555 THL

Inventory created by Archives Staff 04/1990. Last revised 12/2022.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers.

USE RESTRICTIONS: Restrictions may apply concerning the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a member of the archives staff for information concerning these restrictions. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright.

TECHNICAL ACCESS: News articles have been digitized as PDFs and are available on a flash drive kept with the collection. A computer with a USB port is required to view these items.

EXTENT: 1.04 linear feet

DATE: 1871 - 2021

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The Douglas Alumni Association Collection contains testimonies, articles, biographies, booklets, and other items from members of the Douglas School Alumni Association.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL: The Douglas School was established May 31, 1875, through an agreement between John Linn, trustee for the Old School Congregational Baptist Church, and the Winchester School Board. The Old School Church was used for the school, and classes first met in 1878. The school was first called Winchester Colored School and in 1916 the name was changed to the Douglas School. Due to increasing growth of the student body, the school moved its 150 students and 6 teachers to a new Winchester location on North Kent Street in 1927. From 1940 to the 1960s, the building was expanded to accommodate the increasing number of students. Douglas School closed in 1966 following the integration of all students into the public school system. The building now serves as the Douglas Community Center.

RELATED MATERIAL: Oral history interviews with individuals who attended Douglas School are available. Please ask Archives Staff for assistance with the Oral History Collection.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Humbert, Judy. History of Douglas School, Winchester, Virginia: A Tribute to Endurance, Belief, Perseverance, and Success. Winchester, VA: Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society,­ 2014                                 

CITE AS: Douglas Alumni Association Collection, 555 THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA

ACQUISITION INFORMATION: Acquired as a gift.

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1 A-M

Faculty, unnumbered leaves, typescript and printed (folder contains the following):

Faculty history

Faculty – individual, includes Effie McKinney Davis, Lovelena Lomax Marcus, Margaree Parks, and Ethel Wheeler

Faculty – Barksdale, Edwin - testimonies, news articles, records, 54 leaves, printed (photocopy)

Faculty – Notice to teachers regarding extension course, 1937, one leaf, printed

Faculty – Requirements for class credit for service personnel and veterans, Douglas School, April 20, 1953, 1 leaf, typescript (photocopy)

Graduation – Commencement Program – June 16, 1922, 3 leaves, printed (photocopy)

Graduation – Commencement Program – 1923, 1 item, printed

Graduation – Commencement Program– 1930, 3 leaves, printed (photocopy); Commencement Invitation– 1930, 4 pages, printed     

Graduation – Commencement Program – 1932, 1 item, printed

Graduation – Commencement Program -1941, 5 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

Graduation – Commencement – Valedictory Address by Arthur Gaither, 1947, 1 leaf, typescript (photocopy)

Graduation – Commencement Invitation – June 7, 1960, 1 leaf, printed (photocopy), 1 item, printed

Graduation – Commencement – Valedictorian Address by Charlena Marie Washington, 1964, 2 leaves, typescript

Graduation – Diploma – Washington, Charlena Marie, Douglas High School, Winchester, VA, June 10, 1964, 1 item, printed (in jacket)

Graduation – Baccalaureate Service and Commencement Exercises, June 1965, 3 items, printed

Graduation – Commencement Program – 1966, 1 leaf, printed (photocopy), 1 item, printed

History – Douglas School, unknown author and date, 2 leaves, typescript

History – Lease between School Board of the City of Winchester, 2 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

History – School Board Minutes, Abstracts from 1871-1950, compiled my Judy Hubert, 9 leaves, typescript

Library – Douglas School Library, 8 leaves, printed (photocopy)

Miscellaneous, 1 leaf, typescript (photocopy), 17 leaves, photographs (photocopy), 1 page, printed, 3 leaves, printed (photocopy), 1 item, printed

Music – Band and Glee Club activities

Music – Band Concert Ticket, 1960, 1 item, 1 leaf, printed

Music – “The New Blue Book of Favorite Songs”, 1941, 285 pages, printed

Music – Pen to raise funds for band uniforms, 1 item

News Articles, 1910 – 2016, dates unknown, digitized as PDFs. (Note: Articles have been scanned to allow keyword search but researchers should note that the poor quality of some original scans may make keyword searches inaccurate. Original articles are available on the microfilm of the Winchester Star. Please ask Archives Staff for assistance.)

News Articles, 2020, printed

BOX 1A   N-Z

Newspaper – Douglas Beacon—May, 1939, seven leaves, mimeograph (photocopy)

Poem – No title (the subject is Douglas School) by Catherine Williams, c. 1940s, 1 leaf, manuscript (photocopy), transcript, 1 leaf typescript

Principal – Gaskins, Kirk N. Sr. –biographical sketch and timeline of school, 8 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

Principal – Gibson, Powell W., 2 leaves, printed

Principal – Quiett, John H. –biographical sketch, 2 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

Program – Miss Douglas/Declamation Contest, Douglas School, March 23, 1945, 1 leaf, mimeograph; transcript, 1 leaf, typescript

Prom 1964 invitation, 1 item, printed

Prom Program – Douglas School, n.d., 7 leaves, mimeograph (photocopy)

Sports – Basketball tournament programs (folder contains the following:)

         Tri-State Athletic Union March 23-24, 1956, 4 pages, printed

Sports – Program, 1965 Athletic Banquet, Douglas High School (shaped like a basketball), 6 pages, mimeograph

Students’ Handbook – Douglas School, Winchester, VA, no date, 7 leaves, printed

Veterans Who Attended Douglas

BOX 2 – Yearbooks

Yearbook pages- 3 leaves

Yearbook – Panorama, 1955, 6 leaves, printed (photocopy), 20 pages, printed, 2 copies, note: 2^nd copy includes inscriptions from classmates

Yearbook – The Doug-Out, 1956, 41 pages, printed

Yearbook – The Doug-Out, 1959, 48 pages, printed

Yearbook – Memoirs—Class of 1966

BOX 3 – Alumni Association

Alumni News articles, resumes, essays regarding alumni of Douglas school, unnumbered pages, printed (photocopy)

Alumni – Interviews, essays written by students of Warren Hofstra’s History of Virginia class,1990, 19 items, 7 leaves, typescript; 99 leaves, typescript (photocopy); 16 leaves, manuscript (photocopy):

List of Interviews

Persons interviewed/mentioned	Author	Essay title
Alsberry, Siomone Tolliver Curry, George Childs, Charlene Nelson, Ronald Harris, Bushrod	Leila O. Wood	Oral history interview based on an interview with Siomone Tolliver Alsberry
Brown, Minnie Nickens, Marcellus Jr. Cooke, Portia Triplett Roberts, Helen Rhodes Young, Carolyn Harris, Bushrod	Richard Lumpp	Why remember Frederick Douglass School?
Brown, Minnie Cook, Mary Nelson, Ronald	Anne-Marie Gibbs	Essay of three Fredrick Douglas alumni
Childs, Charlena Washington	Christian Bartlett	Unity versus deprivation
Cooke, Portia Nelson, [Ronald] Jr. Alsberry, Siomone Roberts, Helen Nickens, [Marcellus] Cook, Mary	Adeela Al-Khalili (2 copies)	“A wonderful time to remember”: Life at the Frederick Douglass School
Cooke, Portia Triplett Roberts, Helen Rhodes Cook, Mary Street, Mary	Kelly A. Morgan	“It’s just been a wonderful time to remember…”
Davis, June Gaskins	Mendy Lane	Oral history project 1
Finley, Taylor Finley, Sue	Eric Michael	Were we really better off forty years ago than we are today?
Harris, Bushrod Curry, George Roberts, Helen Rhodes Jones, Jean Finley Nelson, Ronald Childs, Charlena	Amy Charles	The Frederick Douglas society
Harris, Sharon Wiliam Jones, Jean Finley Roberts, Helen Rhoades Curry, George Alsberry, Siomone Harris, Bushrod	Susan S. Peer	Frederick Douglass School – family and pride
Nelson, Ronald Harris, Bushrod Alsberry, Siomone	Wendy Landrum	[no title]
Nickens, Jimmy	Jeffrey Lloyd (manuscript – photocopy)	Segregation and its effects during the 1950s and 60s
Nickens, Marcellus Jr.	Kristin Bartholomew	One man’s look at his school
Prather, Garfield	Donna Brown	Separate but equal: integration
Roberts, Helen Rhodes Harris, Bushrod Curry, George Cook, Mary	Ann Granston	Memories of Frederick Douglas
Robinson, Iona Harris, Hester Harris, Sharon	C. Watts (manuscript – photocopy)	What do you do when you are denied? Coping mechanisms for discrimination
Young, Carolyn Street, Mary	Mary Beth Stevenson	Frederick Douglass: community pride
Young, Carolyn Nelson, Ronald Fields, Patricia Roberts, Helen Rhodes Alsberry, Siomone	Donna Patterson	“Not to equal, but to excel”: a look at student life at Douglas High School

Correspondence- Announcement of Douglas Alumni Association Annual Meeting, May 26, 1985 (typed on 1940 stationary)- 1 leaf, typescript

Finances- Final Statement Dinner Dance Oct. 23, 1972- 3 items, manuscript

Membership Card – Douglas School Alumni Association- 1 item, printed

Minutes and Officers – Douglas School Alumni Association, 1969-May, 1981, 19 pages, manuscript

Douglas Alumni Association Newsletters – August, 2000-August, 2015

Douglas Alumni Association – Program, Banquet 1948, three leaves, printed (photocopy)

Program – 1988 Douglas Alumni Association Dinner Dance, 10 pages, printed (2 copies)

Ticket – Douglas Alumni Association Dinner Dance – 1985, 1 item, printed

Ticket – Douglas Alumni Dinner Dance, 1990, 1 leaf, printed

Ticket – Annual Douglas Alumni Dinner, October 7, 1995, 1 leaf, printed (2 copies)

Landmark Designation – National Register of Historic Places Nomination (completed), April 21, 2000, 28 leaves, typescript on printed form (photocopy)

Landmark Designation – Virginia Historic Landmark, 1999, 1 leaf, printed

Renovation- Renovation, Restoration and Expansion project of Douglas School building by Winchester Public Schools (folder contains the following):

     Historic Douglas School Steering Committee Agendas and Minutes, 2019 – present

     Groundbreaking

     News articles

BOX 4 Douglas Memorabilia

Sweatshirt

Mug

Paperweight

Clip- “Douglas School, 1927-1966, Winchester, VA, A State and National Historic Site”- 1 item, plastic

Letter “D” from cheerleading sweater- 1 item

BOX 5 Trophies

Trophy- Douglas Midget League Champion 1961 Recreation Department

Trophy- 1966 Athlete of the Year, Randolph Martin, Douglas High School

BOX 6 Trophies

Trophy- Most Valuable Player 1963-64, presented by TACS (Teen Age Club) to Clarence Curry

OVERSIZE

Photographs/Posters - Created by Charles Harris, displayed at Douglas School Open Houses, Douglas Dinner Dances and other events

OVERSIZE

Scrapbooks, Douglas High School, “The Barksdale Years”—scrapbook of athletic events at Douglas High School from 1953-1966 under Ed Barksdale, contains scans and photocopies of news clippings as well as an alumni tribute to Barksdale in 1986; 1 oversize scrapbook, unnumbered pages, printed. All materials compiled by Jimmy Dix.

PHOTOGRAPHS: Photographs and other images belonging to this collection may be accessed online through http://handley.pastperfectonline.com/