Gloria Runyon - July 11, 2014

Gloria Runyon's family have lived in Vienna, Virginia, as she puts it, since "before it became Vienna." Her roots in the town grow at least as far back as her great-grandfather, a Cherokee Indian, who built the home in which she still lives. Gloria Runyon's family has always been deeply involved in the Vienna community, and her life and work is no exception.

Growing up in Vienna, Gloria Runyon belonged to the First Baptist Church and a local bible study group, and attended Louise Archer Elementary School and Luther P. Jackson High School in Fairfax County, just as Madison High School began to integrate. After graduating as valedictorian of her class, Runyon enrolled in Howard University, where she was active in her sorority and engaged with the school's political climate. She graduated in 1965.

As the former president of the Malcolm-Windover Heights Civic Association in Vienna, Runyon helped to develop the Sarah Walker Mercer Park. In 2014, she retired from a near 40-year tenure at the Georgetown Day School, where she was first acted as a teacher, then a math coordinator, then as lower School principal. She discusses her work at Georgetown Day School in some detail in this interview. Runyon spent her final year before her retirement as the Diversity Coordinator.

---

Family Roots in Vienna

Personal and Community Involvement in Vienna

Louise Archer Elementary School, Vienna Landscape

Youth in Vienna

Old Friends, Bible School, Experience of Segregation

Friends Integrating Madison High School

Recreation, Family Time

Family History, Told with Photographs

Taking Students to Protest South African Apartheid

Political Climate at Howard University, Family Diversity

Career Before Teaching at Georgetown Day School

Mixed Race Identities

Initiatives as Diversity Coordinator at Georgetown Day School

Thoughts on Small-Town Vienna

Memories of Attending Louise Archer Elementary School

Early Distaste for Studying History

Revisiting Louise Archer Elementary School

Remembering Various Teachers at Louise Archer Elementary School

Traveling to Various Events During High School

Memories of Luther P. Jackson High School

Memories of Howard University

Concerts at Howard Theater

All interviews by Sophie Abramowitz

James & Gloria Carter, Ted & Lorraine Thomas, Jean Minor, Ronald Honesty, Daniel Bunaugh 7-16-2013

This interview brought together James & Gloria Carter, Ronald Honesty, Jean Minor, Ted & Lorraine Thomas, and Daniel Bunaugh. The group discussed a wide array of subjects, including attending Louise Archer (formerly known as the Vienna Colored School), their early memories of home and family, starting their careers, the community of their churches, and their experiences of segregation. 

1940s Vienna Colored School (Gloria Carter, James Carter)


Memories of Mrs. Louise Archer (Gloria Carter)

Carter Farm & Arrival of the Carter Family in Vienna (James Carter)

Shopping at Hecht's in DC, Valedictorian, Donating Property to Louise Archer, Jobs

 (Lorraine Thomas, Ted Thomas)

Salsbury Spring Water Supply (Gloria Carter, James Carter, Ted Thomas, Ronald Honesty)

Faulkner's, Businesses in Vienna in the 1940s, Segregation 

(Gloria Carter, James Carter, Jean Minor, Ronald Honesty, Ted Thomas)


African American Community in Vienna (James Carter, Ted Thomas, Ronald Honesty)


Accepting Segregation (James Carter, Ted Thomas)

Middle and High School in DC to Avoid Busing to Manassas (Gloria Carter, Jean Minor)

Meeting Spouses (Jean Minor, Gloria Carter)

Segregation in Hospitals & Maternity Wards (Jean Minor, James Carter, Gloria Carter)

Law Enforcement Career: Metropolitan Police, U.S. Marshall, and School Security (Ted Thomas)

Luther Jackson, Integration in Vienna (Ronald Honesty, Jean Minor, Daniel Bunaugh), 

Integration in DC (Ted Thomas)


 First Baptist Church & New Union Church (Ronald Honesty, Gloria Carter)

Baptismal Site for First Baptist Church (Ted Thomas, James Carter, Gloria Carter)

Interviewers: Virginia Harness, Caroline Gardiner, and Sarah Jane Brady