Category: Education

Martha Miller’s Kindergarten School (1930s – 1950)

Behind the scene of the Alexandria Gazette story published 3 May 2018 on “Martha Miller’s Kindergarten School” (1930s – 1950).

I was encouraged by Mrs. Martha Napper-Miller’s former students to share their fond memories of Mrs. Miller.

When I started researching Mrs. Miller last year, only one person I talked to knew that Mrs. Miller was married. Mr. James E. Henson was one of Mrs. Miller’s students and she was also his babysitter. Mr. Henson shared with me that he stayed with Mrs. Miller during the week and his mother picked him up on the weekend. He remembers Mr. Miller being a quiet man.

Thelma Lucas stated, “Martha Miller taught me and all my siblings.”

Besides the three people I mentioned in the article, others shared their stories of their private Kindergarten School:

Mrs. Bernice Lee stated that her kindergarten teacher was Mrs. Alma Pinn-Murray who had her school around the same time as Mrs. Miller. Mrs. Murray was also a public school teacher.

Dwaine E. Terrell remembered his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Mary Howard-Penn.

Also Deborah Ford-Nelson and Rosie Ford remembered going to Mrs. Mary Howard-Penn’s Kindergarten School. Rosie stated, “She taught me how to read and much more.” Rosie has been friends with Mrs. Penn’s daughter, Sandra, since they have been four-years-old. Also to note that Mrs. Mary Howard-Penn had several siblings who were teachers in the Alexandria Public School system in the 1950s through 1980s.

Gail Arrington-Jones’ kindergarten teachers were Mrs. Ethel Nelson and Mrs. Mary Burgess. Gail stated, “We honored Mrs. Nelson in 2015 for her operation of the Kindergarten School in 2015.” It is noted that Mrs. Nelson still lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

In the newspaper article, I stated that Mrs. Miller had two other teacher aides, Saretta Norton and Christine Butler. Christine was Mrs. Miller’s niece. Thank you Becky Mays for confirming that information.

Becky also stated, “Ms. Christine Butler held her kindergarten classes in my Mom’s house on Princess Street. It was awesome.” After the death of Mrs.

Martha Napper-Miller’s
Death Certificate

Miller in 1952, Christine continued to teach. She moved the School from Oronoco Street to Princess Street.

Mrs. Martha was multi-talented. Not only did she have her Kindergarten School, she was a dressmaker and a laundress. Her husband, Pierce S. Miller migrated from North Carolina to Alexandria where he met and married Mrs. Martha. Many of her close relatives are deceased. They were:

Cora Marshall Napper (mother): 1856 – 1922
Samuel Napper (father): 1853 – 1930
William Napper (brother): 1888 – 1913
Richard Russell Napper (brother): 1890 – 1928
Anna B. Woodlawn David (adopted daughter): 1914 – 1975
Frederick David (son-in-law): 1907 – 1983
Christine Butler (niece): 1935 – 1986

Over and over again, the African Americans of Alexandria historically proved that they did everything possible to improve their lives. Education was a priority for their children. Education was so important that many African American mothers left their children with their teachers for the whole week while they worked, so that their children can get a good education. That in itself is remarkable!

Miss Laura Missouri Dorsey

Behind the Alexandria Gazette story on Laura Missouri Dorsey dated January 11 – 17, 2018.

Several years ago, I visited and interviewed Miss Laura Missouri Dorsey’s second cousin, Mrs. Fayrene Lyles-Richardson in Maryland. In talking with Fayrene, she shared many family pictures of the Lyles and Dorsey families. One particular picture was of two cars in the Lyles family in the early 20th century.

Very few people of colored (African Americans) owned automobiles at that time, but the

Lyles Family with their Vehicles

Lyles not only had one vehicle, they had two in the family. Also in Fayrene’s collection were many pictures about the family life style. There were summer homes up north, post cards from their vacations in the 1900s – 1950s. There were pictures of their homes in Alexandria, Virginia and in Prince William County, Virginia. In the collection were professional pictures of the Lyles’ brothers at a photographer’s studio and pictures of Laura and her sister, Mary and their mother, Hannah.

As Fayrene and I pored over the pictures, we went back in time to a period when the Lyles and Dorsey family flourished. The public records have documented the life style of the Lyles and Dorsey families in the censuses, tax records, newspaper articles, marriages, death records, church records and pre-civil war documents. Laura Missouri Dorsey and her uncle, Rosier Lyles were educators in the Alexandria Public school system. Laura’s grandfather, Reverend Richard H. Lyles was the pillar of Alexandria’s African American’s Society. He was born free in 1834. Reverend Lyles was a minister at Roberts Chapel in the 19th Century; he taught private school prior to the Civil War; he worked for the Federal Government at the Freedmen Bureau; he was active in Alexandria’s Republican Party; he was a caulker on ships; he owned a business on the wharf; and, he owned a number of properties in Alexandria. He afforded his family many pleasures of life that was found among the white middle class.

The heyday for the Lyles family started prior to the Civil War through the middle of the 20th Century. They regained all their property losses during the Civil War. The Lyles and the Dorsey families left a positive history that will make many Alexandrians eager to learn more about them. Read the article on “Laura Dorsey” in the Alexandria Gazette Packet for January 11 – 17, 2018. You can sign up for a digital copy of the paper at http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/subscribe.

West End of Alexandria, VA

Clara Shorts Adams

Prior to the 1950s, the West End of Alexandria, Virginia was at one time or another considered to be in Fairfax, VA or in Arlington, VA. By the 1920s, West End was considered Falls Church, VA. In celebrating Alexandria’s history, this blog is on the West End of Alexandria.

A tribute to Clara Shorts Adams and her husband, Robert Adams for contributing quarter-acre land to the Falls Church School District in Fairfax County for an African American School in 1898. The one room school building was built on the land that the Adams gave to the Fairfax School system.

Clara Shorts and Robert Adams married January 2, 1886 in Fairfax County, VA. Clara was the daughter of Harriet Stewart McKnight Shorts and Burr Shorts. Her husband’s parents were George and Ann (Annie) Adams. It is believed that Clara’s parents were enslaved prior to 1865, but Clara’s husband, Robert’s parents, were freed people of color prior to 1865 living in the City of Alexandria.

This small act of kindness by Clara and Robert is still remembered a hundred and seventeen years later by their descendants in the West End of Alexandria.

Fort Ward (part of the West End) area of Alexandria, Virginia has a rich history of early African Americans owning their land and building their community as part of Alexandria today. Although the one room school is no longer there, the contribution made by Clara and Robert is still remembered in the Fort Ward and Seminary communities. In celebration of the end of the Civil War, I salute the Adams’ family for their commitment to education!

Urgent Call to Save Carver Nursey School – William Thomas Post #129

 

Carver Nursery School - William Thomas Post #129
Carver Nursery School – William Thomas Post #129

The Carver Nursery School could be demolished as soon as the month of February if the community does not intervene. The school was constructed during World War II through an Act of Congress to fund nursery schools so that parents of children could work in the war effort. The Carver Nursery appears to be the only one built specifically for African Americans. The building consisted of two classrooms with a playground on site. The playground is now the Hunter-Miller Park. Located in the Parker-Gray Neighborhood, the school was in the heart of a thriving Black business area at Queen and Fayette Streets.

The school would later become the William Thomas Post#129 of the American Legion and was the social hub of the neighborhood.

Two and a half years ago, a local developer who then applied for a demolition permit purchased the property. The Parker-Gray Board of Architectural Review and the City Council approved the demolition. The developer has already built eleven houses in the neighborhood and recently put eight condominiums in a former laundry building nearby. The eight condominiums (condos) add character and blend in with the neighborhood. The demolition of the Carver School runs contrary to the purpose of the Parker-Gray Historic District.

Historical Facts:

The Parker-Gray Historic District was created in 1984 and one of its main purposes was to protect the area from development pressures that could arise from the building of the King Street and Braddock Metro Stations. The stations are within blocks of the Carver Nursery School. The plan in 1984 was to nominate the neighborhood for the National Register of Historic Places. In 2004, the City of Alexandria conducted a survey and at that time, the Carver Nursery School was one of many structures singled out as having contributed character to the neighborhood. The two Parker-Gray Schools had already been demolished. The threat of the demolition of Carver School is a test to the preservation of buildings that have played a part in the history of Black Alexandria. This building is the only known building of its type still existing and was listed on Preservation Virginia’s eleven most endangered properties list of 2010.

Saving Carver Nursery School Building:

There is only one option for saving the building and that is for the City of Alexandria to intervene. Ask the City to temporarily halt the demolition so that the community can have a voice and suggest some alternatives. To help, please e-mail City Council at www3.alexandriava.gov/contactus/mailto.php?id=610.

You can also contact Boyd Walker from the Greater Alexandria Preservation Alliance at Boydwalker2012@gmail.com to get a copy of the petition that is now circulating, and help gather signatures.  Time is running out, so please help us tell the whole story of the Parker-Gray Neighborhood.

Boyd Walker is a community activist who started the Greater Alexandria Preservation Alliance five years ago, to be an advocacy organization for Historic Preservation in Alexandria.  The purpose of the Alliance is to work beyond Alexandria’s borders with state and local partners and to make Alexandria a greater place.  He is a native of Alexandria who grew up on the “Southside.”  He was a co-founder of Citizens for an Alternative Alexandria Waterfront Plan, now known as Friends of the Alexandria Waterfront and a recent candidate for Alexandria City Council.