William Syphax

William Syphax ( — June 15, 1891) was born into slavery but manumitted when he was about one year old, along with his mother Maria Carter Syphax and sister. As a young man, he became a U.S. government civil servant in Republican administrations, and built a network in the capital city.

He gained passage of a relief bill in Congress in 1866 to restore 17 acres of land his mother had received from her father, planter George Washington Parke Custis, the only grandson of the late First Lady Martha Washington. After the Civil War, Syphax served as the first president of the Board of Trustees of Colored Schools of Washington and Georgetown in Washington, D.C.

Life and career Syphax was born into slavery in Alexandria County, Virginia, Syphax's father was Charles Syphax, a slave at Mount Vernon who had overseen construction of Arlington House. By the mid-1820s Charles had been taken by Custis to Arlington when he took over the property. Custis allowed Maria and Charles to marry in the house.

In 1826 Custis sold Maria Syphax, her eldest child Elinor, and William to a Quaker living in Alexandria, Virginia, perhaps so that the man could manumit Maria and her two children. In 1826 Custis gave Maria a bequest of 17 acres of land from the south part of the Arlington estate. Syphax was the board's first president. He supported the notion of a unified public school system and equal educational standards. He oversaw the construction of the Charles Sumner School and the Thaddeus Stevens School. In 1870, Syphax organized The Preparatory High School for Colored Youth, later named Dunbar High School, a prestigious academic high school.

Death Syphax died of undisclosed causes at his home at 1641 P Street NW on June 15, 1891. He was interred at Columbian Harmony Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Legacy He is the namesake of William Syphax School (historical) at 1322 Half Street, SW in Washington, D.C. In November 2020, District of Columbia Public Schools announced that William Syphax was one of seven finalists to serve as a replacement name for Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C.