Archive Record
Metadata
Catalog Number |
HRHS-210 |
Collection |
Mary Frances Awkard Fairfax Collection |
Scope & Content |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Mary Frances Awkard Fairfax was a well-known and well-loved educator in Harrisonburg, spending four decades in the classroom. She started her teaching career in Staunton and Bridgewater, then moved to Harrisonburg where she taught at the Lucy F. Simms School from 1941 until it closed in 1966. After the city desegregated its classrooms, she taught for 10 years at Waterman Elementary School. At an awards banquet in 1993 Mrs. Fairfax reminisced, "I taught many, many children and I have their love, and that love is what I enjoyed more than teaching". Those who knew Mrs. Fairfax say her excitement about teaching affected those she taught. In a tribute printed in the Daily News Record on April 24, 2006 her niece, Mary Ann Tucker, remembers that her aunt cared deeply for her students, seeing them in some ways as her own children. "She had high expectations of her students and for those of us in her family, she was very proud of all our accomplishments. She kept in touch with her students and they would always correspond with her". Mary Ann Tucker followed in her aunt's footsteps and became a teacher in the Chesterfield County Schools near Richmond for 32 years. Mrs. Fairfax graduated in 1930 from the Effinger Street School, where Lucy F. Simms was one of her teachers. She took advantage of every opportunity including summer school, to further her education, while also teaching in the county schools during the winter months. In the early 1930s she attended Virginia State College in Petersburg, Virginia get her Teacher's Certificate. This collection has a copy of a letter from W. H. Keister asking the college to make Mary Awkard a state student to save her tuition costs. A state student would agree to teach two years in Virginia schools. Dr. Keister said "Mary was worthy and deserving of every possible consideration from any source that will help to finance her through your institution." In 1949 Mary received a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Virginia State College, and later received her Master's degree in early childhood education from Columbia University. In 1966 she was united in marriage to James Fairfax. SCOPE AND CONTENT: This is a collection of items from the life of Mary Frances Awkard Fairfax. COLLECTION INVENTORY: Box 1: Folder 1: -Program for Graduating Exercises, Effinger Jr. High School, June 6, 1928 -Invitation for Junior/Senior Prom, Effinger High School, c.1928 -Program for First Reunion, Effinger Street School and Lucy F. Simms School, May 28-30, 1982 -Program for Second Reunion, Effinger Street School and Lucy F. Simms School, May 24-26, 1985 Folder 2: -Letter dated November 21, 1934 from W. H. Keister, Superintendent of Schools, addressed to Virginia State College asking them to make Mary a state student to save her tuition costs. -The College Girl's Social Code, Virginia State College, 1935 -Letter from "The Choir" of First Baptist Parsonage, giving Mary a gift for her college education, May 24, 1936 -Membership card for Miss Mary Awkard certifying membership in The Student Young Men's Christian Association, 1935-36 -Musical programs from Virginia State College, 1935, 1936 -Commencement program for Virginia State College, 1936 -Program for Dedication of Daniel, Owens, and Williams Hall, 1936 -Two postcards showing Virginia State College: Byrd Hall-Women's Dormitory; Dining Hall -Postcard addressed to Mary Awkard from E. V. Edwards, Richmond, VA, 1947 -Two letters from Iota Sigma Lambda Honorary Society, 1949 -Commencement program for Virginia State College, May 30, 1949 -Program for The Baccalaureate Service 1949 Folder 3: -Autograph book belonging to Mary Frances Awkard, 1932 - 1937 Folder 4: -Greeting cards and letter sent to Mary Awkard, 1935-1938 Folder 5: -Wedding gift cards for Mary Awkard's marriage to Ivanhoe Samuel Wayne, 1938 Folder 6: -Scrapbook with sympathy cards for death of Mary Fairfax's father, Joseph Cyrus Awkard, Sr. March 23, 1946 Folder 7: -Sympathy cards for death of Mary Fairfax's mother, Mary Nanline Awkard, 1957 Folder 8: -Newspaper announcement for wedding of Mary Frances Awkard to Ivanhoe Samuel Wayne, December 26, 1938 -Newspaper articles concerning Mary Fairfax -Newspaper announcement of wedding of Miss Awkard to Arthur Fairfax -Newspaper article concerning Joseph C. Awkard Jr. returning to Harrisonburg -Newspaper photo of Jim Fairfax in tanker rig from Dayton Transport Corp. -Newspaper photo of Lucy Simms with her students in 1905 at Effinger Street School -Miscellaneous newspaper articles concerning Simms School -Obituary for Mary F. Fairfax, April 22, 2006 -Obituary for Mrs. Mary Awkard, mother of Mary Fairfax, no date Folder 9: -Book titled A Book of Famous Poems, compiled by Marjorie Barrows, 1931. Written in front "Bridgewater Colored School". Used by Mary Awkard when teaching in Bridgewater. -Book titled Shirley Temple's Favorite Poems, 1936. Stamped in front "Lucy F. Simms School Library". Box 2: Folder 10: -Letters written to Miss Awkard from her students at Simms School -Music program from Lucy F. Simms Elementary School, 1950 -Music program from Lucy F. Simms High School, 1965 -Commencement Program for Lucy F. Simms High School, 1965 Folder 11: -Third grade report card for Mary Ann Smith from Lucy F. Simms School, 1959-60 -Fifth grade report card for Mary Ann Smith from Lucy F. Simms School, 1961-62 -Seventh grade report for Mary Ann Smith from Lucy F. Simms School, 1963-64 -Certificate of Attendance for Mary Ann Smith from Lucy F. Simms School, 1962 -Graduation announcement for Mary Ann Smith from Harrisonburg High School, 1969 -Graduation announcement for Mary Ann Smith from Virginia State College, 1974 -Newspaper clipping announcing the engagement of Mary Ann Smith to Delano Irving Tucker, 1972 Folder 12: -Miscellaneous school photos of Mary Fairfax's Waterman Elementary School students, 1967 - 1978 Folder 13: -Programs, booklet, and photographs from First Baptist Church, Harrisonburg, VA. Mary Fairfax served in many capacities in the church such as Organist, Deaconess, and Choir Director, 1964 - 2004. Folder 14: -Cards and correspondence received by James and Mary Fairfax Folder 15: -Photo of James Fairfax in his Dayton Transport truck -Copy of an article from Virginia Trucker magazine, concerning James Fairfax who had been recognized as the 1977 Virginia Driver of the Year. He had driven for 39 years without an accident. -Photos from Dayton Transport, Virginia State Police and Governor Mills E. Godwin recognizing James Fairfax for being the 1977 Virginia Driver of the Year Folder 16: -Page from Virginia Education Bulletin mentioning Joseph C. Awkard, Jr., principal of D. Webster Davis School, Staunton, VA, November 1953 -letter from Joe Awkard, Jr. to his family, listing the accomplishments of the descendants of Mary Nanline and Joseph Cyrus Awkard, Sr., January 11, 1984 -Letter from James O'Donnell of Harrisonburg City Public Schools concerning the program held for Mr. and Mrs. James Fairfax, June 18, 1984 -Harrisonburg School Highlights newsletter, March, 1987 -Letter to Mrs. Fairfax from Carlyle Whitelow of Bridgewater College, May 7, 1994 -In Memory program for Dr. Joseph Cyrus Awkard, Jr, 1920-2006 Folder 17: -Program for 2nd Annual Freedom Fund Banquet, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, Mrs. Mary A. Fairfax, page 12, September 11, 2004. Photos are included from banquet. -Booklet from Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project's Roots Run Deep, African American History Tours in the Shenandoah. Home of Mary Fairfax is listed on pages 14 & 15. Folder 18: -Cassette tapes "The Life of a Local Educator", Mary Frances Awkard Fairfax Folder 19: -Columbia phonograph records collection used at Lucy F. Simms School: Wings Over Jordan, Worth Kramer, Conductor, Rev. Glenn T. Settle, Narrator, Masterworks Set M-499 Box 3: Photographs: -Awkard/Fairfax/Tucker Family (150+ photos) -Effinger School/Simms School student photographs (100+ photos) -Photos #5027.01 - .08 can be viewed online |
Donor |
Mary Ann Smith Tucker |
Object Name |
Collection |