EWS Yr. 2016 MOU with LCPS

Title

Description

MOU with LCPS

Tag

MOU

Place

Virginia

Identifier

1037235

Is Version Of

1037235_EWPMOULCPS.pdf

Is Part Of

Uncategorized

Date Created

2024-01-07

Format

Pdf Document

Number

6432a3f4a0c2b3eb7ae33d34fa4f7130aa46bc030f1ad8b0754cd63c8c1a35d2

Source

/Volumes/T7 Shield/EWP/Elements/EWP_Files/Access Files/Upload temp/1037235_EWPMOULCPS.pdf

Publisher

Digitized by Edwin Washington Project

Rights

Loudoun County Public Schools

Language

English

Replaces

/Volumes/T7 Shield/EWP/Elements/EWP_Files/source/Ingest Two/EWS Board of Directors/EWP MOU LCPS.pdf

extracted text

The Edwin Washington Project
26128 Talamore Drive, South Riding, VA 20152
703-867-2056 www.edwinwashingtonproject.org
November 29, 2016
Subject: Memorandum of Understanding on Data Access
To:

Rachel Johnson, Supervisor, Information Management and Data Security

From:

Larry Roeder, Principal Investigator, The Edwin Washington Project

First of all, we feel honored to be using the “lost records” in order to understand the
evolution of education in Loudoun since just before the Civil War and of the public
school system since 1870. We are especially honored that the Virginia House of
Delegates and the Senate passed a joint resolution supporting the preservation effort.
The approach we discussed with Donna Kroiz at the start was to use the records to fully
understand the impact of segregation on African-American pupils, parents and
instructors. Such an in-depth study hadn’t been done before. To that end, we are
developing an annotated catalog and an analytical study, which we hope to complete
fully by mid-2018. In addition, because the records are of great historical value, Donna
asked me to develop a preservation program, which we have begun.
This is a project we can achieve. As you may know, I have degrees in History and
Library/Information Science and our volunteers are also well trained and educated. One
is a PhD candidate in education and another is an expert on digital preservation who
used to work at the Smithsonian and Oatlands Plantation. We are also incorporated in
the State of Virginia and have been granted 501© (3) status by the IRS. We also have
a Board of Directors and one those is the Chairman of the Board of Oatlands Plantation.
The project is now in an advanced stage. One thing we discovered is that the
Superintendent of the Public Schools in Loudoun served from1917 to 1957 and was an
innovator who brought into the school system modern thinking on management and
record keeping. His period of service also covers the world wars and the depression,
as well as Jim Crow. We can see in him a desire to be fair to the African-American
community, in the context of the times. Much of his career took place during difficult
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economic stress and in fairness, the community supported segregation, which was the
law under the Virginia constitution. So our study will not only show the impact on
segregation on African-Americans, it will also explain how the overall system evolved,
something which would have been impossible without access to the records. That said,
while we believe what we learn will teach others in the world why segregation is a bad
idea, our focus is intended to be positive in nature, not an attack on historical figures.
Petitions: Some records could be considered of national importance, such as a large
number of handwritten petitions by parents asking the government for improvements in
the schools, toilets, repairs, new teachers, better discipline in some cases, as well as
civil-rights related topics. One is likely the earliest petition asking for an accredited high
school for African-Americans. We have scanned those documents and are transcribing
them in order to post it all on our website and create a Roll of Honor. But we also feel
that at some point those petitions might be offered to the new National Museum of
African American History and Culture. We hope you agree that’s a worthy goal.
The Database and the Catalog: We are also designing a database to list all of the
students in “colored” schools, who instructed them, where they learned and what they
learned. We can’t do that without access to the records, and we wish to make the
database public; but will protect private information. A detailed catalog already under
development will also show what records are in the archives.
Teachers: We only want to post information now available to the public at the Library
of Virginia, Name, Age, Race, Sex, Certificate(s), Schools of Education, Schools at
which they instructed, Home town(s) and Salaries, as well as number of years of
instruction, topics taught and grades, etc. However, if we find derogatory information on
a teacher, we won’t share that, without permission. We won’t share test results, either,
though we do want to list if they took exams. We are gathering up biographical
information on some of them from the internet and interviews. We also plan to develop a
statistical study showing across the decades levels of education, the evolution of
salaries and other data. That part of the research won’t reveal names.
Schools: We want to post any historical information available, especially construction
data. There has never been a comprehensive list of the schools. We propose to
develop one, listing when schools were built, closed, burned down, what they were
made of and where they stood, etc. Some still stand, so we plan to photograph them.
We also plan to delve into their contents, e.g. pianos and toilets, that sort of thing.
Students: The local community wants to know where their ancestors studied, so we
wish to post who attended the “colored schools,” what grades they were in, how old they
were at various stages, how far they lived from school and if they were given public
transport. We also want to post what they studied and if they had access to medical
services; but we will not reveal performance data, tests results, results of medical
exams. We do however need access to such information so that we can do statistical
analysis. In other words, we want to know how many children of different ages took

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Virginia, vs US History, music, etc. and how well they did; but no names will be revealed
in the statistical reports.
Transportation: There is a wealth of information on how students went to school, by
horse, walking, wagons, buses, shared POV’s, etc. Our plan is to develop a webbased GIS tool that show how this system evolved for all students, regardless of race.
We don’t plan to link this tool to any particular names. It’s more about understanding
that students from village X had to go to which schools and how they went there over
time. The same product will show the schools, when they rose and fell. To accomplish
this, we will use a cartographer volunteer who recently was employed by the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM).
Digital Preservation: Most of the records are fragile, so we have been scanning them
and placing them on a special drive. We also plan to place them in acid-free folders
and boxes so that they will last indefinitely. Scanning will also reduce the need for
physical contact.
The plan is to also post the records; but to protect sensitive data by redacting it. That
way, if there is ever a fire, the actual information is protected for future researchers.
Again however, we will not provide more information than one might already find in the
archives of the Library of Virginia and to never post sensitive information without
specific permission.
Thanks again for allowing us to provide this service to the community. I can assure you
we will follow your instructions and guidance as we conduct our research.

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