Douglass High School symbolizes the quiet tenacity and sense of purpose maintained by Loudoun County’s African Americans in their determination to secure a high standard of secondary education for their children. The school stands on land in the town of Leesburg purchased by the parents for their children and presented to the county school board in 1940. Though the building was paid for with public funds, the black community raised money for furnishings, laboratory equipment, and band instruments. Named for Frederick Douglass, a former slave and prominent abolitionist, the school operated as the county’s first and only black high school from its opening in 1941 until 1968 with the termination of segregated education in 1968. The building went on to house an alternative school, serving students with special needs.