• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Alert

Westover Library Has Sunday Hours. More Info

Home - Arlington County Virginia - Logo
MENUMENU
  • Join Now
  • My Account
    • Login
    • Borrow, Renew, Return
    • Holds
    • About My Account
    • My eAccounts
  • Hours & Locations
    • All Hours & Locations
    • Holiday Closings
  • News
  • Contact Us

Arlington Public Library

MENUMENU
  • Search
      • Browse New
      • Browse All
  • Events
    • Arlington Reads
    • Featured Events
    • Calendar
    • On Demand Programs
  • eCollection
    • eAudiobooks
    • eBooks
    • Digital Magazines
    • Learning Tools
    • Research Tools
    • All eCollection
  • Research
    • Research Portal
    • Research Tools A-Z
    • Local History
  • Library Services
    • Accessibility Services
    • For Book Lovers
    • Garden Tool Library
    • Maker
    • Meeting Rooms
    • Notary
    • Public Computers
    • Teleconnect Space
    • More Services
  • Explore
    • Catalog
      • Catalog Search
      • Catalog Browse
      • Digital Archives
      • Borrowing Collections
      • Book Lists
    • Kids & Teens
      • For Babies and Preschoolers
      • For Elementary Schoolers
      • Middle and High Schoolers
    • Local History
      • Research Room
      • Community Archives
      • Online Exhibits
    • Support the Library
      • Donating Materials
    • Popular
      • Consumer Reports
      • Overdrive
    • EXPLORE MORE
  • Join Now
  • My Account
    • Login
    • Borrow, Renew, Return
    • Holds
    • About My Account
    • My eAccounts
  • Hours & Locations
    • All Hours & Locations
    • Holiday Closings
  • News
  • Contact Us

George Melvin Richardson: Taking a Stand

Published: January 28, 2021

Graphic image of a megaphone

Join us for a new series of stories from the Center for Local History highlighting members of our community who made a difference in ways that helped shape our history and created positive change. 

Their voices were not always loud, but what they said or did had a significant impact on our community.

George Melvin Richardson

George Melvin Richardson (1913-2015) was an African-American educator, school principal, WW II U.S. Army officer, and civic leader. Born in Oklahoma, Richardson graduated from Langston University, Oklahoma’s only historically Black college, and then attended Columbia University in New York where he obtained a master’s degree.

George Richardson, Secondary School Administrator Arlington, VA

A subsequent series of positions in education and public schools in Oklahoma helped lay the groundwork for what was to become a lifetime of educating and mentoring students in his community. After being drafted during WW II, Richardson was stationed in Italy, where he was an Army lieutenant and captain.

Upon returning to the U.S., Richardson and his wife moved to Arlington County where he served as principal of the all-Black Hoffman-Boston High School from 1951 until its closure in 1964. Noticing that Hoffman-Boston lacked many of the facilities and resources of other Arlington County schools, Richardson worked tirelessly to improve and expand the school. In an oral history conducted by staff of the Center for Local History, Richardson said that Hoffman-Boston “wasn’t equipped as well as other schools. Our science department wasn’t equipped as well...We didn’t have an auditorium – the building was not adequate.” His air of quiet authority and steely determination deeply impacted both colleagues and students.

“Hoffman-Boston School,” Richardson said, “There’s a golf course there. The kids will leave their lunch period and won’t come back…They’d go there (and caddy) and get little sandwiches and so forth… I said “You’re here for school. And you’re here for this number of hours.”… I went to the golf course and I told them that I didn’t want them to employ these kids…they belong in school and not at a golf course. So they stopped that.”

George Richardson talking with several younger Hoffman-Boston students.

George Richardson talking with several younger Hoffman-Boston students.

Richardson was also a pivotal figure in helping to create the Arlington View Neighborhood Conservation Plan (one of the first in the county) and was a member of the executive board of the Arlington Committee of 100. After Hoffman-Boston closed in 1964, Richardson became an assistant principal at Wakefield H.S. and served as an educator in Montgomery County, MD. before retiring to Oklahoma.

Richardson received the Charles P. Monroe Civil Rights Award from the Arlington branch of the NAACP, was inducted into the Wakefield High School Hall of Fame, and received the Outstanding Community Service Award from the Greater Washington Urban League.

Assistant Principal, Counselor, Mr Richardson

George Richardson, right, with the Assistant Principal and councilor at Hoffman-Boston, seated at a table.

Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? 

Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.

Center For Local History - Blog Post Message Form

Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.

"*" indicates required fields

Share Your Story

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

January 28, 2021 by Web Editor Filed Under: App, Center for Local History, News, Taking a Stand / Speaking Out Tagged With: Hoffman-Boston

Primary Sidebar


The Center for Local History: Where Stories Live


Link to USS Arlington history blogpost.

The USS Arlington


Joan Cooper: Taking a Stand


Link to oral history blog post.

Oral History: Gertrude “Trudy” Ensign


Lutrelle Parker

Rediscover Lutrelle Fleming Parker, Sr.


Roberta Flack’s Arlington Roots


Read more blog posts from the Center for Local History


Center for Local History


Central Library, First Floor
1015 North Quincy Street
Arlington VA 22201
703-228-5990

Footer

About Us

  • Mission & Vision
  • Center for Local History
  • News Room

Administration

  • Policies
  • Library Staff
  • Job Opportunities
  • Propose a Program

Support Your Library

  • Friends of the Library
  • Giving Opportunities
  • Donating Materials
  • Volunteer Opportunities

Our Mission

We champion the power of stories, information and ideas.

We create space for culture and connection.

We embrace inclusion and diverse points of view.

Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. YouTube. Flickr. Newsletter.

download appDownload the Library App

Arlington County | Terms & Conditions | Accessibility | Site Map
· Copyright © 2023 Arlington County Government ·