James Lee Community Center

Here follows the inscription written on a nearby roadside historical marker:

James Lee Elementary School
The James Lee Elementary School opened in February 1948. It was built on land purchased in 1866 by African American James Edward Lee (1839-1919) who was born free.

In 1945, James Lee's son sold a portion of the original property to the Fairfax County School Board to build a school for black children. when completed it was the first black school in Fairfax County with indoor plumbing, heating, a classroom for each grade, auditorium, library, cafeteria, and clinic.

The James Lee Elementary School closed in 1966 when Fairfax County integrated its schools. The original building is now part of the James Lee Community Center.

Erected 2021 by Fairfax County History Commission, Fairfax County.


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Here follows a history of the school as published on the Fairfax County Public Schools website:

After the town of Falls Church retroceded the predominantly Black neighborhoods of South Falls Church to Fairfax County in 1887, a new school was constructed on Annandale Road. Called the Falls Church “Colored” School, the one-room building was expanded to two rooms prior to 1903. It was replaced in 1948 by James Lee Elementary School.

James Lee Elementary School opened on February 6, 1948, and was closed in June 1966. The majority of James Lee students were integrated into Fairhill, Pine Spring, Stenwood, and Woodburn elementary schools. The building subsequently housed overflow classes from Devonshire Elementary School, and was later used by FCPS for administrative offices. The building currently houses the James Lee Community Center.

Land Records:
Fairfax County Liber J, No. 13, Folio 546: March 29, 1939, 2.63 acres from Horace E. Brown, Administrator of the Estate of James Lee.
Fairfax County Deed Book 458, Page 376: July 20, 1945, 1.048 acres from Russell Lee and Nancy Lewis Lee, his wife.

Construction Records:
Designed by architects W. Irving Dixon and Macon G. Norman
Contract award date, contractor, and project cost research in progress.

The following persons once taught at James Lee Elementary School:
Ruth S. Branch
Julia Hall Brockman
Bettie Ingram Cooley
Deloise M. Corbin
Annie M. Costner
Deloris Hawkins Evans
Jean Wheeler Felton
Ruby Greene Gordon
Nellie S. Grayson
Ida L. Harris
Mary Ellen Henderson (Principal)
William L. Jones (Principal)
Augustus L. Lacey (Principal)
Remell T. Lomax
Ida W. Murchison
Margaret Murrell
Barbara A. Ridley
Mary Towns Robb
Margery D. Robinson
Ruth S. Robinson
Marion Thompkins Ross
Lola V. Saunders
Isaac E. Street
Arthenia L. Trail
Marjorie Williams Weeks
Alice A. Williams
Taylor M. Williams (Principal)


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Memories of James Lee Elementary School

In this video, Paul L. Jones, Jr. shares memories of his school days at the one and two-room schools in Merrifield, the Falls Church School, and James Lee Elementary School:

I attended a one-room school in Merrifield, Virginia and I as I got from the second grade to the third or fourth grade we moved to to a two-room school in Merrifield, Virginia off of Gallows Road. This is the school where my brothers went and Mrs. Moore was the superintendent of schools and she kicked my brothers out of school because one brother had rubella and another was mentally disabled. They didn't have special education during that time, they just kicked out of school. You know, you just go, I'll go home. So my father then transferred me from Merrifield because he didn't want me up there because my brothers had been treated badly up that way. So he transferred me to Falls Church elementary school that was a one-room school and that was before they built James Lee elementary school and when they built James Lee elementary school it was a brick building with indoor plumbing and gorgeous and everything all the kids from the area would come to do a game, yeah we're good we had indoor plumbing. We've got water wells and stuff coming with with James Lee, nice floors. They clean the floor with linseed oil and we had stove with wood burning in it, yeah.


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Questioning the date of closure of James Lee Elementary School:
I was a (white) elementary school student at Devonshire Elementary in Fairfax County, Va. School System. In my 5th grade year, there was massive construction (addition) at Devonshire and many students were bused to James Lee Elementary School for one school year (I believe only fifth graders). I believe my age would have been 10 or 11 years old. I know I was 12 years old at Devonshire in the 6th grade in 1969. Thus, I would say that the marker stating the school closed in 1966 is inaccurate as it was used as a school in 1967 and/or 1968. I did mention this once to a nice lady giving a tour of James Lee and she knew nothing about white students (like me) attending James Lee. I think for historical purposes, this fact should be verified and mentioned in the records surrounding James Lee Elementary School. Thank you, James Edward Edmundson, Sr.
— Submitted April 11, 2023, by James E. Edmundson, Sr. of Haymarket, Virginia.