Desegregation In Virginia Commemorated At Arlington Middle School

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington Public Schools on Friday formally dedicated the Stratford Commemorative Trail at the former Stratford Junior High School, which is now called Dorothy Hamm Middle School. The junior high school was the first school to desegregate in the state after years of resistance by state and local officials.

The trail’s interpretive panels discuss the national, state and local history of school desegregation and honor the four seventh-grade students who desegregated Stratford on Feb. 2, 1959 — Gloria Thompson, Ronald Deskins, Lance Newman and Michael Jones — as well as local activist Dorothy M. Bigelow Hamm.

Since the 2016 local historic district designation of Stratford School, Arlington Public Schools and Arlington County have collaborated on an interpretive project to raise awareness about the historic and cultural significance of the 1959 desegregation event. The main component is the commemorative trail, which shows the location of the original path the students took that morning in February 1959 to enter the school.

“As we celebrate the history of the four students who so fearlessly desegregated Stratford Junior High School 62 years ago in pursuit of a quality education, we must remember how even today, it is important that we take every opportunity possible to provide all students a quality, equitable education without regard to their race or ethnic background,” Dr. Francisco Durán, APS superintendent, said in a statement. “These four students were exceptionally resilient and tenacious, and serve as an exemplar for our community, and communities across the country, as we continue to advocate for equity in education.”

The trail consists of four free-standing interpretive panels, plus a wall-mounted panel, outside of Dorothy Hamm Middle School. The sides of the four panels facing Old Dominion Drive feature portraits of Thompson, Deskins, Newman and Jones. The portraits were made using an Associated Press photo of the students on Feb. 2, 1959.

The reverse sides of the panels highlight a narrative that covers the national, state and local histories both leading up to and resulting in the successful desegregation event. The narrative ends with present-day struggles for social justice.

A wall-mounted panel honors Dorothy M. Bigelow Hamm, namesake of the current school. Hamm and her husband listed their eldest son as a plaintiff in a legal case that challenged the refusal of the Arlington School Board and the state of Virginia to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

The lawsuit to which Hamm’s son was a party ultimately led to the desegregation of Stratford Junior High School. When Thompson, Deskins, Newman and Jones entered and enrolled at the school, they began the end of public school segregation in Virginia. Desegregation occurred in Norfolk Public Schools a few minutes later, on the same date, Feb. 2, 1959.

Dorothy Hamm Middle School opened in fall 2019. From 1951 to 1978, the campus housed Stratford Junior High School. From 1978 to 2019, H-B Woodlawn secondary school (grades 6 to 12) occupied the building, and in 1995 the Stratford Program (now the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Program) joined them at the site.