Lucy Addison (December 8, 1861 in Upperville,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

– November 13, 1937 in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

) 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 t ...

" for her contributions to education.

Personal life

Addison was born on December 8, 1861 in Upperville, Virginia to Charles Addison and Elizabeth Anderson Addison, both of whom were enslaved. She was the third child born to the couple and the second daughter. After her family was emancipated, Lucy's father purchased farmland in

Fauquier County Fauquier County 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 ...

and Addison began attending school. She later traveled to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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 college 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 is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

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

Burrell Memorial Hospital Burrell Memorial Hospital, currently operating as Blue Ridge Behavioral Health (BRBH) Burrell Center, was an historic African-American hospital originally located in the Gainsboro neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. The hospital replaced the 1914 ...

Education work

Shortly after earning 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. The county seat is Leesburg. Loudoun County ...

. In 1886, she moved to

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...

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 held the position until 1888, when a new school was built and a male principal was hired. Addison then served for over a decade as 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 the

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 Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation ...

and died in Washington, D.C. 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 Harr ...

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 (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...

, as Roanoke's desegregation plans proposed

busing Desegregation busing (also known as integrated busing, forced busing, or simply busing) was an attempt to diversify the racial make-up of schools in the United States by transporting students to more distant schools with less diverse student pop ...

pupils into neighboring areas. However, U.S. District Judge Ted Dalton ordered the school to 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 educators 19th-century African-American women 19th-century African-American educators Deaths from nephritis Educators from Virginia African Americans in Virginia People enslaved in Virginia