File:Principal - E. Virginia (Patty) Wenner was the first woman to serve as a school principal in Frederick County..jpg

Summary

E. Virginia (Patty) Wenner was the first woman to serve as a school principal in Frederick County. She began her teaching career at West Brunswick Elementary School after graduation from Brunswick High School in 1911. In 1918, she was elevated to principal before moving on to lead Parkway Elementary School in Frederick in 1932.

She was teaching principal at Middletown Elementary School from 1936-46, before returning to West Brunswick Elementary in the same role in 1946. Miss Wenner was named the first principal of the consolidated Brunswick Elementary School in 1952 where she served until her retirement in 1959.

Descended from a long line of teachers, she was a descendent of the 18th century family patriarch, schoolmaster and preacher, Elder William Wenner, who founded the community of Lovettsville, VA.

Known as a good teacher and tough disciplinarian, Miss Wenner was considered uniquely qualified as a Brunswick native to lead the consolidation of public elementary schools in town. She had to grapple with 2 challenges. First was the merging of 2 schools that had long been rivals. Second was the desegregation of the U.S. public school system that began after the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. BES was the first school in the county to integrate in 1956.

(Photo courtesy of Bill & Lila Wenner)

John Roby Morsberger: B.H.S. Class of '11 (yearbook) Edna Virginia Wenner Brunswick, Md. "Her smile is prodigal of summer shine; gayly persistent, like a day in June." Pattie -- Pat -- Patty, yes, that is the name by which we all know her. Full of fun, ever complaining of long lessons. The tongue of the class. She is deft in argument, always making her opponent lower his colors. She does not care how old the man is, just so she gets one. When the election of the editor-in-chief for the Annual was being agitated, there was much fear the right person might not be selected, but now everyone feels the choice was the right one."

Ruth E. Kennedy: When I went to East End school, she disciplined the disruptive kids by sending them to the coat room with the dictionary and had you write a page from the dictionary with the words and their meanings.. I spent a few times in there myself. All the kids called her "Patty Legs." Later in life I appreciated her as a great teacher.

Patricia Moore Snoots: She was my sixth grade teacher for 5 months. When we moved to the new Elementary School Miss Wenner was appointed principal. My class was the first to graduate from the new school.