Alexandria African American Hall of FameAthletes
The Douglas K. Cross Family
Track and Field Athletes
Native Alexandrian Douglas Kenny Cross’s family, including son Tyron and granddaughter Brandi, is one of two known families to win Championship of America Titles at the prestigious Penn Relays. The members were awarded watches for their historic accomplishment. The grandfather Douglas K. Cross was also a member of the 1957 winning Parker-Gray High School 4×400 meters relay track team.
Earl Lloyd
Professional Athlete (Black College All-American)
Earl Lloyd was one of three Alexandrians to be selected for induction into the Black College Basketball All-American Team in 1949. In 1950, this Alexandria native became the first African American to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) when he was drafted by the Washington Capitals. Lloyd is a member of the NBA James Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Lloyd was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.
Oliver Ellis
Athlete (Black College All-American)
Oliver Ellis was a four-letter athlete at Parker-Gray High School. He received national recognition on the football team at West Virginia State College as a senior. Ellis was inducted into the Greater Washington Fast-Pitch Softball Hall of Fame in 1981 and into the West Virginia State College Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. He was one of three Alexandrians to be selected in their respective sports as a Black College All-American in 1949.
William “Red” Jackson
Athlete / Coach (Black College All-American)
Affectionately known as “Red,” William Jackson excelled in football, basketball and baseball while at Parker-Gray High School. As quarterback at North Carolina A&T, he led the Aggies to a Black College National Championship. “Red” played baseball in the Negro League and football in the Canadian Professional League. He coached at a number of historically black colleges and universities. He was one of three Alexandrians to be selected in their respective sports as a Black College All-American in 1949 and 1950.
Keith Burns
Professional Athlete (Football)
Keith Burns lettered in football, basketball, and baseball while at T.C. Williams High School and played football for Oklahoma State. Burns was the 210th player chosen in the 1994 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. Keith was a member of the 1997 and 1998 Super Bowl teams, and coached the Broncos’ special teams for four years. In 1997 he established the Keith Burns Foundation to help inner-city youth. Keith was hired as the special teams coach for Washington Redskins in 2013.
Horace Burton
Athlete / Entrepreneur
Horace Burton was a member of the Parker-Gray High School 1946 basketball “Dream Team” that defeated a high school All Star basketball team from Washington, D.C. In high school, Horace lettered in football, basketball and baseball. After graduating from Shaw University, he continued his athletic career by playing in the Canadian Football League for 10 years. Horace successfully navigated the transitions from segregation to integration as a professional businessman. He and his sons formed Horace Burton and Sons Subcontractors.
Louis R. Harris, Jr.
Professional Athlete (Football)
Louis Harris graduated from Parker-Gray High School in June 1963. In 1970, as an outstanding college athlete at Kent State University, he was selected to the All Mid-Atlantic Conference First Team during his junior and senior years. He played professional football for the Pittsburgh Steelers 1967-1968.
Antonio “Tony” Hunt
Professional Athlete (Football)
Antonio “Tony” Hunt was a standout football player at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria. Following his high school career, he was a four-year starter at Penn State. In his senior year, he was awarded the Outback Bowl MVP and Senior Bowl MVP awards. He played for the Philadelphia Eagles.
James “Jimmy” Lewis
Athlete / Coach
James “Jimmy” Lewis, an Alexandria native, has accumulated an impressive list of “firsts”: the honor of being one of the first black basketball players at West Virginia University, the first African-American coach of any sport at Duke University (1971), and the first coach of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Washington Mystics. He started Division 1 Women’s Basketball at George Mason University and was elected to the USA Basketball Executive Committee.
Robert L. Cross
Track and Field Athlete
Robert L. Cross, a native Alexandrian, attended Father Flanagan’s Boys Town School for Boys in Omaha, Nebraska, and in 1958, he set the Nebraska State High School record in the quarter mile run. The time of 48.4 seconds was the second fastest high school time in the country, and his state record would not be broken for the next 20 years. Robert was inducted into the Boys Town Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame on May 5, 2011.
Shirley Marshall-Lee
Scuba Diver
Shirley Marshall-Lee, an Alexandria native and a 1956 Parker-Gray High School graduate, is believed to be the first certified African American female scuba diver. She became the first female of the Underwater Adventure Seekers (UAS) in 1965. Her underwater adventures have taken her to such exotic destinations as Mexico, Jamaica, Egypt, Morocco, Curacao, Haiti, Bermuda, Borneo, Belize, and Malaysia.
Robert Adkins
Educator / Coach
Robert Adkins, an educator and track coach at Parker-Gray High School, produced the city’s first Penn Relay Championship 4 x 400-meter relay team. The team members were Seth Lucas, James Cole, Douglas Kenneth Cross, and Howard Turner.
Berita Willis
Athlete
Alexandria native Berita Willis was born in 1984. At the age of 12, she was selected to travel to Russia as a part of the “Nike 16 and under” All-Star Select Girls Basketball team. A 2006 graduate of Hood College with a B.A. degree in psychology, she is a three-time Atlantic Women’s Colleges Conference first team performer. During her sophomore and junior years, she was voted the most outstanding player in the league, and inducted into the Hood College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
Walter Griffin and Roland Scott
Athletes
In 1957, Walter Griffin (basketball player) and Roland Scott (football player) were the only two athletes ever selected from Parker-Gray High School for inclusion in the Washington Post’s “All Metropolitan Team” during segregation.
