The Edwin Washington Project

Patricia Dean today with Larry Roeder at Lundsford Middle School discussing Conklin village.

Larry is headed to Chicago today for a week to research, amongst other topics, the great migration, by examining original records in the Chicago Defender Archives. Should be really interesting.

I spent a wonderful Saturday at the Balch Library in Leesburg, attending a small festival on book writing. Novelists and authors of non-fiction sat on panels and discussed their art form with a modest audience of about 39. It was delightful for me and I suspect for everyone, judging by the questions posed, and I encourage the Balch to do the festival again. I was able to speak about my own book Dirt Don't Burn, the first study on segregated schools in Loudoun; but also about a textbook I've written on diplomacy, and about a forthcoming book on an African-American wanting to be a hero in France in 1939. While there, I also had the opportunity to meet Linda Sittig, who wrote Opening Closed Doors, the story of Josie C. Murray and the desegregation of the Purcellville Library. Such an important story, well told; and it showed an example of a President supporting civil rights. I encourage everyone of our followers to buy Sittig book. It only costs about $15, is beautifully illustrated by Whitney Truitt and is appropriate for both adults and children. Please enjoy her book. Larry Roeder, CEO, the Edwin Washington Society.

Opening Closed Doors: The Story of Josie Murray Not long ago, public libraries in Virginia were not so public. It would take the courage of a young African-American woman, Josie C. Murray, to challenge that. From a young age, Josie felt the supreme injustice of the Jim Crow South- ordering ice cream inside a restaurant and continuing her educ...