Category: Parker-Gray School

Principal Henry T. White’s 1920 Parker-Gray Class

First Faculty of PG
1920 Principal Henry T. White and First Faculty

Prior to 1920, the colored boys and girls of Alexandria were taught separately in two buildings.  The boys were in Snowden School, on the west side of South Pitt Street near Gibbon Street.  Mr. John F. Parker was principal of Snowden School.  The girls were in Hallowell School on, the east side of North Alfred Street between Princess and Oronoco Streets.  Mr. Henry T. White was their principal.

Mr. Henry T. White was selected to be the first principal of the combined schools of Snowden and Hallowell for black boys and black girls.  The school was named Parker-Gray School after Mr. John F. Parker and Miss Sarah A. Gray.  Ironically, Mr. John F. Parker’s declining health might have prevented the School Board for selecting him as the principal of the school that was named after him.

Mr. Henry T. White was born in 1862 in Pittsylvania, Virginia.  He was married to Marcella Mayhew.  He and his wife migrated to Alexandria in the late 1880s.  Though he was principal at Parker-Gray, he taught classes.  He taught 7th and 8th grades in 1920 – 1921 school year.  The students were:

Margaret Bell, age 15, grade 8th

Thomas Bell, age 13, grade 7th

Llewellyn Butler, age 14, grade 7th

Corinne Byrd, age 13, grade 8th

Ellen Carter, age 12, grade 7th

Ida Colbert, age 15, grade 7th

Elizabeth Contee, age 12, grade 7th

Rosena Dixon, age 13, grade 7th

William Ellis, age 13, grade 7th

Rosier Gaddis, age 13, grade 7th

Anna Gaines, age 15, grade 7th

Ruth Gilliam, age 12, grade 7th

Eva Hill, age 15, grade 7th

Norris Hopkins, age 12, grade 7th

Gladys Lewis, age 15, grade 8th

Charles Lucas, age 12, grade 7th

Patrick H. Lumpkins Jr., age 13, grade 8th

Lucille Majors, age 15, grade 7th

Wibrow Martin, age 15, grade 8th

Edgar McGee, age 12, grade 7th

Elbert Norton, age 15, grade 8th

Nannie Parker, age 14, grade 7th

James Redd, age 13, grade 7th

Mildred Russell, age 14, grade 7th

Samuel Shanklin, age 15, grade 7th

Esther Speaks, age 12, grade 7th

Florence Stewart, age 15, grade 8th

Richard Strange, age 15, grade 7th

Wallace Strange, age 12, grade 7th

Ernest Turner, age 15, grade 7th

Edmonia Washington, age 15, grade 7th

Kathleen V. White, age 13, grade 7th

Eliza Whitmore, age 15, grade 7th

Marie Jones, age 14, grade 7th

1920 Parker-Gray Class

Front Row Left to Right: Reverend A.W. Adkins, Henry T. White, Laura Dorsey, Rozier D. Lyles and James E. Howard. Back Left Row: Mayme Anderson, Margaret Young, Florence Murray, Harriet E. Thornton, Susie Madden and Sarah D. Gray

Prior to 1920, a group of concerned African American citizens which included Reverend Samuel B. Ross, Samuel Tucker, Henry Taylor, Blanche Parker Taylor and the alumni from the Hallowell and Snowden Schools pressured the City of Alexandria for a new school building.  By 1920, the African American community had a new school located at Alfred and Wythe Streets.  The school was named after two former principals at Snowden and Hallowell Schools, John F. Parker and Sarah A. Gray.

The First Faculty at Parker-Gray School included one principal and ten teachers in 1920. 

Mr. Henry T. White – Principal – taught 7th grade

Reverend Andrew Warren (A.W.) Adkins – taught 4th and 5th grades

Mrs. Mayme Anderson – taught 5th grade

Miss Laura A.  Dorsey – taught 1st grade

Mrs. Sarah D. Gray – taught 3rd grade

Mr. James E. Howard – taught 3rd grade

Mr. Rozier D. Lyles – taught 6th grade

Mrs. Susie Madden – taught 2nd grade

Mrs. Florence Murray – taught 2nd grade

Mrs. Harriet E. Thornton – taught 5th grade

Mrs. Margaret Young – taught 1st grade