Alexander Honored By Local NAACP
Too often, civic leaders and their deeds are lauded long after their work is done. They are praised in lengthy tributes given at graveside or in a house of worship.
This past Sunday, one of Lexington’s longest serving elected officials was praised by family, friends and colleagues who made it clear that her work is far from over.
Lexington native Marylin Alexander was honored on Sunday by the Rockbridge NAACP for her many years of faithful service first on the Lexington School Board and now on Lexington City Council where she is serving her fifth term.
The well-attended event was held on the mezzanine level of Anderson Coliseum at the Virginia Horse Center. Those in attendance were treated to a buffet of finger foods supplied by Let Them Eat Cake LLC and citrus flavored beverages by Nalia’s Lemonade.
In her prepared remarks, Alexander’s fellow City Coun- cil member Leslie C. Straughan said, “It is a true honor to pay tribute to a friend and colleague who has dedicated herself to the betterment of our community – making Lexington a more vibrant, inclusive and welcoming place to live, work and thrive.”
Straughan first came to know Alexander when she joined the School Board. Throughout their time working together, Straughan came to admire Alexander’s “calm, thoughtful demeanor. Said Straughan, “She reminds me of the old EF Hutton ads: ‘When Marylin Alexander speaks, people listen.’ She listens intently to all perspectives and when she speaks – after careful reflection – her words are insightful and deeply impactful.”
Among the causes Alexander has championed, Straughan cited Alexander’s efforts to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a school holiday and her role in preserving the community’s educational buildings and history.
When the conditions of the city’s two school buildings were being assessed in the early 2000s, it was clear that both were in need of renovation or replacement. While ultimately Waddell Elementary School was demolished and rebuilt, Lylburn Downing Middle School was refurbished. The school was once the high school for Black students and plays a vital role in Lexington’s African-American history.
“Marylin served on the design team and worked closely with the community and the Lylburn Downing Alumni Association to ensure that all voices were heard, respected and pleased with the outcome,” Straughan said.
Straughan recalled that midway through Alexander’s first term on City Council, a controversy arose regarding the placement of Confederate flags on city-owned lamp posts.
“Despite pressure and intimidation,” Straughan said, “Marylin stood firm in her values.” In the end, Council agreed that only U.S., Virginia and city flags were to be flown on municipal property.
Keynote speaker Dan Lyons, former superintendent of Lexington City Schools who currently represents Kerrs Creek on the Rockbridge Board of Supervisors, spoke also of Marylin’s commitment to improving the conditions of the buildings in which city students were being taught as well as the community center housed in what was the original Lylburn Downing School, which was in a state of disrepair.
Lyons recalled Alexander reaching out to Dr. Ted DeLaney, the late Washington and Lee University history professor who had once been a janitor at the college, and to Lylburn Downing alumni to give their support of saving the building. The end result was a renovation that “preserved many of the original features and gave the building new life,” said Lyons. “School Board offices, a heritage room, preschool and after school programs, and space for community use.”
Lyons said that Alexander plays a unique role on City Council, as she grew up in the city during segregation. “Her stories of growing up in a segregated town with deep Confederate roots gave her fellow Council members – and the entire city – a view they might not otherwise have understood.”
When it was Alexander’s turn to take the podium, she thanked the speakers “who must have dug pretty deep to find something to say about me,” she said. She also thanked her daughters, Mallory Douglas and Richelle Alexander, who introduced the guest of honor at the start of the program, for “pouring so much love into your words today.”
Alexander spoke fondly of her family, especially her husband, Rick Alexander, who she said “keeps me encouraged and [is] the one who says, ‘Yes!’ when I ask advice if I should run for Council ‘one last time,’ every time, so he is to blame!” Many family members had traveled a great distance to honor Alexander.
Alexander said that a lot of her drive comes from her parents. Through them, she said, “I got my dedication to helping to improve lives and call out unfairness in this corner of the world wherever and whenever I see it, hear it and even experience it.”
She recalled watching his father, George Evans, who in the late 1950s was laid off from the tannery where he worked. When he went to receive his unemployment benefits, he was ignored by the employees at the unemployment office. “About 20 years later, when I ironically became employed by that agency, it was my mission that no one be treated in the manner he was,” she said.
Alexander recalled her mother, Mary Thompson Evans, speaking of the unfairness of a poll tax that undermined her hard-won right to vote. Her mother was also known to take in “inebriated souls off the street for water and to sit on our porch to get themselves together to prevent them from hurting themselves or get into trouble, mindful of their history and struggles.”
Alexander’s eyes filled with tears and she thought back on the life of her aunt, Nora Thompson Murchison, whom she called Aunt Cutie. Murchison was a guiding light in Alexander’s early life, taking her to the library to check out books to make sure Alexander became proficient in reading. Murchison was a teacher in the Buena Vista school system and when her eyes dimmed from disease, Alexander graded her students’ homework “while she told me the progress of each of those babies in her classroom, knowing she had to hang in there as long as she could, not for herself, but for her dedication to each of them,” Alexander remembered.
Alexander also made it clear that her work is far from over. In addition to being on City Council, she serves as vice mayor and is Council liaison to both the Mountain Gateway Community College board and the Threshold board. She is the manager of Mountainview Terrace Apartments, a nonprofit housing community.
“Let us always remember that our collective efforts can lead to a better, more just future for all,” she said. “We have more to do; I’m not done yet!”
