Local Loudoun County Heroes

Local Loudoun County Heroes. . , In the 1920s and 1930s Blacks in Loudoun County sought improved educational opportunities including a request for a high school. It took many years and the efforts of many people to reach this goal. The high school opened in 1941 and served the Black community until 1968 when the county's public schools were integrated. You can learn more about the local Black struggle for education by touring the grounds and visiting inside the Historic Douglass High School which stands as a testament to the fortitude of the Black community., Gertrude Alexander , In 1938, Gertrude Alexander was hired by Loudoun County Public Schools to supervise Black teachers. She was instrumental in bringing together all Black parent-teacher associations to form the County-Wide League which combined efforts and created a unified voice in the pursuit of a high school and bus transportation for Blacks. She was also instrumental in creating a Voter Registration Club., John Wanzer , John Wanzer, a Middleburg blacksmith, was elected President of the County-Wide League and served for 25 years. He, along with other League members, raised $4,000 through a variety of fundraisers and League membership dues and negotiated the purchase of the land on which the high school was constructed. In order for the high school to be constructed, the School Board required the land to be deeded to them for $1., Marie Moton Medley-Howard , In 1940, a local chapter of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed on the advice of attorney, Charles Hamilton Houston, Dean of Law at Howard University to strengthen the efforts in the struggle for equal education. Marie Moton Medley-Howard, a Leesburg beautician, was elected as President. She was outspoken on the topics of education and equal rights, championing improvements for students, teachers and the Black communities.