Gala Celebrates 50th Reunion of Parker-Gray Class of ‘65
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Gala Celebrates 50th Reunion of Parker-Gray Class of ‘65

Parker-Gray High School Class of 1965, its last graduating class.

Parker-Gray High School Class of 1965, its last graduating class. Photo Contributed

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Teachers and staff of Parker-Gray High School: Alice Lewis Holland, Edith Burton, Arthur Dawkins and Dr. Mary Hatwood Futrell.

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Keynote speaker Dr. Mary Hatwood Futrel

The Parker-Gray High School Class of 1965 hosted its 50th anniversary on June 12-13 and commemorated the closing of the high school as a segregated institution of learning in the City of Alexandria. The two-day festivities included a re-acquaintance reception and a gala banquet bat the Alexandria Hilton Mark Center.

Parker-Gray High School was the only high school for Black students in the city until desegregation began in 1963. When desegregation started, a few students left Parker-Gray and attended Hammond and George Washington high schools.

Parker-Gray was closed as a high school in 1965.

On June 11, 1965 the last class graduated from Parker-Gray High School.