Sharing the Love: Edmond and Alice Fleet

This year’s theme for Arlington Reads is love—feeling it, sharing it, and reading about it. We thought it was a good opportunity to share some of our favorite Arlington power couples who worked together to share their love for the whole community. This is part two of an ongoing series of blog posts, each featuring a different couple.

Alice and Edmond Fleet with hearts in the background.

Alice and Edmond Fleet. From RG 11: The Papers of Edmond C. Fleet, Collector, 1812-1984.

The lives of Edmond and Alice Fleet can be summed up as a series of fearless firsts. Despite the barriers they faced under Jim Crow segregation, they forged successful careers while generously donating their time and leadership to the church, social organizations and local politics. During their 46 years of marriage, Alice and Edmond uplifted one another and served as an inspiration to their community.

Alice Fleet playing croquet. From RG 11.

Alice West Fleet (1909-2000) was born in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, on a former plantation estate called Prestwould Farm. Her father, William West, was a farm caretaker and respected stone mason. Her mother, Rose Skipwith, was a housewife whose parents had been enslaved.

Alice knew at an early age that her dream was to be a teacher. After graduating from Thyne Institute, a prestigious, historically Black Presbyterian boarding school, Alice became a public school teacher while earning a degree in elementary education from Virginia State College.

In 1937, Alice married Edmond Claudius Fleet (1902-1983), a widower with three children, and moved to Arlington with her new family. Edmond worked as a civilian pastry chef for the United States Navy at the National Naval Medical Center. Throughout his career, he won many awards recognizing his culinary skills.

Edmond Fleet in chef attire holding silverware in both hands.

Edmond Fleet in chef attire, holding silver set won as first prize in a bake contest at Sheraton Park. From RG 11.

A Beloved Educator

After teaching for two years in Fairfax County, Alice was hired at Hoffman-Boston, which opened in 1915 as Arlington’s first junior high school for Black students. She continued to earn her master's degree in reading from the University of Pennsylvania during the summers between teaching and, later, pursued a PhD at George Washington University.

When Alice was appointed to fill a vacancy as reading specialist, she became the first Black reading teacher in Arlington County.

Alice Fleet at a Delta Sigma Theta gathering.

Alice Fleet at a gathering of Delta Sigma Theta, an organization of college-educated women committed to public service with a focus on the Black community. From RG 11.

On February 2, 1959, Arlington’s Stratford Junior High became the first school in Virginia to desegregate. Soon, other schools followed suit, and Alice was reassigned to Woodmont Elementary on North Fillmore Street. Alice became the first Black teacher in the county to teach at a previously all-white school.

Alice served as an Arlington County educator for over three decades, holding additional posts at Drew Elementary in Green Valley and Reed Elementary in Westover. She retired from teaching in 1971.

After Alice retired, she drew upon her expertise as an educator to spearhead the Educational Guild at Mount Zion Baptist Church, which provided scholarships to high school and college students. After Edmond’s death in 1983, she also established a scholarship fund in his name for disadvantaged college students.

In 2019, Arlington County opened Alice West Fleet Elementary School, named in her honor as a beloved teacher and educational pioneer.

Meeting Community Needs

Edmond and Alice were pivotal in founding the first YMCA in Arlington to serve Black community members. Seeing a desperate need for Black children to have an opportunity to socialize and participate in sports, a group of neighbors came together in 1946 to provide recreational programming specifically for people of color.

Two women holding a shovel with others behind them smiling.

Groundbreaking ceremony for the Veteran’s Memorial YMCA swimming pool. Photo from RG 11. Learn more about the Veterans Memorial YMCA here.

By 1953, they had gathered enough funds to build the Veteran’s Memorial YMCA, a permanent home in Green Valley for their activities. It included a community room where dances and movie screenings were held. Located near Drew School, it naturally had a strong bond with neighborhood children, since the county’s Parks and Recreation system was still segregated.

In the late 1950s, this YMCA branch started a campaign to build a swimming pool to serve Black residents who were barred from using the county’s public swimming pools.

Edmond was a tireless fundraiser for the Veteran’s Memorial YMCA, serving on its management committee for 27 years. Alice served on the Board of Directors through the 1990s.

Civic Engagement

After retiring from their careers, the Fleets became involved in local politics. In 1977, they hosted Lady Bird Johnson at their home for a Chuck Robb campaign event. Chuck Robb—who was the husband of Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, daughter of President Lyndon B. and Lady Bird Johnson—ran as a Democrat for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia and won the election in 1977.

Alice Fleet was later appointed by Chuck Robb to serve two terms on the Virginia State Commission on the Status of Women. Alice also served as President-at-Large of the Arlington County Democratic Committee.

a man and three women dressed professionally at a fundraiser.

Lady Bird Johnson, second from left. Pictured with Edmond Fleet on the left, an unnamed woman to the right, and Alice Fleet on the far right at a fundraiser for Chuck Robb during his campaign for lieutenant governor. From RG 11.

“Let nothing and no one stop you.”

Alice was known among her students for a powerful motto that she taught them: “Let nothing and no one stop you.” In their commitment to equal rights and dedication to family and community, Alice and Edmond Fleet lived this motto every day of their lives.

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