Tag: Alexandria VA

The Way It Was: Calvin D. Terrell

Sitting down talking to Calvin D. Terrell was like going back in time to the 1940s. Although I wasn’t born for another 15 years later, Mr. Terrell took me back to his world when he was a child living in the Seminary section of Alexandria.

He was able to tell me what Seminary Road, Quaker Lane, Bailey Cross Roads and King Street looked like from the time he was a child. He named the families that were up and down one side of the street to the other side of the street giving me the family ties to different family members who lived in the area.

Mr. Calvin D. Terrell has a wealth of knowledge about the days gone by. You can read more about him in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper on page 8 dated March 4, 2020 at
http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2020/030420/Alexandria.pdf.

Clifton D. Wanzer: The View from the Air Traffic Controllers’ Tower

Clifton D. Wanzer
1971

Clifton D. Wanzer is the oldest son of Daniel Wanzer and Viola Williams. He grew up in the Seminary (West End) of Alexandria, Virginia. A great deal of Clifton’s life has been in the years of segregation, but that period did not stop him for sketching out a better life for himself and his family.

Clifton D. Wanzer
1950s Air Force –
Air Traffic Controller

Although Clifton does not know whether he was the first Alexandrian African American to be an Air Traffic Controller, but it is clear that he was one of the first from his home town to have a view from the Air Traffic Controller’s Tower.

You can read more about Clifton D. Wanzer in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper on page 11 dated February 5, 2020 at
http://connection.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/news/documents/2020/02/05/Alexandria.pdf. Also you can read on page 10 a letter to the editor from Frances Burton.

At Heart a Firefighter for Life: Gerald Amos Wanzer

Gerald Amos Wanzer

In the Alexandria Gazette Newspaper dated Wednesday, December 19, 2019, on page 6 and 7 is the story of Gerald Amos Wanzer. Gerald has historical ties to the community in the West End of Alexandria, VA known to many as Seminary.

You can read his story in the Gazette on page 6 and 7 at http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2019/121819/Alexandria.pdf

Parker-Gray School’s One-Hundred-Year Anniversary

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.