Lucy Addison (1861-1937)
Historical highway marker K-185 · Roanoke City
Lucy Addison, a pioneering educator who served Black students in Roanoke for 41 years, was born in Fauquier Co. to enslaved parents. Educated in Philadelphia, she moved here to teach in 1886. She became principal of the Harrison School in 1917 and expanded its curriculum beyond grade eight, creating Roanoke’s first four-year Black high school. Accredited in 1925, this was among the largest schools for Black students in VA led by a woman. Addison sat on the board of nearby Burrell Memorial Hospital and of the Industrial Home School for Colored Girls in Hanover Co. In 1928, Roanoke opened the 19-classroom Lucy Addison High School, the city’s first public building named for a resident.
Department of Historic Resources, 2025