Category: history

the road not taken

James Halfaday 2011 council candidate
In 2011 the announced candidates for Charlottesville City Council were Scott Bandy (I); Paul Beyer (D); Colette E. Blount (D); Brevy Cannon (D); Brandon Collins (I); Bob Fenwick (I); Kathleen M. Galvin (D); James Halfaday (D); Satyendra Huja (D); Paul Long (I); Dede Smith (D); and Andrew Williams (I). (pictured above James Halfaday)

One wonders about the roads not taken. Had the electorate made different choices in the 2011 councilmanic race would Charlottesville have avoided subsequent train wrecks?

Policies, people and leadership matter?

Ozymandias

remains
The monument’s trapezoidal base is made of rectangular-shaped blocks of polished pink granite set on top of each other. The stone is coarse grained with striations and imperfections that give it a rustic appearance in character with the frontier scene above. The base is unornamented, carrying only the inscription:
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
CONQUEROR OF THE NORTHWEST
on the north facade facing University Avenue. -National Park Service

Crew at the remains of monument, July 12, 2021.

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