Southeast Newport News

Location and History

Southeast Newport News, also known as East End, is located on the northern shore of the James River near the harbor of Hampton Roads. Records from the 1600s place "Newportes Newes" near the mouth of the James River soon after the founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in what would become the U.S. Some say the name comes from Captain Christopher Newport bringing “good news” of supplies to struggling colonists. Others note that maps and company papers from the time show similar spellings tied to early English and Irish place names. The area drew many displaced African Americans whose farms and homes had been repossessed by the Commonwealth following the Civil War.

Newport News remained a small riverside community until the late 1800s when industrialist Collis P. Huntington extended the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) down the Virginia Peninsula to a deep-water pier on the James River in Southeast Newport News. In 1881, the railroad extension connected a new coal pier in a small unincorporated community that would become Southeast Newport News with previously isolated bituminous coalfields in near the New River and Kanawha River in West Virginia. Huntington also founded a shipyard in 1886, which became Newport News Shipbuilding and operates today building naval and commercial ships and submarines. As a result, Newport News transformed into a busy port city.

The U.S army used Southeast Newport News as a Port of Embarkation in both World War I and World War II, with nearby Camp Patrick Henry serving as a troop-staging area. In World War II, over a million service members passed through the region on their way overseas. The population of Newport News and local industries grew to meet wartime demands.

Large parts of Southeast Newport News were redlined in the 1930s by the Home Owner's Loan Corporation (HOLC), with the other areas given a C (yellow) grade. Redlining limited residents opportunities to access mortgage loans and led to significant financial and institutional disinvestment in these neighborhoods across the U.S. Redlining has been associated with environmental degradation and pollution today, with formerly redlined neighborhoods having measurably worse air quality, more sources of air and water pollution, and worse health outcomes than neighborhoods given A (blue) and B (green) grades, despite the use of HOLC maps being illegal since 1968.

The City Development Shift of Newport News

In 1958, the City of Newport News

The move of the heart of the city from Southeast Newport News to Central Newport News is largely due to industrialization and the consolidation with the city of Warwick in 1958. Southeast Newport lost lots of its development as suburban development began to grow up north, which led to urban development in what is now known as.

Today

Southeast Newport News is a predominantly African American (80%) with a median household income of $36,420, which is below that of the City of Newport News ($64,962). The neighborhood is undergoing a major redevelopment project, the Marshall-Ridley Choice Neighborhood Initiative and the City's Southeast Community Comprehensive Plan.

Coal Dust Pollution

Residents of Southeast Newport News are exposed to air, water, and soil pollution from multiple industrial sources near the neighborhood including two major coal export terminals, Dominion Terminal Associates and KinderMorgan Bulk Terminals, Newport News Shipbuilding, and Interstate 664 (I-664), which encloses Southeast Newport News on two sides and is heavy trafficked by diesel freight trucks. Pollution from Newport News Shipbuilding and I-664 has been cited so as to diminish residents’ specific concerns about coal dust.

In 2005, the Peninsula Health District Virginia Department of Health reported that Southeast Community residents visited the emergency room for asthma at a rate double that of both Newport News and Virginia. However, while this study continues to be cited in the media, a copy of the document appears to be lost. Residents have identified coal dust pollution as among their most important concerns and want action taken to mitigate coal dust and its effects on their health and well-being. Residents have expressed frustration with the lack of opportunities for meaningful participation in decision-making processes and hopelessness around the coal dust issue, sharing stories of politicians and other decision makers refusing to act.

Community

Landmarks

King-Lincoln Park: King-Lincoln Park is a water-front park with playgrounds, a beach, fishing pier, and stage. In the summer, outdoor events and performances are held here. The park is named after Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln and features two sculptures, The Dream, a statue of Dr. King by Antonio Tobias Mendez of Hampton, Virginia and "The Emancipation Oak," a statue of President Lincoln by Richard Hollant of Newport News. In 1945, King-Lincoln Park was created as the first public park in Newport News open to African Americans during segregation, an effort led by local community leaders Reverend W. W. Finlator and Reverend Lawrence Henry. The park has been a place for community events including Black civil rights actions. In 1960, more than 2,000 people marched from King-Lincoln Park to City Hall to demand an end to racial segregation and discrimination in housing, education, and employment.

Newport News Victory Arch: The Victory Arch was originally built in 1919 with wood and plaster by volunteers to greet soldiers returning from World War I, who would arrive and march through the arch in victory parades. Black soldiers were not allowed to pass through the Victory Arch because of racial segregation. The Victory Arch was later reconstructed in 1962 to its current version and an eternal flame added on Memorial Day in 1969.

Famous Residents

Ella Fitzgerald: Known as the First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald was a singer, songwriter, and composer. She was born in Southeast Newport News on April 25, 1917. She got her start performing at amateur night at the Apollo. The City of Newport News commemorates Fitzgerald with a mural downtown, named the Downing-Gross Cultural Center theater in her honor, and hosts an annual Ella Fitzgerald Music Festival. In 2008, the City of Newport News renamed 24^th Street (the street of her childhood home) to Ella Fitzgerald Way.

Pearl Bailey: Pearl Bailey was an actress, singer, author, and comedian. She appeared on Broadway, movies, and her own television show, called the Pearl Bailey Show (1971).

Michael Vick: Michael Vick is a former professional football player, who was born and raised in Southeast Newport News. Vick is currently the head football coach of the Norfolk State University Spartans. Vick donated to the Boys & Girls Club, crediting the organization's role in his life growing up, to open the renovated and renamed Michael Vick Teen Center. In a press release, Vick said: "My time at the Boys and Girls Club was so pivotal at a crucial point in my life when I had to learn people skills, and learn to communicate, and learn discipline, and learn what trust was all about. [...] It happened for me, so I wanna do it for them."

Events

Ella Fitzgerald Music Festival:

Southeast Community Day: Southeast Community Day is an annual parade in September celebrating the community's strengths and unity. The parade features local school marching bands and dance troupes, community leaders, politicians, and business owners, and community organizations. There is also festival with vendors, food, music, and other activities.

Historical Records

African American Historical Society of Newport News:

Downing Gross Cultural Center: A multi-purpose cultural space owned by the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Newport News. The building usually serves as an event venue, but also has meeting rooms available to rent and houses permanent exhibits. The center emphasizes the importance of collaboration within the community and creativity.

Hampton Roads Oral History Project (HROHP): This collection is an audio-based history project, documenting the impact of the civil rights movement on area residents. It was established in the fall of 2012 by Christopher Newport University Prof. Laura Puaca in collaboration with the Newsome House Museum and Cultural Center and the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center. Most of the interviews were carried out by students.

Newsome House Museum & Cultural Center:

Documents

• Mansyur et al., Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Identify Environmental Justice Issues in an Inner-City Community and Inform Urban Planning, Family and Community Health, 39, 3, 169–77, 2016
• Fields et al., Practicing Repair: Advancing Community-Based Solutions on Coal Dust Pollution in Hampton Roads, Virginia through a Practitioner-in-Residence Program, Environmental Justice, 0, 0, 1–11, 2024