By Bill Fogarty

“Learn from the past, pay attention to the present, and build a better future.” I came across this saying recently, among the numerous articles extolling Women’s History Month. There are many lessons to be learned from the stories of our past in the civic life of Arlington.  

I would like to share one unheralded story about two women and their courageous acts in 1956, as part of the long journey in the fight against segregation. Their names are Theda Henle and Faith Bissell. Henle was the president of the Arlington branch of the League of Women Voters at that time. Bissell was a librarian working in Washington, D.C. and living in Arlington. 

1956 was a tumultuous time in Virginia, with the passage of state legislation embracing “massive resistance” to school integration. This legislation was just one part of a comprehensive scheme to segregate the races. In 1924 the Virginia General Assembly had passed a law banning interracial marriages, and in 1926 the legislature passed the Public Assemblages Act, prohibiting the mixing of races at public meetings. 

On November 1, 1956, the League of Women’s Voters held a candidate meeting at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, for an upcoming County Board election. Two candidates were on the stage, joined by the LWV president, Theda Henle. Faith Bissell was at the meeting, sitting in the separate White section of the audience. 

Tensions were high in Arlington, as the Commonwealth’s Attorney, Bill Hassan, had instructed the police to enforce the Public Assemblage Act at candidate’s meetings. At the meeting, as one of the candidates was speaking, Faith Bissell suddenly stood up, walked over to the Black section, and sat down next to a Howard University professor. 

It turned out that Henle and Bissell had devised a plan to challenge the Public Assemblages Act. In telling her story in a 1984 interview, Henle started with these words: “I was the only League president who carried bail money.” 

After Bissell sat down, police officers rushed down the aisle. Henle noted that, from her point of view on the stage, it looked as though there were ten policemen, each one looking to be seven-feet tall. Faith Bissell, not quite five-feet tall, was surrounded and marched off to a squad car. Henle’s bail money was needed. 

The arrest was covered in all the local newspapers. Henle was immediately hounded by reporters at the meeting. Reporters dug into Faith Bissell’s past, and one paper falsely claimed that she had a Communist connection. Bissell, described in unflattering tones by reporters, had her address printed in the news articles. 

At the trial, Henle was called as a witness, and she suffered stage fright. When asked a simple question of fact which only required an affirmative answer, she could not answer. The attorney approached her, and gently whispered to her, “Just say yes, honey.” Henle was able to give her answer and get out of the witness box. 

Bissell was convicted of a misdemeanor and fined $15. Her attorney filed an appeal, and the case was dismissed by the Virginia Supreme Court on a technicality. It took years of additional arrests and lawsuits to have the Public Assemblage Act overturned as unconstitutional. 

In a time of political turmoil, Henle and Bissell had the courage to resist an unjust law. Henle risked the reputation of the League of Women Voters and risked public approbation for her actions. Bissell accepted the uncertainty of what would happen to her in being arrested. Would she be released on bail? Could she lose her job? Would her neighbors shun her?  

“Learn from the past.” The courage of these two women can be an inspiration for the present. There is no doubt that their actions contributed to a better future. 

“Learn from the past.” The American Association of University Women is presenting a program on March 22 at Lubber Run Community Center, from 10:30 to noon, highlighting another remarkable Arlington woman, Kathryn Stone, who was the only woman in the Virginia General Assembly in the 1950s. One woman and 139 men. All are welcome to learn about her courage in confronting the Byrd Machine.