Background
Addison was born on December 8, 1861 in Upperville, Virginia to Charles Addison and Elizabeth Anderson Addison, both of whom were slaves.
Addison was born on December 8, 1861 in Upperville, Virginia to Charles Addison and Elizabeth Anderson Addison, both of whom were slaves.
A high school named after Addison, the Lucy Addison High School, was opened in 1928 in Roanoke. Addison traveled to Virginia to attend the opening ceremony. In the 1970s the school was almost closed and turned into a vocational school, as desegregation plans for Roanoke would have had the school"s pupils bused into neighboring areas, but these plans were scrapped after United States. District Judge Ted Dalton ordered that the school remain open.
In 1973 the school was restructured to become the Lucy Addison Junior High School, which was later re-named the Lucy Addison Middle School.
In 2011 Addison was honored as one of the Library of Virginia"s "Virginia Women in History" for her contributions to education. Shortly after receiving her degree Addison began teaching in Loudoun County, Virginia and in 1886, traveled to Roanoke, Virginia to take a teaching position at the First Ward Colored School. The following year Addison began serving as an interim head following the death of the school"s principal.
She continued into this position until 1888, when a new school was built and a replacement principal was hired.
Addison then served as both a teacher and an assistant principal for the school and during this time she attended classes at several schools, including Howard University and the University of Pennsylvania. In 1917 Addison was hired to serve as the principal for the Harrison School, a school for African-Americans.
Although the school was only accredited to teach up to the eighth grade, Addison expanded the curriculum to include high school level classes while also continually lobbying Virginia State Board of Education for full accreditation. Her work came to fruition in 1924, when the Board granted the school full accreditation and the school graduated several students with a high school diploma.
Addison retired in 1927 and moved to Washington, District of Columbia