Commemorating the 175th Anniversary of Education, Leadership, and Gender Empowerment with AWOGA Washington D.C.
The Annie Walsh Memorial School in Freetown (AWMS) was established in 1849 by the Anglican Church Missionary Society as the oldest secondary school for girls in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since its founding, the school has graduated prominent doctors, lawyers, politicians, diplomats, scholars, and artists who have made and are making a transformational impact in Sierra Leone and around the world. Active members of the Annie Walsh Old Girls Association (AWOGA) operating under various branches worldwide work tirelessly to organize community events and raise funds in support of current students at the AWMS.
The Annie Walsh Memorial School for Girls
Established in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1849 as the oldest secondary school for girls in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Photo credit: Alphonso Lisk-Carew Archives
Celebrating with AWOGA Washington D.C.
Last week I traveled from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. to celebrate the 175th anniversary of AWMS with members and friends of the AWOGA Washington D.C. Chapter. The celebrations commenced with an education symposium and dinner hosted in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Grammar School Alumni Association of North America whose members are graduates of the first secondary educational institution for West Africans with a European curriculum founded in 1845. I was among several panelists invited to participate in a series of conversations with the audience on the state of education in Sierra Leone. During the event held on Friday, July 19, we discussed topics such as STEM education, privatization of the school, and the skills and resources needed to prepare the next generation of leaders of Sierra Leone.
On Saturday July 20, I attended the Alumnae House Picnic where AWOGA members from six different decades gathered at Vansville Recreational Park in Beltsville, Maryland to eat, dance, laugh, and share memories from their schooldays. A highlight of the picnic was watching the Old Girls proudly march the park grounds dressed in their designated house colors (Purple = Bisset, Yellow = Caspari, Red = Dunkley, Pink = Hamblet, Green = Pole, and Blue = Sass). I was gifted a yellow T-shirt (my favorite color) and invited to participate in the picnic activities as an honorary representative of Caspari House. The weekend celebrations concluded with a Brunch Cruise on the Potomac River on Sunday, July 21.
AWOGA members marching in their different house colors.
Video credit: Christiana Kallon Kelly
First-Class Women: The Annie Walsh Research Study
My current research project explores how African women and girls use their school networks to mobilize socially and politically on the continent and across the African diaspora. As the oldest girls school in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Annie Walsh Memorial School provides an exciting case study for understanding how educational institutions can prepare young women in Africa for local and global leadership. I’m eager to learn more about the career and personal trajectories of members of AWOGA Washington D.C. and looking forward to sharing their stories with a global audience.
AWOGA Washington D.C. members, Ms. Claribel Sawyerr, AWMS’88 and her aunt, Ms. Joyce Wilson, AWMS’57, and me at the Alumnae House Picnic. Photo credit: Claribel Sawyerr
Congratulations to the current students, teachers, and alumni of AWMS on celebrating the 175th anniversary of this renowned educational institution!