Leona Ford Washington

Leona Ford Washington (1928 – August 5, 2007) was a community activist in Texas and founder of the McCall Neighborhood Center in El Paso. She taught for 39 years in the El Paso Independent School District.[1] Washington composed the song, "The City of El Paso," which was adopted as the city's official song in the 1980s.[2]

Biography

Washington was born in El Paso, Texas.[1] She grew up in Segundo Barrio, and went to Prairie View A&M College (now Prairie View A&M University).[1] Washington taught for two years in Las Cruces, before she returned to El Paso where she started teaching at the "segregated Douglass School."[1]

In 1983, Washington founded the McCall Neighborhood Center and served as the first executive director of the facility which served both African American and Mexican American communities in El Paso.[1] Washington took over The Southwest Torch Newspaper, renaming it The Good Neighbor Interpreter.[3] The Good Neighbor provided residents of El Paso news about the black community.[1]

Legacy

A City of El Paso recreation center, located on East Missouri Avenue is named after Washington.[4] A foundation to help high school graduates attend college was set up in her name.[5] Washington also donated, in 1991, her collection of over 800 historic photographs to the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).[1]

References
  1. Dailey, Maceo (13 June 2013). "Washington, Leona Ford". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  2. "Leona Ford Washington". Digie. El Paso Museum of History. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  3. Glasrud, Bruce A.; Wintz, Cary D. (2012). "The Black Renaissance in the Desert Southwest". The Harlem Renaissance in the American West: The New Negro's Western Experience. Routledge. p. 176. ISBN 9781136649110.
  4. "Parks and Recreation". City of El Paso. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  5. "Leona Washington". Legacy. August 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
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