A Black Arlington Neighborhood was Destroyed to Build the Pentagon

In 1941, the U.S. was preparing for World War II. Residents of Queen City, a tight-knit Black neighborhood in Arlington, watched in awe as nearly 15,000 workers erected the Pentagon on a plot of federally-owned land next to their community. Some had enlisted, while others worked for the federal government. But then the government came for their shops, their churches and even their homes.