Historic Douglass High School Rededicated

BY ALEXIS GUSTIN agustin@loudounow.com

The Historic Douglass High School Education & Development Campus officially opened Sunday with a rededication and ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The school on East Market Street in Leesburg opened in 1941 following a campaign by the Black community to expand secondary education opportunities for their children. After the families raised $4,000 to buy the eight acres on the outskirts of town, the School Board still refused to build a school until the land was conveyed to the district for $1. It was the only high school for Black students until

Loudoun schools desegregated in 1968. Since then, the campus has been used as a middle school, a special education and alternative school and community center. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

Douglass High School Commemorative Committee Co-Chairs Erica Bush and Charles Avery welcomed school officials, county and town government officials and Douglass alumni in the new gymnasium.

Bush said the 17-member committee, formed in 2021, had worked diligently over the past two years to determine the best way to commemorate the school and its rich history. The renovation of the school was a partnership between the committee, the School Board, the Board of Supervisors and the Town of Leesburg.

The May 21 ceremony began with remarks from Bush and Avery and the pledge of allegiance followed by a moment of silence lead by Jaxon Roberts, the grandson of James Roberts, a Douglass graduate from the class of 1956 and DHSCC member.

“Each of you are participating in a historical repeating of the history of Loudoun County and Douglass High School. We are a living legacy of those citizens of Loudoun County who thought something

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The Town of Leesburg’s Incredible Free Summer Concert Series

Saturdays • 7:00 pm Town Green • 25 West Market Street

June 3  Lenny Burridge Trio

10  Lost Locals Acoustic

17  Levi Stephens

24  Robbie Limon

July 8  Juliet Lloyd

1 5  Todd Wright 22  Hilary Veltri

29  Caribbean Vibe Steel Drum Band

August 5  Smallwood & Fath

19  Sela Campbell

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