Lucy Addison (December 8, 1861, in

Upperville, Virginia Upperville is a small unincorporated town in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States, along U.S. Route 50 fifty miles from downtown Washington, D.C., near the Loudoun County line. Founded in the 1790s along Pantherskin Creek, it was originally ...

– November 13, 1937, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

) was an African-American school teacher and principal. In 2011 Addison was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "

Virginia Women in History Virginia Women in History was an annual program sponsored by the Library of Virginia that honored Virginia women, living and dead, for their contributions to their community, region, state, and nation. The program began in 2000 under the aegis of th ...

" for her contributions to education.

Personal life

Addison was born on December 8, 1861, in

, to Charles Addison and Elizabeth Anderson Addison, both of whom were slaves. She was the third child born to the couple and the second daughter. After her family was emancipated Lucy's father purchased farm land in

Fauquier County Fauquier is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,972. The county seat is Warrenton. Fauquier County is in Northern Virginia and is a part of the Washington metropolitan area. History In 160 ...

and Addison began attending school. She later traveled to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

to attend the

Institute for Colored Youth The Institute for Colored Youth was founded in 1837 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It became the first high school for African-Americans in the United States, although there were schools that admitted African Americans preceding it ...

, and graduated with a teaching degree in 1882. Addison kept her skills current by attending continuing education classes at schools, including

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. She later served in several supervisory positions, including as a member of the board of trustees for the Burrell Memorial Hospital.

Education work

Shortly after receiving her degree, Addison returned to Virginia and began teaching in

Loudoun County, Virginia 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 ...

. In 1886, she moved to

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is ...

, to teach at the First Ward Colored School. The following year Addison began serving as an interim head following the death of the school's principal. She continued as such until 1888, when a new school was built and a male principal hired. Addison then served for more than a decade as both a teacher and an assistant principal for the school. In 1917 Addison was hired to serve as the principal for the Harrison School, a school for African-Americans. Although the school was only accredited to teach up to the eighth grade, Addison expanded the curriculum to include high school level classes while also continually lobbying

Virginia State Board of Education The Virginia State Board of Education is an independent board established by the state of Virginia in the United States which helps set state elementary and secondary educational policy, advocates within state government for elementary and secondar ...

for full accreditation. Her work came to fruition in 1924, when the Board granted the school full accreditation and the school graduated several students with a high school diploma. Addison retired in 1927 and moved to

, to live with one of her sisters, but returned to Virginia for several occasions, including the naming of Roanoke's first public high school for African Americans in her honor.

Death and legacy

Addison suffered from chronic nephritis and died in

, on November 13, 1937. She was buried in

Columbian Harmony Cemetery Columbian Harmony Cemetery was an African-American cemetery that formerly existed at 9th Street NE and Rhode Island Avenue NE in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Constructed in 1859, it was the successor to the smaller Harmoneon Cemetery ...

. In 1970 her remains were re-interred when the cemetery was moved to Maryland to become part of

National Harmony Memorial Park National Harmony Memorial Park is a private, secular cemetery located at 7101 Sheriff Road in Landover, Maryland, in the United States. Although racially integrated, most of the individuals interred there are African American. In 1960, the 37,000 ...

. Roanoke opened the

Lucy Addison High School Lucy Addison High School was an all-African American high school founded in 1928 during Jim Crow racial segregation in Roanoke, Virginia. Named after Lucy Addison, a pioneering African American educator and first principal of the segregated Harri ...

the year after Addison retired, and she traveled to Virginia to attend the opening ceremony. In the 1970s the school was almost closed and turned into a

vocational school A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the task ...

, as Roanoke's desegregation plans proposed busing pupils into neighboring areas. However, U.S. District Judge Ted Dalton ordered the school remain open. In 1973 the school was restructured and became the Lucy Addison Junior High School, which was later renamed the Lucy Addison Middle School.

References

External links

Biography
at

Encyclopedia Virginia Virginia Humanities (VH), formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, is a humanities council whose stated mission is to develop the civic, cultural, and intellectual life of the Commonwealth of Virginia by creating learning opportunities f ...

Lucy Addison Middle School home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Addison, Lucy 1861 births 1937 deaths African-American schoolteachers Schoolteachers from Virginia American school principals 19th-century American slaves People from Upperville, Virginia People from Roanoke, Virginia 19th-century American educators 20th-century American educators Women school principals and headteachers 19th-century American women educators 20th-century American women educators 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American educators 19th-century African-American women