Parker-Gray High School
With the Parker-Gray High School's reopening, the African American community in Alexandria took a new step in ensuring that their children received an even higher education so that they could enter the profession as respectable adults. At 1207 Madison Street, the high school was constructed and ran for the following fifteen years. For the success of their institution, the Parker-Gray era is known as the "Golden Age." In addition to providing a better education for the local population, the school's rising fame was also a result of its accomplishments in academics and athletics, which were frequently reported in state newspapers.
For instance, on December 22, 1957, on Page 6 of the Evening Star. The school was featured as "School-of-the-Week" in the newspaper by reporter Robert Harris. Roberts presents a brief overview of the school's history before going into further detail regarding its honors. mentioning how the school's football team had won the district and state Group 2 division championships. Along with their basketball team, which travelled to the national tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, and won their own district and state championships in consecutive years. Regarding the academic, their students had won awards in trigonometry, general science, and a brand-new subject called "physics." Members of the school's band and choir were also chosen to participate in the All-State Music Festival at Virginia State College and awarded gold medals. Many new students are enrolling in their schools as Parker-Gray High School is being renovated and rebuilt. However, the 1965 tragedy of desegregation in public schools would cause the schools to suffer. The final high school graduation in 1965 would mark the end of the school's "Golden Age."
