Mechanicsville High School | |
---|---|
Address | |
7052 Mechanicsville Turnpike , , 23111 | |
Coordinates | 37°36′49.1″N77°20′25.5″W / 37.613639°N 77.340417°W |
Information | |
Type | Public high school |
Opened | 1958 |
School district | Hanover County Public Schools |
Principal | Brandon Petrosky |
Grades | 9–12 |
Enrollment | 1,354 (2022–23) [1] |
Campus | Suburban |
Color(s) |
|
Athletics conference | Capital District Central Region |
Mascot | Mustangs |
Rivals | [ citation needed ] |
Feeder schools | Bell Creek Middle School |
Website | https://mhs.hcps.us/ |
Mechanicsville High School (formerly Lee-Davis High School) is a public high school located in Mechanicsville, Virginia, United States. It serves students in grades 9 through 12 and is part of Hanover County Public Schools.
Mechanicsville High School opened in 1959 under the name Lee-Davis High School and received students from the consolidation of Battlefield Park and Washington-Henry High Schools. After the new high school opened, both Battlefield Park and Washington-Henry became elementary schools. [2] Lee-Davis opened in the midst of Massive Resistance, as the State of Virginia opposed desegregation of its public schools, despite the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. After opening as an all-white school, Lee-Davis admitted a small number of Black students in 1963, but did not fully integrate until the 1969–1970 school year, after all legal avenues resisting full integration were exhausted. [3]
The Hanover County School Board named the school “in the memory and honor of two prominent members of the Confederacy, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis.” [4] The two men were featured in the school's logo. [5]
The school's name and mascot were contested since the school was fully integrated in 1969–70. That year, the Hanover chapter of the NAACP appealed to the school board, on behalf of Black athletes, to remove the Confederate moniker from athletic teams because Black athletes didn't want to play as "Confederates." [6] After a poll was taken of the Lee Davis student body, and it found overwhelming approval of the names, the principal decided to keep the name. [7]
In Fall 2018, shortly after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, a group of alumni, students, and local residents appealed to the School Board to change the name of Lee-Davis and its feeder school, Stonewall Jackson Middle School. [8] Following a survey, [5] the School Board voted in April to keep the names. [9]
In August 2019, the Hanover County NAACP sued the Hanover County School Board in Federal Court on constitutional grounds. [10] The suit was dismissed by a federal judge in May 2020. [11] In June 2020, the Hanover County NAACP said that it would appeal the ruling. [12]
After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, another local movement to change the name of LDHS arose. [13] On July 14, 2020, the Hanover County School Board voted to rename both Lee-Davis and Stonewall Jackson in a 4–3 vote. [14] In mid-October, after considering other names such as Twin Rivers High School, the county and its residents agreed on the badge of Mechanicsville High School. [15] [16]
The varsity boys Baseball Team were the Virginia High School League group AAA state champions in both 1997 and 2001. The girls softball team won the 2011 state championship. Mechanicsville is a nationally recognized Blue Ribbon School. [17] In 2014 and 2015 the boys track team won back to back outdoor 5A state championships.
Mechanicsville has two competitive show choirs, the mixed-gender Madz and the women's-only New Horizons. [18] Together with Hanover High School, Mechanicsville hosts a choir competition every year. [19]
James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart was a Confederate army general and cavalry officer during the American Civil War. He was known to his friends as "Jeb,” from the initials of his given names. Stuart was a cavalry commander known for his mastery of reconnaissance and the use of cavalry in support of offensive operations. While he cultivated a cavalier image, his serious work made him the trusted eyes and ears of Robert E. Lee's army and inspired Southern morale.
Hanover County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 109,979. Its county seat is Hanover.
Monument Avenue is a tree-lined grassy mall dividing the eastbound and westbound traffic in Richmond, Virginia, originally named for its emblematic complex of structures honoring those who fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Between 1900 and 1925, Monument Avenue greatly expanded with architecturally significant houses, churches, and apartment buildings. Four of the bronze statues representing J. E. B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis and Matthew Fontaine Maury were removed from their memorial pedestals amidst civil unrest in July 2020. The Robert E. Lee monument was handled differently as it was owned by the Commonwealth, in contrast with the other monuments which were owned by the city. Dedicated in 1890, it was removed on September 8, 2021. All these monuments, including their pedestals, have now been removed completely from the Avenue. The last remaining statue on Monument Avenue is the Arthur Ashe Monument, memorializing the African-American tennis champion, dedicated in 1996.
Massive resistance was a political strategy created by American politicians Harry F. Byrd and James M. Thomson aimed at getting Virginia officials to pass laws and policies preventing public school desegregation, particularly after Brown v. Board of Education. Many schools and an entire school system were shut down in 1958 and 1959 in attempts to block integration.
The Richmond National Battlefield Park commemorates 13 American Civil War sites around Richmond, Virginia, which served as the capital of the Confederate States of America for most of the war. The park connects certain features within the city with defensive fortifications and battle sites around it.
Oliver White Hill Sr. was an American civil rights attorney from Richmond, Virginia. His work against racial discrimination helped end the doctrine of "separate but equal." He also helped win landmark legal decisions involving equality in pay for black teachers, access to school buses, voting rights, jury selection, and employment protection. He retired in 1998 after practicing law for almost 60 years. Among his numerous awards was the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded him in 1999.
Atlee High School is a secondary school serving central Hanover County, Virginia located in Mechanicsville, Virginia, United States. Atlee High School is a part of the Hanover County Public Schools.
Stonewall Jackson High School is a public high school located in Quicksburg, Shenandoah County, Virginia, United States. It is home to almost 625 students, in grades 8–12. The school is part of the Shenandoah County Public School System. Mike Dorman is the current principal.
Barbara Rose Johns Powell was a leader in the American civil rights movement. On April 23, 1951, at the age of 16, Powell led a student strike for equal education opportunities at R.R. Moton High School in Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia. After securing NAACP legal support, the Moton students filed Davis v. Prince Edward County, the only student-initiated case consolidated into Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring "separate but equal" public schools unconstitutional.
Ryan Todd McDougle is an American politician. A Republican, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002 until 2006. He was elected to the Senate of Virginia. Since 2006, he has represented the 4th district, representing six counties and part of a seventh.
Confederate monuments and memorials in the United States include public displays and symbols of the Confederate States of America (CSA), Confederate leaders, or Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War. Many monuments and memorials have been or will be removed under great controversy. Part of the commemoration of the American Civil War, these symbols include monuments and statues, flags, holidays and other observances, and the names of schools, roads, parks, bridges, buildings, counties, cities, lakes, dams, military bases, and other public structures. In a December 2018 special report, Smithsonian Magazine stated, "over the past ten years, taxpayers have directed at least $40 million to Confederate monuments—statues, homes, parks, museums, libraries, and cemeteries—and to Confederate heritage organizations."
Virginia's 26th Senate district is one of 40 districts in the Senate of Virginia. It is currently represented by Ryan T. McDougle, who had represented the 4th District since 2006. Before the district moved, it was represented by Republican Mark Obenshain from 2004 to 2024, succeeding fellow Republican Kevin Miller.
There are more than 160 Confederate monuments and memorials to the Confederate States of America and associated figures that have been removed from public spaces in the United States, all but five of which have been since 2015. Some have been removed by state and local governments; others have been torn down by protestors.
Hanover County Public Schools is a school division headquartered in Ashland, Virginia. It serves approximately 17,000 students across 26 schools in Hanover County, including 15 elementary, four middle, and four high schools, one trade and technology center, one K–12 online school, and one alternative education school.
Scott Wyatt is an American politician. A Republican, he is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 60th district.
The Stonewall Jackson Monument in Richmond, Virginia, was erected in honor of Thomas Jonathon "Stonewall" Jackson, a Confederate general. The monument was located at the centre of the crossing of Monument Avenue and North Arthur Ashe Boulevard, in Richmond, Virginia. The bronze equestrian statue was unveiled in 1919. Along this avenue were other statues including Robert E. Lee, J. E. B. Stewart, Jefferson Davis, Matthew Maury and more recently Arthur Ashe. Thomas Jackson is best known as one of Robert E. Lee's most trusted commanders throughout the early period of the American Civil War between Southern Confederate states and Northern Union states. He rose to prominence after his vital role in the Confederate victory at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, continuing to command troops until his untimely death on May 10, 1863, after falling fatally ill following the amputation of his wounded arm.