Douglass High School or Douglass Alternate school was built in 1941 in what was then a rural area just outside

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in the state of Virginia, and the county seat of Loudoun County. Settlement in the area began around 1740, which is named for the Lee family, early leaders of the town and ancestors of Robert E. Lee. Located in the far northea ...

as the first high school for African-American students in

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun C ...

. The school was built on land purchased by the black community for $4,000 and conveyed to the county for $1. It was the only high school for African-American students until the end of segregation in Loudoun County in 1968.

Description

Douglass High School is a one-story brick building, originally of . The plan is centered on a commons area that functioned as a gymnasium, cafeteria and auditorium, flanked by two classrooms on either side. Large windows light and ventilate the spaces. A large stage area is directly opposite the main entrance, which opens directly into the commons area from a vestibule. Classrooms were added on the rear of the building, followed by a gymnasium in 1960. A vocational wing lies to the west.

History

Until 1941, the only secondary educational facility available to African-American students in Loudoun County was the upper level of the Loudoun County Training School. The frame structure offered a limited curriculum in an unsafe building. During the late 1930s the black community in Loudoun County organized fundraiser events to purchase of land on the east side of Leesburg from W.S. Gibbons. The property was conveyed to Loudoun County for $1 on December 16, 1940. After threats of legal action, the school board approved a measure to borrow $30,000 from the State Literary Fund of Virginia to build the school. A bid from the Taylor Manufacturing Company of

Farmville, Virginia Farmville is a town in Prince Edward and Cumberland counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 8,216 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Prince Edward County. Farmville developed near the headwaters of the Appomattox R ...

was approved for $35,438. The school opened in September 1941. The school was named for African-American

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

at the request of the community organizers. Since a bare minimum of furnishings were provided by the county, more private donations were sought to more fully furnish the school. With desegregation in 1968 the building became a middle school, then a special education and alternative school. Douglass High School was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on September 24, 1992.

References

External links

Douglas School Official Website
{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Defunct schools in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Loudoun County, Virginia Schools in Loudoun County, Virginia School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Historically segregated African-American schools in Virginia Leesburg, Virginia School buildings completed in 1941