Date rant

Plaque in the Carver Center

   There is a plaque I took a picture of at the Carver Center saying the former school was the "first modern school for African Americans in Loudoun County." I check my Excel records. Right now, it says Carver ES opened in 1947, the same year as Banneker ES, another African American school. Then...it's not the first, right? It tied? I check other sources. I received some information yesterday from a Eugene Scheel book on Banneker. It says (twice) that Banneker opened in 1948. Another source, a pamphlet says Carver opened in 1948. Another source, an online timeline says Carver opened 1947, Banneker 1948. And so on.

It makes you question everything. When did this actually happen? What is misinformation, what is the truth?

Even school records themselves aren't always the most reliable. While newer school's information is easily accessible and very accurate, older schools can have an error or two. Right now, LCPS records say Douglass opened in 1940, while every other source tells me the school opened in fall 1941, that construction didn't start until spring 1941, that the School Board didn't even have the property until December 1940.

Newspapers can be wonderful or horrible. If you search back in the microfilm (one of my best friends at Balch Library), you can find announcements when some schools opened. Loudoun County HS had much fanfare with its construction, opening, and dedication through 1953-1955. But if you look at information printed today about yesteryear, journalists have deadlines and might provide wrong dates (Some so ridiculously off they're laughable).

Blueprints only have the dates when they were drafted, not when the school opened. Carver's blueprints, for example, say its plans are from 1942. Banneker used the same plans as Ashburn Elementary School (Now the Staff Training Center) which opened in 1945... Or did it?

Yearbooks are written by students. Lord Loudoun 2010 had a two-page spread (pg. 148-149) on LCHS history, with many many errors. ("In the beginnning, our school was a mix of four different schools: Lovettsville, Ashburn, Lincoln and Loudoun County." The correct mix of schools was Lovettsville, Aldie, Lincoln and Leesburg. Another quote: "We were the first high school in Loudoun County." Again... no).

We try to keep our records straight, but it's a lot of work. One unintentional typo or not closely looking into it can mess us up. I guess this is a universal issue whenever you are researching history. I'll just have to accept that, move on, and keep looking.

Sources:
Loudoun County African American Timeline
Carver Center plaque, information pamphlet/booklet
blueprints
CIPs
LCPS Construction Dept. Data Sheet (Aug. 1, 2010)
"The History of Middleburg and Vicinity" by Eugene M. Scheel

Update 12:57pm: Looking through notes I have previously written from another source, they say Carver opened approximately 1945-1946, and Banneker opened approximately 1947-1948. Still no definite.