September 15, 2008

Peninsula Town Center to Honor
Four "Marys" in Naming of Park

Peninsula Town Center will name one of its public parks in honor of four women, all with the same first name, who made significant contributions to public and higher education on the Peninsula.

Marys Park, which will be a designated children's area, will honor Mary Peake, Mary Johnson, Mary Christian, and Mary Passage. Below is a brief description of the contributions of each individual made toward education on the Peninsula.

Mary Peake (1823-1862)
She is best known for having taught children of former slaves under the famous Emancipation Oak tree on September 17, 1861. After attending school in Alexandria, she returned to her mother in Norfolk. During the Civil War, Fort Monroe remained in Union hands and became a place of refuge for thousands of escaped slaves. Sponsored by the American Missionary Association, Mary Peake started a school in Brown Cottage, on the site of what became Hampton Institute and then Hampton University. She died of tuberculosis in 1862. In 1863, the Virginia Peninsula community gathered under the Emancipation Oak to hear the first Southern reading of the Emancipation Proclamation.

The Mary Peake Center of Hampton Public Schools, a center for gifted children, is named after her, as is a boulevard in the city.

Mary Johnson (1915 - Present)
A graduate of Phenix High in Hampton, Mary Johnson earned a bachelor's degree from Hampton University and was then a classroom teacher and principal in Hampton for 40 years. She is well known for her advocacy for the restoration of the Little England Chapel, which is the only known African American chapel in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a state and national historic landmark. She was a strong advocate for the Newtown neighborhood in Hampton and worked to have students from elsewhere in the city tutor children there. She has been a Daily Press Citizen of the Year and has served on the boards of the local NAACP, Hampton Health Department and was president of the Virginia State Reading Association.

Mary Christian (1924 - Present)
A graduate of Hampton Institute in 1955, Mary Christian received her MA from Columbia University in 1960 and then a PhD from Michigan State in 1967. She taught at Aberdeen Elementary in Hampton and then Hampton University, starting in 1960. She became Dean of the School of Education in 1980. Dr. Christian served on the Hampton School Board and has been a member of numerous local civic boards, including Peninsula Association for Sickle Cell Anemia, National Kidney Foundation and Hampton City School Investment Panel. Mary was elected to the General Assembly in 1986 and served through 2004. She is a well-respected political leader and educator.

Mary Passage (1916-2003)
Mary Passage worked for 31 ½ years for the Newport News public school system. Her appointment in 1965 as Ferguson High School's leader made her the first woman to serve as principal of a Peninsula secondary school. Across Virginia, she was the first woman to head a large high school. She died in 2003 after Newport News named a middle school in her honor. Her husband George, who passed away in 1980, was the editorial page editor of the Times Herald, sister paper of the Daily Press.

"Marys Park will become a place, not only where children and families can play, but where we can host programs, entertainment and other events that are educational and civic oriented, reflecting the lives and contributions of the venue's namesakes," said Raymond Tripp, Peninsula Town Center's General Manager.

Now under construction, the Peninsula Town Center, a 1-million square foot mixed-use community, is the most significant new development project in Hampton in more than 30 years. Phase One is scheduled to open in summer of 2009.