Rick’s Tattoo Studio (Current)
Judge Thomas R. Monroe Law Office (Historic)
Item
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Subject of Research
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Rick’s Tattoo Studio (Current)
Judge Thomas R. Monroe Law Office (Historic)
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Story
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PROPERTY HISTORY
November 2019: This was an African American-owned building built and managed by area resident Vance Green who also operated multiple businesses from the property, including a barber and beauty shop. Green leased other office space to a dentist and the law office of attorney Thomas Monroe (Green 2019). Thomas R. Monroe (1924-2005) opened his law office on Lee Highway in 1955, the same year he became president of the Arlington County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; he was president through 1956. Arlington County Directories from 1955 to 1964 confirm Monroe’s law practice located at 4818 Lee Highway (Hill’s various dates). From 1955 to 1959, his law firm was named Hankins, Myer & Monroe; it was listed as Myers & Monroe in 1961 and 1964.
In 1968, Monroe joined the law firm Bean, Kinney & Korman as the first African American partner in a non-minority law firm in Virginia (BKK n.d.). In four short years, he was appointed to the bench where he served as the first African-American Circuit Judge in Arlington County and the first to serve on all three Arlington courts. Judge Monroe retired from Arlington County judiciary in 1993 leaving a legacy of “compassion as well as competence” according to then-fellow Chief Circuit Judge William L. Winston (Winston in Sullivan 2005). He was a substitute judge in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in 1972, a General District Court judge in 1976 and the state's second black Circuit Court judge in 1982 (Sullivan 2005).
Judge Monroe was a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, VA and served as an Army sergeant during World War II before studying law at Howard University. As a community member, Monroe was active during desegregation, presided over the Nauck Citizens Association, was board member of the Arlington County Action program active on the Human Relations Commission of the county’s Criminal Justice Advisory Committee.
SURVEYOR ASSESSMENT/RECOMMENDATION
November 2019: Although a commercial building, 4818 Lee Highway was not identified in the Arlington County Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) in 2011 (Arlington County 2011).
The commercial building at 4818 Lee Highway is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under Criterion A on the local level for its historical association with social and civil rights activism in Arlington County as well as the African American heritage in the Hall’s Hill/High View Park (HHHVP) neighborhood. Under Criterion B, the commercial building is eligible for its association with Judge Thomas R. Monroe, who was known for his social and civil rights activism in the predominately African American HHHVP community. Judge Monroe was significant for his legal achievements as a president of the Arlington chapter of the NAACP, as the first African American Circuit Judge in Arlington County and the first to serve on all three Arlington courts. It is eligible under Criterion C as embodying the characteristics of commercial architecture along Lee Highway including its two-story height, brick veneer, large display windows, and parapet roof. The building retains its integrity of location, design, setting and feeling. However, the alterations to the facade impact its integrity of materials and workmanship. Also, the law office of Judge Monroe no longer operates in the building which impacts its integrity of association.
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People
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Thomas R. Monroe Esq. (1924-2005)
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Place
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4818 Lee Highway
Arlington, VA 22207
