Leading an Elementary School Named for a Civil Rights Hero

More than 80 years after the Alexandria Library sit-in of 1939, the legacy of that protest lives on in a school on the west end of the city. Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School was named in 1999 for the young African American lawyer who organized the sit-in in the height of the Jim Crow era and who went on to be a leading attorney in desegregation cases across the state.

In 2022, Adaarema Kelly became principal of Samuel W. Tucker Elementary, and in this interview, she describes the principles of educational opportunity and fairness that Tucker represents for her and how she works to instill these in her students. The school now enrolls more than 700 children whose families speak 35 languages. Some are refugees from Afghanistan, Ukraine, and other countries in dire straits. Kelly describes the symbolism of becoming the first woman of color to lead the school as well as her experience being born in Ghana and coming to the U.S. as a child. The conversation below, on video and as a transcript, is an excerpt of a longer interview and has been edited for clarity.

What brought you to Alexandria, VA, and led you to become the principal of this school named after Samuel W. Tucker?

Well, I was born in West Africa—Ghana. My parents were expats and they worked for an organization at the time that was funded by a government agency. And I'm going to tell you, I came to the United States in 1976 at four and—my mother and I were talking about this the other night—I was an EL [English learner] student coming to America. And the first country that I ever visited, even though I was an American citizen, was America.

My parents were originally from Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, which I'm proud to say. And I had my formative years in West Philadelphia. And I went back overseas to finish my education for high school. And then I came back to Pennsylvania. I went to undergrad and grad school in the state of Pennsylvania. I had the opportunity to get married here in the city of Alexandria, actually at Alfred Street Baptist Church, which is one of our historic churches here in the city of Alexandria. And my son was actually born at Inova Hospital, right around the corner. So my roots to the City of Alexandria run deep.

I'm a military spouse and have had the opportunity, because of my husband, to work in six different school districts across the world, including in Hawaii, Korea, and Japan.

When did you first hear about the library sit-in and the role of Samuel W. Tucker?

When we first returned from Asia, back to the United States, we moved here into Cameron Station, [the neighborhood] where the school is nestled. And the first time I heard about Samuel W. Tucker was from my son, when he was in third grade. So I had no idea who he was. And my son came in and educated me about this wonderful man who opened up so many doors for students. So that's how I first learned of Samuel Tucker.

Both my son and daughter were students here. And when [my son] was promoted from fifth grade, he received the Samuel W. Tucker book [written by librarian Nancy Noyes Silcox] and they made sure that every student was able to receive this book upon their promotion from fifth grade.

I was an assistant principal here for five years prior to that. So I was pretty much ingrained in the community. I had lived here for about five or six years, and then I became an assistant principal here. And during that time, I became very, very familiar [with] the story of Samuel Tucker.

The first time I heard about Samuel W. Tucker was from my son, when he was in third grade.... my son came in and educated me about this wonderful man who opened up so many doors for students.

Then last year, the last couple of years…especially after the pandemic, and when we came back together as a staff, we wanted to remember and recall: Why are we here? And because we were going through the pandemic, you think, and you look at, you know, what's important.

And for me, that's what I looked at: what was important? And it was understanding Samuel W. Tucker and his contributions to the city of Alexandria. And when we reopened, we decided as an administrative team that we are going to always honor Samuel W. Tucker. We don't start anything in the new year without talking about who Samuel W. Tucker is and his legacy and whose shoulders that we stand upon. Because these are the strong shoulders that we stand on to help us get through the day to day.

What are the different ways that students at this school learn about Tucker?

When we go through our character education and our social-emotional time in the morning, we always ingrain the characteristics of Samuel W. Tucker and who he was. We “work hard to get smart,” which was one of his sayings. And when you go onto our website, you will see that we give honor to him first, because he was the one that established that safe harbor, making sure each student—as Ms. [Cathy] David, [the first principal of the school] said—that each student that walked through the doors of any school or any educational facilities here in the city of Alexandria, that they had a safe harbor. They had the ability to become who they want to become. And that is what he did, opening those doors for us all.

Back in 2014, we had an awesome teacher that did create a reenactment of Samuel Tucker's sit-in. And that reenactment that has been recorded lives on here, so our students can learn more about him and [also ensure that] his legacy will never be forgotten. Also, last year—unfortunately, because [during] our 20th year anniversary we were in the pandemic, [so] we couldn't really celebrate—so last year [2022], when we all were able to all come back to school, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Samuel W. Tucker Elementary and the school's opening. And what we did [was] we had special activities for our students and special presentations as well as bulletin boards and celebrations to celebrate who he was, so we will not forget where we originated from, and of the impact of our predecessor, of Cathy David, of establishing this brand-new school and the reason and the legacy of who Samuel W. Tucker was.

What does it mean to you, to be the principal here now?

I am humbled to be the first woman of color, first person of color to be at the helm as principal of Samuel Tucker Elementary. I am his wildest dream. Just to think about it. We hear that—that we are our ancestors' wildest dream. I am his wildest dream. Would he have ever thought that a school would be named after him, which would be as diverse, with 35 languages spoken from children from all over the world? And then for me to be the principal? I am his legacy. And that is something that Ms. David started, with the opening of Samuel Tucker, not forgetting his legacy. And we have to pay respect and homage to those who came before us, those who fought that fight for us.

I am humbled to be the first woman of color, the first person of color to be at the helm as principal of Samuel Tucker Elementary. I am his wildest dream. Would he have ever thought a school would be named after him... [this] diverse, with 35 languages spoken?

It is amazing and it's profound. And we take so much for granted. And just sitting here with you, I feel even more invigorated, recharged, because it's the end of the year, you know, when you are about to close another year. But it gives me pride and purpose, understanding that we're opening doors to Afghan girls who've never had the opportunity to learn or go to school in their home country and now they can be here freely. And giving them that support. That's what he did. That's what this man did. And this is what he wanted. Civil rights for all.

As the organizer of the library sit-in, Tucker focused on the power of libraries. Do libraries have any special significance for you?

When we first moved here to Alexandria, from Okinawa, Japan, I really didn't know anyone in the area. I had no idea what this area was. I was brand new to the area after eight years. So you know where the first place I went, the first place I took my children after probably a week being here? It was the library. And when you go into Beatley Library [the public library’s main branch], which is right across the street from us, you're going to see the hub of the community. At night, you're going to see English classes taking place. You're going to see individuals who do not have access to the internet sitting and accessing the internet. And you will see students from the high school working and you'll see our students in the library reading and in the children's nook reading.

What does a library give? I remember when I was young in West Philadelphia, as soon as I got off from school, running down to the main library. And what did that give me? It gave me a great escape. And reading and having access to books is a great escape. And it gives you the opportunity to explore lands or places that you would never have the opportunity to explore. So libraries are very, very important.

And with Mr. Tucker having the foresight to understand the importance of a library and what a library can do for a child and what he fought for us, us all … Once again, I'm in awe, to be able to sit here and be the principal of Samuel W. Tucker Elementary.