PreservationNation

Written by Sonja Ingram

The William Thomas American Legion post, in Alexandria, VA.

William Thomas was the first African American from Alexandria, Virginia to be killed during World War I. Despite the long American history of slavery and segregation, African American males from all over the country still joined the war effort during World War I, viewing the conflict as an opportunity to prove their patriotism and worthiness for equal treatment in the United States. While the Army was often more accepting of African Americans than other military branches, white men often refused to salute black officers and black officers were often barred from officer’s clubs and quarters. As Veterans’ Day nears, it is unfortunate that the few tangible reminders of these soldiers’ historic struggles are being erased from history.

Not only did African Americans’ difficulties help shape the American military institution, their struggles also helped forge other institutions of southern cities. Alexandria is no exception. From the late 17th century, African Americans lived, worked and helped form Alexandria into an important regional market and seaport. Alexandria’s African American population, both slave and free, left an indelible mark on the city’s development and continued to influence the city through the segregation dilemmas of the 20th century.

By the end of the 18th century, Alexandria had a large population of free blacks, which lead to the establishment of several early free black neighborhoods including the Bottoms, Hayti, Uptown (Parker-Gray), the Berg or Fishtown, Cross Canal, the Hump and the Hill. Uptown emerged on the western side of the city and later became the Parker-Gray/Uptown Historic District.

While many African Americans resided in Alexandria, many did not remain long in the city, but passed through Alexandria’s notorious slave market on Duke Street. In the 19th century, Alexandria became of one of the largest exporters of slaves in the south. The site of the slave market was excavated through Alexandria Archaeology, one of the nation’s first citywide archaeology programs. In 1985 the site of the slave market was rededicated as Freedom Place and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Due to the legacy of African American life in Alexandria, the Parker-Gray/Uptown Historic District was established to protect one of Alexandria’s traditional African American neighborhoods and to help residents better understand African American culture and community. The District not only has links to slavery and the role of free blacks, but it also contains structures that relate to the social and institutional history of segregation.

During the segregation era, Alexandria established its first black public schools — the Snowden School for Boys and the Hallowell School for Girls. In 1920, these two schools were later consolidated and named Parker-Gray after John Parker, principal of the Snowden School and Sarah Gray principal of the Hallowell School.

Many of the historic buildings in the Parker Gray/Uptown District have unfortunately been lost, including the Parker-Gray School, which was demolished in the 1980s. However, many remain intact including a nondescript structure located at 224 N Fayette Street. This simple frame building was built in the 1940s as a nursery school for black children. The structure has features characteristic of mail-order buildings from ca.1910-1940 and is reminiscent of the Rosenwald Schools. It retains its historic character, and most of its original architectural details, such as exposed rafter beams. There are no other structures like it in Alexandria and many similar mid-20th century African American institutional buildings in Virginia have been lost.

The nursery school was later sold for another institutional use — the American Legion William Thomas Post. The post was the only American Legion in Alexandria that admitted black veterans during the segregation era.

Even though the structure is a contributing building within the Parker Gray/Uptown Historic District, the building at 224 N Fayette Street was approved for demolition in 2009 to make way for new development. Some residents of the Parker Gray/Uptown Historic District only remember the building while it was rented out for raucous parties; many are not aware that the structure represents African American educational institutions during the segregation era, and memorializes black American soldiers of the First World War

Many, including the Office of Historic Alexandria and Alexandria’s Black History Museum feel that the demolition of the structure would be detrimental to the public interest due to its association with African American institutions within the neighborhood, and are fighting for its continued existence.

Boyd Walker from the Alexandria Preservation Alliance feels that the structure meets all of the criteria requiring preservation in Alexandria and believes that the building could be used to educate and serve all the citizens of Alexandria. Whether it’s the history of African American education during segregation, or the role African Americans played during wartime, the structure certainly has stories to tell and it would be a loss if we allowed these stories to go untold.

Sonja Ingram is a field representative with APVA/Preservation Virginia.

Support the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Donate now.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 11:48 am and is filed under african-american heritage, partners in the field. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.