The Madeira School (simply referred to as Madeira School or Madeira) is an elite, private,

day A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two so ...

and

boarding Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: ** Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where ho ...

college-preparatory school for girls in McLean, Virginia, United States. It was established in 1906 by Lucy Madeira Wing.

History

Originally located on 19th Street near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., it was founded by Lucy Madeira Wing (1873–1961) in 1906 and moved to the

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

suburb of

McLean MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John). The clan surname is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic "Mac Gille Eathain" ...

in 1931. Since 1931, its campus has grown beyond the original campus buildings—Main, the dining hall, Schoolhouse, East, West, and North South Dorms, The Land, the Annex (infirmary), and the two gatehouses at the entrance to the Oval—to include the Chapel/Auditorium, the indoor riding ring and Gaines Hall, the science building, a renovated and expanded dining hall, Hurd Sports Center, and Huffington Library. In 1973, a fourteen-year-old student was found dead on the school grounds due to shock and exposure. An individual, already convicted two years earlier for another sexual assault perpetrated at the school, was eventually convicted of first degree murder and abduction with intent to defile in connection with the death. In 1980 the then headmistress Jean Harris was convicted for the murder of

Herman Tarnower Herman Tarnower (March 18, 1910 – March 10, 1980) was an American cardiologist and co-author (with Samm Sinclair Baker) of the bestselling diet book ''The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet'' (1978), which promoted a high-protein low-carboh ...

Demographics

The demographic breakdown of the 310 girls enrolled in 2013–2014 was: * Native American/Alaskan - 0.7% * Asian/Pacific islanders - 21.6% * Black - 13.9% * Hispanic - 3.5% * White - 55.5% * Multiracial - 4.8%

Campus and facilities

The campus is on overlooking the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia, Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Datas ...

(McLean, Virginia) and consists of 34 separate buildings.

Public access

The Madeira school has had many disputes over the use of its land. In 1966, Fairfax County proposed the turning of 208 of Madeira's privately owned into public park land. In 1991 Madeira gave a trail easement along Georgetown Pike, as well as $89,000 for that trail construction to complete the Potomac Heritage Route without visitors entering the main area of the campus. However, this trail was never completed by the park officials. In 2008, the Fairfax County government attempted to obtain from Madeira an

easement An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a property ...

near the Potomac River to permit the completion of a loop of walking trails as a condition of approval for the school's proposed expansion plans. This one-mile (1.6 km)-long trail section through Madeira's property would connect the county's Scott's Run Park to

Great Falls National Park Great Falls Park is a small National Park Service (NPS) site in Virginia, United States. Situated on along the banks of the Potomac River in northern Fairfax County, the park is a disconnected but integral part of the George Washington Me ...

. The Madeira School declined this easement, citing concerns about safety and environmental impacts.

Notable alumnae

* Brooke Astor, philanthropist, socialite, and writer *

Mary Lincoln Beckwith Mary Lincoln Beckwith (August 22, 1898 – July 10, 1975) was a prominent descendant of Abraham Lincoln. Beckwith was one of the last two descendants of Abraham Lincoln, along with her younger brother Robert. Early life Beckwith was born to ...

, descendant of Abraham Lincoln *

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, physical therapist and commentator *

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, model and socialite * Clara López, former Colombian minister of labour. * Blair Brown, actress * Campbell Brown, anchor and news reporter * Mika Brzezinski, journalist, talk show host, commentator, and author *

Charlotte E. Carr Charlotte Elizabeth Carr (May 3, 1890 – July 12, 1956) was an American labor activist and state official. She was appointed Pennsylvania's Secretary of Labor and Industry in 1933. She was the head resident at Chicago's Hull House from 1937 to ...

, labor activist and state official *

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, actress *

Penny Chenery Helen Bates "Penny" Chenery (January 27, 1922 – September 16, 2017) (married names: Penny Tweedy until 1974 and later Penny Ringquist until 1980) was an American sportswoman who bred and owned Secretariat, the 1973 winner of the Triple Crown. ...

, sportswoman * Julia Collins, most successful female

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given ge ...

contestant * Hope Cooke, Queen consort of the 12th Chogyal of Sikkim * Kathryn Wasserman Davis, philanthropist and scholar of world affairs *

Helen T. Edwards Helen Thom Edwards (May 27, 1936 – June 21, 2016) was an American physicist. She was the lead scientist for the design and construction of the Tevatron at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Career Edwards was best known for leade ...

, physicist *

Katharine Graham Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was an American newspaper publisher. She led her family's newspaper, ''The Washington Post'', from 1963 to 1991. Graham presided over the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, wh ...

, publisher *

Mary Helen Wright Greuter Mary Helen Wright Greuter (December 20, 1914 – October 23, 1997) was an American astronomer and historian, who wrote and edited on the history and methodology of sciences, including anthropology, archeology, mathematics, and physics. Early yea ...

, astronomer and historian * Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt, heiress *

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, documentary filmmaker *

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, journalist * Alex Kuczynski, author and journalist *

Eleanor de Laittre Eleanor de Laittre (April 3, 1911 – January 9, 1998) was an American visual artist and an early proponent of Abstract expressionism, abstract, Cubism, cubist-inspired, and largely non-objective art. During a period when representational art ...

, artist * Diana Oughton, social activist * Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, art collector and philanthropist *

Naomi Pierce Naomi E. Pierce (born 1954) is the Hessel Professor of Biology at Harvard University and a world authority on butterflies. Pierce is the university's Curator of Lepidoptera, a position once held by Vladimir Nabokov. Pierce was a Fulbright Post ...

, evolutionary biologist * Martha Reeves (anchorite), Anglican solitary and author * Alice Rivlin, economist and budget official *

Carrie Southworth Carrie Southworth is an American actress, model, and businesswoman who portrayed Dr. Claire Simpson on the SOAPnet prime time serial '' General Hospital: Night Shift'' in 2008. She is also the co-founder of TwigTale a children book company. Ear ...

, actress and model * Frances Sternhagen, actress * Ruth Carter Stevenson, patron of the arts * Lally Weymouth, journalist *

Meredith Whitney Meredith Ann Whitney (born November 20, 1969) is an American businesswoman hailed as “The Oracle of Wall Street” by ''Bloomberg''. She is known for successfully forecasting the difficulties of Citigroup and other major banks during the finan ...

, businesswoman

Notable faculty

Kate Clifton Osgood Holmes Kate Clifton Osgood Holmes (October 1, 1858 – April 19, 1925) was an American painter and scientific illustrator. Life Kate Clifton Osgood Holmes was born in Castine, Maine, October 1, 1858. She was one of five children born to James Blake ...

, painter *

Anne Truitt Anne Truitt (March 16, 1921December 23, 2004), born Anne Dean, was an American sculptor of the mid-20th century. She became well known in the late 1960s for her large-scale minimalist sculptures, especially after influential solo shows at André ...

, sculptor and author

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Madeira School, The McLean, Virginia High schools in Fairfax County, Virginia Private high schools in Virginia Boarding schools in Virginia Preparatory schools in Virginia Girls' schools in Virginia Independent School League * Educational institutions established in 1906 1906 establishments in Virginia