Collection open for research.
No physical characteristics affect use of this material.
Research Materials Regarding Decision to Replace Frederick Douglass Elementary School, Leesburg, VA 1938-1971 (M 073), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.
Loudoun County Public Schools
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2010.0285, 2010.0307
Rebecca K. Ottinger, 26 March 2012
The Frederick Douglass Elementary School (hereinafter Douglass Elementary) building in Leesburg, Virginia, was constructed in 1958 as a segregated school and continued to be used as an elementary school for African American students until 1968. Although the US Supreme Court ruled in 1958 that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, Loudoun County's schools, operating on a "freedom of choice" plan, continued to be largely segregated. In 1967 the US District Court ordered Loudoun County to use geographical attendance zones to determine pupil placement and required the county to integrate school faculty, staff, and buses by the 1968 school year. From 1968 to 1982 Douglass Elementary was a racially integrated elementary school, following which (1982-2001) the building was used for pre-school, Head Start, and special education classes as well as a warehouse facility and support staff location. After that time it was no longer used for classes, serving instead as space for various school board offices. When Loudoun County Public Schools began to explore the desirability of demolishing the Douglass Elementary building and constructing a new elementary school on that site, an archeological study and a study of the school's history and architectural significance were undertaken. Loudoun County Public Schools engaged Thunderbird Archeology and History Matters, LLC to prepare a Phase I archaeological investigation and a historical review of the school for the purpose of preserving the history and commemorating the original school as a part of the new school.
Two firms completed two reports, both of which are cataloged and available in Thomas Balch Library's general collection.
Upon completion of the research, Loudoun County Public Schools contacted the Black History Committee of the Friends of the Thomas Balch Library. A number of concerned citizens opposed the demolition of the school, citing the building's historical significance to the African American community. In response to this concern, Loudoun County Public Schools and the Black History Committee embarked on a joint project to preserve the history and establish a permanent exhibit of the former school in the new school.
This collection contains extensive material about Frederick Douglass Elementary School in Leesburg, Virginia, but its scope goes far beyond this one school to questions of equality of educational opportunities in Loudoun County. The collection retains the order in which it was received by the library. It begins with correspondence concerning segregation and inequality in the public schools, proceeds to reactions to decisions requiring racial integration in the schools, and ends with five folders of materials concerning the construction of Douglass Elementary School.
The collection contains extensive copies of minutes of Loudoun County School Board as they relate to concerns of equality and racial segregation of students and teachers. These minutes cover numerous School Board meetings from 1938 to 1971. Also included are letters, petitions, and newspaper articles regarding conditions in African American schools, inequality of salaries between African American and white teachers, and other concerns of the African American community in regard to public education. Many items document reactions to the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka on May 17, 1954.
There is also an extensive file of information containing legal and construction specifications (1957-1958), beginning with the purchase of land and architectural renderings to furnishing and final inspection of the original Douglass Elementary.
Folder
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Kimberly A. Snyder.
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