Category: history

J.P. Sousa Junior High School

MLK day, 1971 at the John Philip Sousa Junior High School.

The John Philip Sousa Middle School, formerly the John Philip Sousa Junior High School, is a public school located at 3650 Ely Place in SE area of Washington, D.C. Located in the city’s Fort Dupont neighborhood, it serves grades 6-8. Its school building, built in 1950, was the scene of civil rights action not long after its construction. Twelve black students were denied admission to all-white school. This action was eventually overturned in the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Bolling v. Sharpe, which made segregated public schools illegal in the District of Columbia. The defeat of the legal doctrine “separate but equal” marked an early victory in the modern Civil Rights Movement. The school was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001 for its role in this action.–Wikipedia

Hopes and fears

7/4/2018 Monticello Naturalization
For 56 years Monticello has hosted a Naturalization ceremony on the nickel side of the house, July 4. It is July in Virginia, in the direct sun, high humidity. It is a joyous celebration at the complicated man’s house, on the day he died.
new citizen
The Honorable Michael F. Urbanski presided. 70+/- people took the oath, joined the work, new citizens from Afghanistan, Barbados, Bhutan, Burma, Burundi… the list goes on, 35 countries in all. Andrew Tisch, Leslie Bowman and Judge Urbanski spoke. Their words were meaningful, inspiring and portentous. Or maybe it is the mountaintop venue? Like singing in a cathedral where voices reverberate. Monticello is a complicated place to contemplate Liberty, it is the high altar and the thin ice.
Monticello crowd
And so, into the 243rd year.
Monticello 7/4/2018
Tyler Simpson sings the National Anthem, lady on his right signs…

 

Innovation Quarter, Winston-Salem

RJR Tob Co
The preservation of historic buildings benefits communities and connects us to our heritage, enriching the quality of our lives in many tangible and intangible ways. Their preservation also provides demonstrable economic benefits.–Virginia Department of Historic Resources
Wandering in Winston-Salem’s “Innovation Quarter”. Not a good place to wander ten years ago, now an economic and intellectual center in the city. New York Times and Politico have the story.
(rehabilitation tax credits!)

Not. One. Inch.

Emancipation Oak, photo by Moncure Chatfield-Taylor
Hampton University has a three-word message for the Virginia Department of Transportation: Not. One. Inch.
And they mean it.
They do not plan to give up a single inch of land or blade of grass to make way for the planned expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and the widening of Interstate 64 adjacent to their campus.–Kerry Dougherty, Virginian-Pilot

Read more about the living history of the Emancipation Oak