Behind the scene of the article on Parker-Gray School.
Parker-Gray School 1920 – 1965
Parker-Gray School was established in 1920 in Alexandria, Virginia. The first building was located at 901 Wythe Street where the present day Charles Houston Recreation Center is located. The school had grades 1 through 8. By 1930s, high school classes were added going up to grade 11. The first graduating class was in 1936. In September 1950, Parker-Gray High School moved into their new building at 1207 Madison Street. The last graduating high school class was in 1965. In 1975, the Parker-Gray Alumni Association started to celebrate Parker-Gray School’s history and to award scholarships to descendants of Parker-Gray School.
An article in the Alexandria Gazette Packet dated August 2, 2018, on page 11 gives more details of Parker-Gray School’s humble beginnings. You can read the article at http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2018/080118/Alexandria.pdf. If you want to attend this year Parker-Gray School’s Alumni Banquet weekend scheduled for August 17 – 19, 2018, please send an e-mail to me with your contact information; I will pass the information to the coordinator of the Parker-Gray Alumni Association.
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!
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.
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!
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