Louise A. Reeves Archer (October 23, 1893 – April 1, 1948) was an American teacher and activist who fought to educate African Americans during the 1930s and 1940s.[1] During this time, racial barriers limited a black student's access to education. They had limited resources compared to white children and were deprived education beyond seventh grade — when twelve grades was already common practice.
Louise Archer Elementary School, Vienna VA, Dec 2022Louise Archer Elementary School sign, Vienna VA, Dec 2022
In 1922 Archer became teacher and principal for a one-room segregated school in Vienna, Virginia, called the Vienna Colored School.[4] Archer often transported children to school herself and worked to improve their learning experience. She organized a parent-teacher association to raise funds for supplies and a new building, which opened in 1939 with three rooms.
In 1941, students, parents, and faculty raised $300, which paid for a music teacher, bus expenses, kitchen supplies, and the installation of electric lights. Archer also established one of Fairfax County, Virginia's earliest 4-H Clubs for African Americans and her students participated in garden projects to raise vegetables for lunches prepared at school.[5]
Archer provided a high-quality education. In addition to the academic curriculum, she taught sewing, cooking, music, and poetry to her students in fifth through seventh grades, which was then the highest level of public education available to African Americans in the county.[1]
After Archer's death, families petitioned the county to rename the Vienna Colored School in her honor. The school was renamed Louise Archer Elementary School in 1950.[3]
She is remembered for her "tireless efforts to improve the opportunities for her students in the 1920s and '30s".[7]
