|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Douglass alumni celebrate a 'past to be proud of'
It's been 40 years since members of the last graduating class of Douglass High School in Leesburg received their diplomas.
The 41 black students who made it through their five years there (starting in eighth grade) were like a close family, graduates from the class of 1968 said.
"We all were so close because there were so few of us," said Falls Church resident Gerald Reid, 59. "We were all like first cousins or something. That's the kind of camaraderie we had."
On July 11, many of the 1968 graduates, including Reid, came to the Dulles Holiday Inn along with other Douglass alumni to celebrate their achievements and the significance of the Leesburg school, the only high school for blacks in Loudoun before desegregation.
"It's very historical," said 1968 graduate Loretta Hall, 58, who now teaches at Sterling Elementary School. "Douglass is a very important part of our life because we were the last class."
The 1968 graduates also are proud for sticking with Douglass. In 1964, their freshman class started with more than 100 students. Over the years, some dropped out, but others were given the option of attending a white high school – Loudoun County or Loudoun Valley – and transferred.
Students like Reid and Charles Avery, valedictorian of Douglass' class of 1968, said they were glad they didn't take that path.
"The theme and the focus [of the reunion] is on the past to be proud of," said Avery, who lives in Sterling. "There is a legacy that needs to be maintained. We carry on the legacy of Douglass High School."
Graduation in 1968 marked the end of Douglass' 27 years of operation and the school was closed. The facility became a middle school, and later an alternative school and community center.
Still, alumni want to keep their memories and the spirit of Douglass alive.
Pauline Scott, 58, of Ashburn, a member of the planning committee for the July 11 reunion, said she has many fond memories of her time in high school.
"It was like a community," she said. "Everybody knew everybody and everybody's parents knew everybody. You didn't do anything wrong in the county because everyone knew about it."
Reid said resources at Douglass weren't equal to resources of the white schools, but he and the other students there still received a great education.
Many of the graduates went on to college and then to pursue greater things.
Reid served as a U.S. Marine and went to college at American University.
Hall graduated from Kentucky State and has been teaching physical education for 37 years.
Avery went to the University of Virginia and Howard University. He was a social worker for 30 years and now works as a health consultant.
Scott just retired from a career as a U.S. marshal and working with the U.S. Geological Survey. She said she still feels nostalgic when she drives by the old Douglass High School building.
"Knowing our school was the last black high school in the county is a little bit sad, but it's good knowing it is still there," she said. "It's an anchor for me. It's a historical landmark."
To help celebrate the accomplishments of the class of 1968, representatives from the presidential campaigns for Barack Obama and John McCain attended the reunion to present letters of congratulations to the alumni.
Leesburg Mayor Kristen Umstattd also attended the reunion.
Contact the reporter at ecoe@timespapers.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.