On August 15, 2020, the Parker-Gray Alumni Association will be celebrating the 100-year Anniversary of Parker-Gray School. If you want to assist the Parker-Gray Alumni in planning this celebration or you want to attend this celebration, please contact Mrs. Alice Thompson at 703-549-8178.
You can read a recent article titled, We Were the “Bull Dogs: Parker-Gray School” at
http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2019/120419/Alexandria.pdf.
Patrick H. Lumpkins had beaten the odds, he had a disability due to slavery but he excelled after the civil war. Besides being a teacher and a music director, he raised a family. His daughter, Helen Lumpkins Robinson Day, became a well-known teacher, choir director and community activist. In 1950s, Patrick’s son Patrick II was working for Virginia Electric and Power Company (VEPCO).
You can read more about Patrick H. Lumpkins in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper dated November 20, 2019 at http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2019/112019/Alexandria.pdf.
Behind the scenes of the Alexandria Gazette Packet’s article on, “Reaching for Success: Judge Joseph C. Waddy” – dated October 10 – 16, 2019.
Joseph C. Waddy was one of the success stories that came out of Parker-Gray School in Alexandria, VA during the early 1920s. He became a Judge in Washington, DC. While he was a Judge, he was instrumental in improving the District of Columbia’s education system. His ruling on education against the District of Columbia for excluding publicly funded education for disable children still stands today.
The Judge’s Summary Judgement of the plaintiffs on August 1, 1972, Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia, 348 F.Supp. 866,871 (D.C. Cir. 1972) changed the way that the District of Columbia provided funding to their disable children. The ruling was coined as the “Waddy Decree.”
Check out the article on “Reaching for Success: Judge Joseph C. Waddy” October 10-16, 2019 in the Alexandria Gazette Packet on page 8 at http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2019/100919/Alexandria.pdf
Behind the scenes of the Alexandria Gazette Packet’s article on, “Remembering ‘Roro’ Scott”– dated June 20-26, 2019.
Parker-Gray School (PG) opened in the school year of 1920 and closed as a high school 45-years later in 1965. During those 45-years, many African Americans in Alexandria, Fairfax (Gum Springs) and other areas came to PG for an education. PG was the only public African American School in Alexandria in 1920 that provided an education from first to seventh grade. In the 1930s, PG added classes to the 11th grade and by the 1950s included the 12th grade. From 1920 through 1965, PG was a segregated school for African Americans. After 1965 school year, the school opened up as a desegregated middle school including white and black children.
Roland “Roro” Scott was one of those students who went to Parker-Gray in the 1950s and excelled in his classes and in sports. He was the son of, Bernard Scott and Iona Marcellus. Roland’s sister was Barbara Jane Scott.
Although Roland’s nickname at Parker-Gray was “Roro,” family members also stated his nickname was “Big Scott.” Roro’s father was also called “Big Scott” until he died 1956.
Today, Roland’s widow, Bettie Garrett Scott, his daughter, Randy Scott and his grandchildren remember “Roro” Scott and all his achievements.
Read more about “Remembering Roro Scott”– dated June 20-26, 2019 in the Alexandria Gazette Packet on page 9 at
http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2019/061919/Alexandria.pdf.
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