Mary Ellen Henderson

Mary Ellen Henderson ( Meriwether; September 18, 1885 – February 4, 1976) was an African-American educator and civil rights activist in the mid-1900s. She is most famous for her work desegregating living spaces in Falls Church, working to build better facilities for black students in Falls Church, Virginia and starting the CCPL (Colored Citizens Protective League), the first rural branch of the NAACP.

Early life and family Mary Ellen Meriwether was born in Washington, D.C., on September 18, 1885, to Mary Louise Robinson Meriwether and James Henry Meriwether. Both of her parents had a college education. Her mother, Mary Louise, graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio, went on to teach at the first high school for black students, later known as the Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, in Washington, D.C., and worked as a social activist. Mary Ellen's father, James, graduated from Howard University. He later practiced law in Washington D.C. and served on the board of trustees at Howard until his death in 1906. Her sister, Sarah Meriwether Nutter, was also an educator, activist and a founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Career and activism Mary Ellen, nicknamed "Miss Nellie" by her students, originally taught grades four through seven at James E. Lee Elementary School, a segregated two-room schoolhouse for black children. She accepted the job to prevent the school from being closed down due to a lack of adequately trained teachers. Henderson was persuasive, and in 1948, Fairfax opened the new James E. Lee Elementary School, a six-room school, complete with the additions of an auditorium, library, clinic, and cafeteria. Henderson was appointed as principal of the new school, a position she held for thirty years. The students Mary Ellen Henderson taught were known for their high achievements, and received praise from their high school teachers. The students she taught would later on become important members of the community, or even teachers themselves.

Henderson and her husband, E. B. Henderson, founded the Colored Citizens’ Protective League (CCPL), alongside Joseph Tinner, to protest segregated neighborhoods. In 1915, a law was passed by white qualified voters in Falls Church that would force the African American population to live in their own section of town; 32% of the population had to live in less than 5% of the land. The CCPL filed a lawsuit that prevented the ordinance from being enforced. The ordinance was nullified in 1917 by the Supreme Court, and officially removed in 1999. The CCPL eventually, in 1918, formed the basis of the Fairfax County Branch of the NAACP, the first rural branch of the NAACP.

Both of the Hendersons were honored in 1960 by the Fairfax County Council on Human Relations for their battle against racial bias. They were also honored by the United States House of Representatives in 2006, when they were recognized in the Congressional Record by Representative Jim Moran, "For every person of national recognition there is a local leader that accomplishes much under the shadow of their more recognized peers. Two of these people are Dr. Edwin and Mrs. Mary Ellen Henderson, civil rights pioneers from Northern Virginia that worked for social justice for nearly 50 years."

Our Disgrace and Shame: School Facilities for Negro Children in Fairfax County In 1945, Mary Ellen Henderson composed a study, Our Disgrace and Shame: School Facilities for Negro Children in Fairfax County,

As a member of the NAACP, Girl Scouts, League of Women Voters, Falls Church Women's Democratic Club, Virginia Education Association, and National Education Association, Henderson was an active member of her community. She was also a lifetime member of the 15th Street Presbyterian Church, although she also taught Sunday school and played the organ at Second Baptist Church in Falls Church City. Even after they moved, the Hendersons visited their summer home at Highland Beach near Annapolis, Maryland, where Mary Ellen was an active member in local civic affairs.

Henderson is memorialized by the school that bears her name: Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School in Falls Church City, Virginia. The school was dedicated to her on September 18, 2005, the 120th anniversary of her birth.