Charles Houston Recreation Center Memorial Naming's
The Memorial Pool
African Americans in Alexandria suffered along with others of their race when a segregated system prevented them from enjoying recreation facilities in their hometown.
Although the City had a municipal pool for white residents before 1952, African American residents in the City often swam in the Potomac River or Hunting Creek for relief from hot summer days. Although the City, in the early 1950s, provided transportation to a swimming pool in Washington, D.C., once a week, this was not enough for some youth. Walking two or three blocks to the Potomac River and Hunting Creek was too tempting to pass up. As a result, accidents and drowning were bound to happen, and did.
The Charles Houston Pool is proposed to be named the Memorial Pool in honor of African American youth who drowned in the Potomac River and local creeks during segregation, when they were not permitted to use the City pool on Cameron Street.
Listed below are the names of young African Americans who lost their lives:
1931 - James Kyer, age 16
1932 - Francis Gilliam, age 16
1940 - John G. Beckham, age 8
1944 - William Lewis, age 8
1949 - Theodore Exzell Watkins, age 9; Benjamin Watkins, age 11
1950 - Earl Jackson, age 14
1951 - Lonnie Richard Johnson, age 9; Morris Leroy Johnson, age 11
We Remember Them
We Remember Them
At the rising of the sun and at its going down,
we remember them.
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter,
we remember them. ...
At the shining of the sun and in the warmth of summer,
we remember them.
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn,
we remember them.
At the beginning of the year and at its end,
we remember them. ...
As long as we live, they too will live,
for they are now part of us, as we remember them.
~Rabbi Sylvan Kamens and Rabbi Jack Riemer
Johnson Siebert Memorial Gymnasium
Louis R. Johnson
In 1939, Louis R. Johnson left a football coaching position at Jefferson High School in Charlottesville, VA to become the coach of four major sports (track and field, baseball, football, and basketball) at Parker-Gray High School. Over the next 20 years, Coach Johnson would produce some of the best teams and athletes in the state of Virginia; however, this fame was tempered with the realities of life in a segregated society. For example, the team had to travel from Alexandria to cities such as Roanoke, Charlottesville, or Petersburg in an open-bed canvas truck filled with hay, because there were no hotels or eating establishments available to African Americans.
Because of segregation and financial instability, conditions at the school were difficult as well. Parker-Gray lacked proper locker room facilities; the gymnasium was the size of an orchestra pit; and the school's football field was only 75 yards (to score a touchdown, the player would have to move an additional 25 yards to complete the 100-yard requirement).
Despite these difficulties, Johnson continued his efforts to encourage his charges to become outstanding athletes and students. His efforts resulted in athletes who went on to receive team recognition in the following categories: All Metropolitan Football Team, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Teams, All Mid-American Conference, CIAA Wrestling and Boxing Championships, Pittsburgh Courier Black College Hall of Fame and other college Halls of Fame. Several of Coach Johnson's athletes went on to play for the National Football League, the Canadian Football Conference, and the American Football Conference.
Many became famous: Earl Lloyd, the first African American to play in the National Basketball Association and a Naismith Hall of Famer; Canadian Football professionals Horace Burton and William "Red" Jackson; and Charles Price, player for the Los Angeles Dons pro football team, who later served as a Fairfax County public school administrator. Other protégés included wrestler Aaron Anderson, Jr., an athletic and academic standout at Virginia State College, who went on to make a major contribution to the NASA program; and U.S. Air Force Colonel (Ret.) Tommy Turner, a Parker-Gray football player who went on to fly bombers for the Strategic Air Command and C-141s for the Military Air Command.
During his two decades of service to the Parker-Gray community, Coach Johnson instilled his students with a strong work ethic, and the vision and ambition to look beyond the limitations of racism and segregation to building a future of educational, economic, social equality. Many Parker Gray alumni fondly speak of Coach Johnson, his guidance, and his insistence on achievement, leading one alumni member to remark, "He was more than just a coach; he helped mold me into a man." His legacy of education and service to youth has resonated throughout the history of the City of Alexandria, and serves as an inspiration for generations to come.
Morris Siebert
Native Alexandrian Morris Siebert is an example of the concept of "paying it forward." Siebert, a protégé of Coach Louis Johnson, continued Johnson's legacy of service and mentorship to African American youth in the City of Alexandria.
Siebert attributed his ideas of achievement and clean living to Johnson, who was his baseball and football coach from 1940-1942. After graduation, Siebert was drafted in 1942, joining the World War II Allied Forces. He served in France and Germany, and witnessed suffering and death in the combat zones in those countries. "I saw a race of people suffering-I saw humanity," he said. "I decided I wanted to help [people] when I saw suffering from things like rickets."
After his discharge from the Army in 1945, he returned to Parker-Gray, graduated with the class of 1948, and attended Storer College in West Virginia for one year. In 1950, he joined the Alexandria Recreation Department where, he worked at the Parker-Madden Playground, and for years, in many of the City's recreation centers. During the day, Siebert worked as a clerk for the Department of Defense's Army Adjutant General Office, located in the Pentagon.
In addition to his regular work, Siebert was a mentor and coach to several hundred youth who participated in activities at the Pendleton Street Recreation Center, helping them to develop their athletic, academic, and life skills. He provided parental leadership for the "latchkey" children, whose parents were often required to work more than one job in order to make ends meet.
He did this extra work without salary, and without the benefit of an annual budget or staff, but gave indiscriminately and unconditionally of his time and leadership. He made recreation facilities available on his day off, and often went beyond the scope of his duties to provide leadership and guidance to youth. As one of his charges recalled, "Morris was a warm, caring man. He was also the strong, no-nonsense man we needed in our lives. He demanded respect; negative attitudes were not an option. He taught us early that we have freedom to make choices, but we do not have freedom from the consequences."
In the 1970s, Siebert's service and dedication was honored with the establishment of a summer basketball league named for him and his high school coach. The Johnson-Siebert Basketball League, which operated for three years (1971-1974) was, at that time, the third largest summer league in the United States.
Siebert retired from government service in 1990, with more than 35 years of service. For more than 20 years, he served as a model mentor and coach. His years of service honor the memory of his mentor and coach, Louis Johnson, the guidance and leadership of his parents and family, the support of the Parker-Gray community, and the great legacy of achievement and service to community that continues among the many unsung heroes in our City to this day.