Lucy Addison High School was an all-African American high school founded in 1928 during Jim Crow racial segregation in Roanoke, Virginia.
Named after Lucy Addison, a pioneering African American educator and first principal of the segregated Harrison School, Lucy Addison High School became Roanoke's second all-African American secondary educational institution. During its history, the school operated in two separate buildings: at Roanoke's Douglas and Hart Avenues between 1928 and 1952; and at Roanoke's Fifth Street and Orange Avenue between 1953 and 1970.
As a result of Roanoke's desegregation of its high schools in 1963, Addison eventually became an integrated high school in 1970. [1] Though the City of Roanoke closed Addison's doors as a high school in 1973, Addison was converted into Lucy Addison Junior High School. The building now operates as Lucy Addison Junior High School within the Roanoke City Public School System. [2]
Lucy Addison (December 8, 1861 – November 13, 1937), a pioneering African American educator who served as the principal of Roanoke, Virginia's now-defunct Harrison School, created a high school curriculum in 1924 to expand beyond Harrison's 8th grade program. After receiving high school accreditation from Virginia's Board of Education, the Harrison School graduated three students in its inaugural 1924 high school class. Addison served as Harrison School's principal from 1917 until her retirement in 1927.
In 1928, the City of Roanoke renamed the school after Lucy Addison. [3] [4] Lucy Addison High School's first structure was built at the corner of Roanoke's Douglas and Hart Avenues, operating at this location from 1928 to 1952. Addison attended the official grand opening of Lucy Addison High School, April 19, 1929. [5] The school graduated its first class in 1929 during the Great Depression.
Lucy Addison High School's second structure was built in 1951 at the corner of Roanoke's Fifth Street and Orange Avenue in the heart of the African-American community. Opening its doors for the 1952-1953 school year, the school graduated its first class in 1953. [6]
As a result of desegregation in the southern United States, the school closed in 1973. Addison graduated its final high school class in 1973. [7]
In 2015, the Lucy Addison High School Alumni Association unveiled a three-piece monument erected in honor of the school's founder, faculty and alumni. [8]
Lucy Addison High School had seven principals at school's Douglas and Hart Avenue location:
Three principals at its Fifth Street and Orange Avenue location:
Noel Calvin Taylor was the mayor of Roanoke, Virginia from 1975 to 1992. An African American leader who helped facilitate Roanoke's peaceful desegregation in the late 1960s, Taylor was widely considered one of the most influential political and civic leaders in the city's history.
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Phenix High School was a segregated public school for African Americans, active from 1931 to 1968. It was created by the Hampton Institute, now Hampton University, as a normal school near the town of Hampton and Fort Monroe in Elizabeth City County, Virginia in 1931.
Harrison School is a historic public school building for African-American students located at Roanoke, Virginia. It is a rectangular, 13-bay brick building done in modified Georgian Revival architecture. The school was built in 1916 with two-story wings added in 1922. It was the first school in the city to educate black students beyond the seventh grade level, and its first principal was the noted educator Lucy Addison. After closing as a school in the 1960s, the building served as a child care center and later low-income housing as well as the home of the Harrison Museum of African American Culture.
Lucy Addison was an African-American school teacher and principal. In 2011 Addison was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "Virginia Women in History" for her contributions to education.
Sarah Poage Caldwell Butler was a librarian and civic leader known for her work in getting a public library established in Roanoke, Virginia.
Lawrence Harrison Hamlar, also known as L.H. Hamlar or Larry Hamlar was a prominent African-American civic leader, businessman, and philanthropist in Roanoke, Virginia.
Armour G. McDaniel, Sr. (POW) (WIA) was an American military officer who served as a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and commanded the 332nd Fighter Group's 301st Fighter Squadron, a Tuskegee Airmen unit. McDaniels also served as the Commandant of Cadets at Tuskegee Army Airfield. He fought in World War II and was briefly held as a prisoner of war in Nazi Germany.
Lincoln T. Hudson was a U.S. Army Air Force officer, World War II fighter pilot, Prisoner of War in Nazi Germany, and a corporate executive. During World War II, Hudson served in the all-African-American 332nd Fighter Group's 301st Fighter Squadron, best known as the all-African American combat fighter pilot group, the Tuskegee Airmen, "Red Tails," or among enemy German pilots, “Schwartze Vogelmenschen”.
Lemuel Rodney Custis was a U.S. Army Air Force officer, combat fighter pilot and Squadron Operations Officer with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen. He was one of the 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots.
Sherman Windham White Jr. †) was a U.S. Army Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot with the all-African American 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen.
George Richard Bolling I was a U.S. Army Air Force/U.S. Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the famed Tuskegee Airmen. He was one of 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots.
Willie Lee Ashley Jr. was a U.S. Army Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen.
Graham "Peepsight" Smith † was an U.S. Army Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen. He was a member of Tuskegee Airmen's fourth-ever aviation cadet program and one of the 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots.
Robert William Deiz was a U.S. Army Air Force/U.S. Air Force officer, prominent combat fighter pilot, and Flight A leader with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, a component of the Tuskegee Airmen. He was one of the 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots.
Wilmore B. Leonard was an American college professor, U.S. Army Air Corps/U.S. Air Force officer and combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group. One of 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen Pilots, Leonard was a member of Tuskegee's sixth cadet graduating class and one of the first 50 African American combat fighter pilots. He served during World War II, retiring from the military in 1946. He subsequently attended the Howard University School of Dentistry, and became a dentistry professor, holding the position for 25 years.
Romeo Marcus Williams was an American civil rights attorney who organized large-scale student protests against segregation in Marshall, Texas. He was also a junior partner of Dallas, Texas civil rights attorney, William J. Durham, who served as lead counsel on two landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases, Sweatt v. Painter, and Smith v. Allwright.
Curtis Christopher Robinson was an American pharmacist and U.S. Army Air Force officer. He served as a fighter pilot during World War II with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, a component of the Tuskegee Airmen.
William Hugo Holloman III was a U.S. Army Air Force officer, combat fighter pilot, and high-profile member of the prodigious 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen, "Red Tails," or “Schwarze Vogelmenschen” among enemy German pilots.
Carl Croston Johnson was an American U.S. Army Air Force and U.S. Army officer, and former Cleveland, Ohio Airport Commissioner and deputy director of the Pittsburgh International Airport.