible study group, and attended Louise Archer Elementary School and Luther P. Jackson High School in Fairfax County, just as Madison High School began to integrate. After graduating as valedictorian of her class, Runyon enrolled in Howard University, where she was active in her sorority and engaged with the school's political climate. She graduated in 1965.

As the former president of the Malcolm-Windover Heights Civic Association in Vienna, Runyon helped to develop the Sarah Walker Mercer Park. In 2014, she retired from a near 40-year tenure at the Georgetown Day School, where she was first acted as a teacher, then a math coordinator, then as lower School principal. She discusses her work at Georgetown Day School in some detail in this interview. Runyon spent her final year before her retirement as the Diversity Coordinator.

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Family Roots in Vienna

Personal and Community Involvement in Vienna

Louise Archer Elementary School, Vienna Landscape

Youth in Vienna

Old Friends, Bible School, Experience of Segregation

Friends Integrating Madison High School

Recreation, Family Time

Family History, Told with Photographs

Taking Students to Protest South African Apartheid

Political Climate at Howard University, Family Diversity

Career Before Teaching at Georgetown Day School

Mixed Race Identities

Initiatives as Diversity Coordinator at Georgetown Day School

Thoughts on Small-Town Vienna

Memories of Attending Louise Archer Elementary School

Early Distaste for Studying History

Revisiting Louise Archer Elementary School

Remembering Various Teachers at Louise Archer Elementary School

Traveling to Various Events During High School

Memories of Luther P. Jackson High School

Memories of Howard University

Concerts at Howard Theater

All interviews by Sophie Abramowitz

James & Gloria Carter, Ted & Lorraine Thomas, Jean Minor, Ronald Honesty, Daniel Bunaugh 7-16-2013

This interview brought together James & Gloria Carter, Ronald Honesty, Jean Minor, Ted & Lorraine Thomas, and Daniel Bunaugh. The group discussed a wide array of subjects, including attending Louise Archer (formerly known as the Vienna Colored School), their early memories of home and family, starting their careers, the community of their churches, and their experiences of segregation. 

1940s Vienna Colored School (Gloria Carter, James Carter)


Memories of Mrs. Louise Archer (Gloria Carter)

Carter Farm & Arrival of the Carter Family in Vienna (James Carter)

Shopping at Hecht's in DC, Valedictorian, Donating Property to Louise Archer, Jobs

 (Lorraine Thomas, Ted Thomas)

Salsbury Spring Water Supply (Gloria Carter, James Carter, Ted Thomas, Ronald Honesty)

Faulkner's, Businesses in Vienna in the 1940s, Segregation 

(Gloria Carter, James Carter, Jean Minor, Ronald Honesty, Ted Thomas)


African American Community in Vienna (James Carter, Ted Thomas, Ronald Honesty)


Accepting Segregation (James Carter, Ted Thomas)

Middle and High School in DC to Avoid Busing to Manassas (Gloria Carter, Jean Minor)

Meeting Spouses (Jean Minor, Gloria Carter)

Segregation in Hospitals & Maternity Wards (Jean Minor, James Carter, Gloria Carter)

Law Enforcement Career: Metropolitan Police, U.S. Marshall, and School Security (Ted Thomas)

Luther Jackson, Integration in Vienna (Ronald Honesty, Jean Minor, Daniel Bunaugh), 

Integration in DC (Ted Thomas)


 First Baptist Church & New Union Church (Ronald Honesty, Gloria Carter)

Baptismal Site for First Baptist Church (Ted Thomas, James Carter, Gloria Carter)

Interviewers: Virginia Harness, Caroline Gardiner, and Sarah Jane Brady

Maud Robinson 6-20-2013

Maud Robinson has long been a part of the town of Vienna. Her childhood was spent in Connecticut, where her father ran his own athletic gear business. She married Charles "Charlie" Robinson while both were young. Charlie persuaded her to attend the University of Virginia's law school--something Maud was not keen on--while he worked on his Masters degree. They then moved to the "dusty little town" of Vienna around 1950, which was, at the time, extremely rural. Both Maud and Charlie became very involved in the Town Council, fighting zoning battle after zoning battle. Charlie was elected Town Mayor in 1976.

According to Maud, three things drove Vienna's growth: the building of the first storefront library, the creation of the Vienna Community Center, and the increasing responsiveness of the town's government.  Maud credits the engagement of Vienna's citizens as the driving force behind why Vienna is what it is today.

First Memories of Vienna

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Vienna Diner and Orange Sherbet Story

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Maple Avenue Trees

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Charlie Becoming Mayor

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The Developer versus Charlie Robinson Story

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Personal Memoirs of the Vienna Town Council

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    The Fight for Vienna's First Library

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The Fight for the Vienna Community Center

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Patrick Henry Library: "The Last Big Battle"

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Vienna Creates an Architectural Review Board

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Forming Vienna's Historic District and Walk on the Hill

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Integration at Louise Archer Elementary School

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First Baptist Church's Historic Baptismal Site Story

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Interview conducted by: Caroline Gardiner and Virginia Harness

Shirley Martin 6-17-2013

Shirley Martin was born in a little house on Maple Avenue in 1925. She grew up in Vienna, where she lived with her mother, older sister, aunt & uncle, and two cousins. Shirley recollects how her mother kept her business going in the midst of the Great Depression, and typical activities in 1930s Vienna from riding the auto-railer to free movies in town hall. She explains her brief college experience, working at Cherry Smash, and how she met her husband. She talks about the mood in the town during World War II and some of the activities to help the war effort. Shirley also discusses segregation and integration, and how the town has changed as it has grown. 

Gladys S. Waggoner Ice and Fuel Co. & Riding the Ice Truck
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The Grumpy Watchman, Eating Marshmallow Cream, Model-T on Maple & Town Hall Movies
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Corner of Maple & Center, Doc Bradfield's, Feesers, Sanitary Grocery Co.
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Being Southern
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Fire Department Summer Carnival, Dancing to the Vienna Syncopators
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Auto-Railer, Electric Line and W&OD Train
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World War II, Watchtower, Writing Letters
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Madison State Teacher's College, Cherry Smash, Marrying Wesley Martin
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Working as a Telephone Operator
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Segregation & Integration
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Halloween Parade and Wesley's 'House on Fire' Float
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Vienna Woods, Growth in Vienna
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Interview conducted by: Caroline Gardiner, Virginia Harness, and Anne Stuntz