HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL PR 2013-07-18 AASLH award
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
Frederick Douglass Elementary School Memorial Wins
2013 AASLH Award of Merit
Leesburg, VA (July 18, 2013) – The
American Association for State and
Local History (AASLH) recently
announced that Loudoun County
Public Schools (LCPS) is the
recipient of an Award of Merit
from the AASLH Leadership in
History Awards for the Frederick
Douglass Elementary School
Memorial. The AASLH Leadership
in History Awards, now in its 68th
year, is the most prestigious
recognition for achievement in the
preservation and interpretation of state and local history. The Frederick Douglass Elementary
School Memorial is one of only six Virginia projects to receive an Award of Merit in 2013.
The Frederick Douglass Elementary School Memorial traces the history of school desegregation
in Loudoun County, from 1930 to 1970. The exhibit is a permanent installation in the lobby of
the Frederick Douglass Elementary School in Leesburg which opened in August 2012. The
school sits on the site of a former school, also named Frederick Douglass Elementary School,
which was built in 1958 as a segregated school for African-American students. The school
remained segregated until 1968 when all public schools in Loudoun County were integrated. In
1982, the school closed and the building was converted to a support facility.
In 2009, when LCPS announced the construction of the new Frederick Douglass Elementary
School – and the demolition of the 1958 former school building – school officials made a
commitment to the community to commemorate the original Frederick Douglass Elementary
School with a permanent exhibit. In October 2011, before the former school was demolished,
LCPS and the Black History Committee of the Friends of Thomas Balch Library hosted a
“Roundtable and Reflection Day,” at which dozens of former administrators, teachers and
students shared their memories of the old school. Prior to and after this event, Dr. Wendi
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Manuel-Scott, Director of the African and African American Studies Program at George Mason
University, conducted twelve oral history interviews with former school staff and students.
The exhibit consists of a wall-mounted display of the local desegregation timeline, touch-screen
monitors programmed with corresponding national and state timelines and excerpts from the
oral history interviews, and two display cases of donated artifacts from the former school.
“We are thrilled to receive this Award of Merit from AASLH,” said Sara Howard-O’Brien, Land
Management Supervisor with Loudoun County Public Schools and the project manager. “The
memorial is the result of a truly collaborative effort between the school system and the
community. I would particularly like to acknowledge the Black History Committee, as well as
the staff of the Thomas Balch Library, the GMU African and African American Studies Program.,
and the numerous community members who contributed to the project.”
“The Black History Committee is honored to receive this Award of Merit as acknowledgement
of the historical importance of the people and events depicted in the Fredrick Douglass
Elementary School Memorial,” said Donna Bohanon, Events Chairperson of the Black History
Committee, Friends of the Thomas Balch Library. “We are also proud of the collaborative efforts
of individuals and organizations within our Loudoun County and Northern Virginia community
that created such a beautiful memorial. We hope this award serves as encouragement for other
communities to take on similar historical projects.”
In addition to the AASLH Award of Merit, the Frederick Douglass Elementary School Memorial
has received a National School Communicator Golden Achievement Award from the National
School Public Relations Association, a Silver Award of Distinction from the International
Academy of Visual Arts, an Architectural Exhibit Award from the Virginia chapter of the Council
of Educational Facility Planners International and an Implementation Award from the Virginia
chapter of the American Planning Association. Locally, the Memorial was named a Blue Ribbon
Winner in the 2013 Joint Architectural Review Board Preservation Awards.
This year, AASLH is proud to confer eighty-eight national awards honoring people, projects,
exhibits, books, and organizations. The winners represent the best in the field and provide
leadership for the future of state and local history. Presentation of the awards will be made at a
special banquet during the 2013 AASLH Annual Meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, on Friday,
September 20. The banquet is supported by a generous contribution from The History Channel.
The AASLH awards program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of
excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local history
throughout the United States. The AASLH Leadership in History Awards not only honor
significant achievement in the field of state and local history, but also brings public recognition
of the opportunities for small and large organizations, institutions, and programs to make
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contributions in this arena. For more information about the Leadership in History Awards,
contact AASLH at 615-320-3203, or go to www.aaslh.org.
The American Association for State and Local History is a not-for-profit professional
organization of individuals and institutions working to preserve and promote history. From its
headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, AASLH provides leadership, service, and support for its
members who preserve and interpret state and local history in order to make the past more
meaningful in American society. AASLH publishes books, technical publications, a quarterly
magazine, and monthly newsletter. The association also sponsors regional and national training
workshops and an annual meeting.
Contact:
Betsy Fields
Research & Communications Manager
bfields@leesburgva.gov
703-771-2734
Bethany Hawkins
AASLH
hawkins@aaslh.org
615-320-3203
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