The story below is from our May/June 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Roanoke’s first Black high school, Lucy Addison High, is now being reinvented as a Community Empowerment Center.
Ana Morales / Archival Image Courtesy of the Virginia Room, Roanoke Public Libraries
Ninety-seven years ago, the building, pictured here, opened as the first high school for Black students in Roanoke.
Lucy Addison High School was built in honor of Lucy Addison, a teacher and principal in Roanoke for 41 years who formerly led the city’s Harrison School. The school offered one year of high school credit for Black students.
Addison retired just before the Lucy Addison High School opened at Hart and Douglas avenues in Northwest Roanoke. It was Roanoke’s first public building to be named for a resident. According to former news stories, there were about 572 students in its first class.
The school became Booker T. Washington Junior High School in 1952, and in 1971, after Roanoke schools were integrated, it housed the school district’s administration office.
Presently, the city wants to reinvent the legendary school site and continue to honor Addison’s legacy. It is renovating the building to become the Community Empowerment Center at Booker T. Washington. The center is expected to open this July, offering a welcome center for families for enrollment needs, classrooms and flex space for school district use, adult education programs and more.
The district also has applied for a state historical marker that would be placed at the site, further honoring Addison’s story.
The story above is from our May/June 2025. For more stories, subscribe today or view our FREE digital edition. Thank you for supporting local journalism!