*February 24, 2014*

Contact: Garrett Peck (571-243-1113);
garrett.peck@arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org

* ARLINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESENTS: GEOGRAPHY AS DESTINY *

The Arlington Historical Society (AHS) will host Don Hawkins, who will
discuss "Geography as Destiny" at its next monthly public program on
Thursday, March 13.

Arlington County was incorporated into the federal District of Columbia, as
mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Though separated politically in 1846,
its position relative to the City of Washington imposed upon the county a
vital complementary role in its development. Hawkins will discuss how
Arlington's geography and proximity has served the agricultural, defense,
industrial, residential and transportation needs of the nation's capital,
while developing into a prosperous independent community.

Don Hawkins is a longtime Arlington resident whose family moved to the
county at the end of World War II. He was a member of Wakefield High
School's first graduation class in 1956. He studied architecture and urban
design at Carnegie Tech, the Architectural Association in London, and
Catholic University. Hawkins has practiced architecture with own his firm
since 1967, and began systematically studying and drawing maps of the
county's historic geography. He was part of a team that contributed to the
development of Ballston's Land Use Plan in 1975-1977, and later served as
the chairman of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City from 2006 to 2007.
Hawkins is an occasional lecturer and the author of numerous articles
related to the development of the Washington region.

The hour-long program will begin at 7:00pm at Arlington Central Library
Auditorium (1015 N. Quincy Street). A question-and-answer session will
follow. The program is free and open to the public. For additional Central
Library information, please contact 703-228-5990.

About AHS: The Arlington Historical Society, founded in 1956, is a
non-profit organization under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The
AHS mission is to help Arlingtonians better understand our community
through its history. For more information, please visit
www.arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org <http://www.arlingtonhistory.org/>.