Irene Rice Robb, ’13

Western HS Teacher (1919-1952); Principal (1952-1959)

Irene Rice Robb, 97, a former principal of Western High School in Washington and a veteran of 41 years with the D.C. public schools, died Dec. 29 at her home in Washington. She had heart ailments. Mrs. Robb was the widow of former judge Roger Robb of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia — who was one of her students during her early years at Western. They were married about three years before his death about five years ago.

A lifelong resident of Washington, Mrs. Robb graduated from Western High School in 1913 and from Goucher College. She received a master’s degree in history from Yale University and did additional graduate study at American and George Washington universities. She taught for a year at Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring before her appointment to the Western High School faculty in 1919. At Western, she was a history and civics teacher and counselor. After World War II, she was assigned on a temporary basis to teach special courses to returning war veterans at Central High School.

Mrs. Robb was named assistant principal at Western in 1948 and principal in 1952. She retired in 1959. She had been facility adviser of the school newspaper and the school yearbook, and she had helped develop the D.C. social studies curriculum. At the 1990 centennial convocation of the school, which now is the Ellington School of the Arts, the Irene Rice Robb Scholarship Improvement Award was established in her honor.

Mrs. Robb was a member of St. Alban Episcopal Church in Washington.

Citation: IRENE RICE ROBB: WESTERN HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL. (1992/12/30/, 1992 Dec 30). The Washington Post (1974-) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/irene-rice-robb/docview/140779221/se-2