[Archived] Dedication of Boothe Park is Scheduled

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Inquiries: Barbara J. Gordon
September 17, 2001 Public Information Officer, 703.838.3861

ALEXANDRIA’S NEWEST PARK WILL BE
DEDICATED TO ARMISTEAD L. BOOTHE

Alexandria’s newest park will be dedicated on Sept. 23 in recognition of the late Armistead L. Boothe, a native Alexandrian who led the fight in the 1950s to integrate Virginia’s public schools and to keep them open. The dedication ceremony, open to the public, will be held at 2 pm at the park, adjacent to Samuel W. Tucker School, 435 Ferdinand Day Dr.
The park’s location as well as its namesake are significant in Alexandria and Virginia’s history. Samuel E. Tucker and “Army” Boothe both worked hard for desegregation and now have public places named for them at adjacent locations.
An Alexandria attorney, Boothe served as a special assistant in the United States Office of the Attorney General from 1934 to 1936 and as city attorney of Alexandria from 1938 to 1943. Serving as a naval officer in World War II, Boothe was awarded five battle stars, a presidential citation and a combat commendation ribbon. He also served as a senior partner in the law firm of Boothe, Dudley, Koontz, Blankenship and Stump, with offices in Alexandria, Fairfax, and Manassas, Virginia. That firm was later known as Boothe, Pritchard and Dudley and is now part of the McGuire, Woods, Battle and Boothe law firm. He later served as president of the Alexandria Bar Association. Following his retirement from law practice, he was director of development at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria.
Boothe represented Alexandria in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1948 to 1956 and was a state senator from 1956 to 1964. He was a staunch opponent of the conservative Harry Byrd political machine and its policy of massive resistance to public school integration in the 1950s. He died in 1990. He was 82 years old.
The five-acre park is located on the former Cameron Station Army base, and is part of the 63 acres of open space the City received from the federal government when the military installation closed. Last year the City Council voted to name the new park after the late Armistead L. Boothe to recognize his many years of public service. Features of the park include one adult soccer/softball field, two tennis courts, one basketball court, restrooms a playground, picnic area and shelter and a pavilion.
The dedication program will include remarks by Mayor Kerry J. Donley, retired federal judge Albert G. Bryan, Alexandria residents as well as Boothe family members. The program will be emceed by Alexandria lawyer Walter Dudley, son of the late Walter Dudley, a Boothe law partner.