Board of Historic Resources Quarterly Meeting 21 June 2018 Sponsor Markers - Diversity 1.) School for Black Children Sponsor: College of William & Mary Locality: Williamsburg Proposed Location: 107 North Boundary St. on the campus of William & Mary Sponsor Contact: Susan Kern, [email protected]; Michael J. Fox, [email protected] Original text: School for Black Children A school for enslaved and free black children was founded here in 1760 by the Associates of Dr. Bray, a London charity. At Benjamin Franklin’s urging, the school was affiliated with the College of William & Mary. In a culture hostile to educating blacks, boys and girls were taught Christianity and “some useful Things besides Reading” and, possibly, writing. Ann Wager tutored over 400 children during her 14 years as teacher. The school moved to other locations after 1765 and closed in 1774. The teachings at the school reinforced ideologies supporting slavery, but also spread literacy within the black community. 100 words/ 617 characters Edited text: School for Black Children The Associates of Dr. Bray, a London-based charity, founded a school for enslaved and free black children here in 1760. Located in Williamsburg at the suggestion of Benjamin Franklin, a member of the Associates, the school received support from the College of William & Mary. Anne Wager instructed as many as 400 boys and girls during her 14 years as teacher. In a culture hostile to educating African Americans, Wager taught the students principles of Christianity, deportment, reading, and, possibly, writing. The curriculum reinforced proslavery ideology but also spread literacy within the black community. The school moved from this site by 1765 and closed in 1774. 106 words/ 670 characters Sources: 1 John C. Van Horne, ed., Religious Philanthropy and Colonial Slavery: The American Correspondence of the Associates of Dr. Bray, 1717-1777 (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1985). Terry L. Meyers, “Benjamin Franklin, The College of William and Mary, and the Williamsburg Bray School,” Anglican and Episcopal History, vol. 79, no. 4 (Dec. 2010): 368-393. Jennifer Bridges Oast, “Educating Eighteenth-Century Black Children: The Bray Schools,” M.A. Thesis, College of William and Mary, 2000. Antonio T. Bly, “In Pursuit of Letters: A History of the Bray Schools for Enslaved Children in Colonial Virginia,” History of Education Quarterly, vol. 51, no. 4 (Nov. 2011): 429-459. “Bray School Excavation,” Colonial Williamsburg: http://research.history.org/projects/bray/ “Search for 1760 Bray School Turns up Something Even Older,” https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2013/bray-school-search-finds-something-even-older-123.php Brendan Wolfe, “The Associates of Dr. Bray,” Encyclopedia Virginia, https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Associates_of_Dr_Bray Valerie Scura Trovato, “Slate Pencils?: Education of Free and Enslaved African American Children at the Bray School, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1760-1774,” M.A. Thesis, College of William and Mary, 2016. 2.) Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery Sponsor: Mr. Norman Schools Locality: Stafford County Proposed Location: 135 Chapel Green Road Sponsor Contact: Frank White, [email protected]; Norman Schools, [email protected] Original text: Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery Is an African American cemetery started shortly after the Civil War by Rev. York Johnson, an ex-slave, who with 27 others assisted by the Freedmen Bureau established a benevolent organization “The Union Branch of the True Vine.” An earlier 1870 church was replaced by the present 1951 church associated with the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. The Cemetery relates to the desire of newly freed slaves and free blacks to embrace their own ethnic and racial identity in funerary aspects. It represents a turning point in social history whereby African Americans could now be buried in their own cemetery with funerals officiated by their own pastor, and not by a white pastor as law had dictated prior to the Civil War. 2 120 words/ 714 characters Edited text: Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery This church originated in 1868 when 27 African Americans withdrew from nearby White Oak Church and selected the Rev. York Johnson, a former slave, as their pastor. Johnson founded the Union Branch of the True Vine, a mutual aid society, reportedly with the assistance of the Freedmen’s Bureau. The church established a cemetery, enabling African Americans to exercise newfound autonomy over burial practices and funerals. Buried here are veterans of World Wars I and II and Korea. The church’s sanctuary, built in 1870, was replaced in 1951. Here the Stafford County branch of the NAACP was founded, and community members met to plan strategies for the desegregation of local public schools. 111 words/ 691 characters Sources: Norman Schools, Virginia Shade: An African American History of Falmouth, Virginia (Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, 2012). Norman Schools and Frank White, Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery Historic District nomination form (2018), DHR ID 089-0360. J.R. Kosch, “History of White Oak Primitive Baptist Church, 1789-1989” (1989). White Oak Primitive Baptist Church minutes, 1868. Fredericksburg Star, 29 April 1885. Gordon White, “Civil War to Civil Rights thru the Eyes of Gordon White” Ruth Coder Fitzgerald, A Different Story: A Black History of Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania, Virginia (Morris Plains, NJ: Union Publishing House, 1979). Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, RG 393, National Archives. John White, “A Brief History of the Union Branch of the True Vine,” Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church archives. 3.) First State Bank 3 Sponsor: Movement Mortgage Locality: Danville Proposed Location: 201 N. Union St. Sponsor Contact: Renee Burton, [email protected] Original text: First State Bank Opened September 8, 1919 as the Savings Bank of Danville, being one of few Black owned banks in the state. The community’s vitality depended on the Bank’s lending services during Jim Crow segregation. After the 1933 emergency bank holiday, it was among the earliest in the nation and first in Danville to reopen. During the Civil Rights movement, some homes financed by the Bank were posted as bond for jailed protesters. Maceo Conrad Martin, the Bank’s longest serving president, 1951-1970, protested the arraignment of demonstrators while serving on a special grand jury called to indict them. 96 words/ 595 characters Edited text: First State Bank First State Bank, one of the few banks in Virginia owned by African Americans, opened on 8 Sept. 1919 as the Savings Bank of Danville. By issuing loans to individuals, businesses, and churches, the bank fostered the black community’s vitality during the era of segregation. Maceo Conrad Martin (1897-1981), an officer of the bank from 1919 to 1970, became its president in 1951 and was later president of the National Bankers Association. The only black member of a special seven-man grand jury called during Danville’s civil rights demonstrations of 1963, Martin issued a lone dissent against the indictments of protesters. First State Bank posted bond for nearly 20 jailed demonstrators. 110 words/ 689 characters Sources: Records of First State Bank of Danville, 1919-2000, University of Virginia Library. “Mapping Local Knowledge: Danville, Virginia, 1945-75,” (Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies, University of Virginia). Emma E. Edmunds, “Danville Civil Rights Demonstrations of 1963,” Encyclopedia Virginia. Danville Bee, 13, 28 March 1933, 8 June 1963. 4 Richmond Times-Dispatch, 1 May 1919. Norfolk Journal and Guide, 5 May 1923, 14 July 1923, 15 May 1926, 17 July 1926, 8 Jan. 1927, 4 July 1936, 29 Jan. 1938, 9 Mar. 1940, 3 Mar. 1951, 26 Jan. 1952, 10 Sept. 1955, 11 Jan. 1958, 31 Jan. 1970. Washington Post, 10 June 1963. Danville Register, 9 April 1967. Maceo Conrad Martin death certificate. 4.) McDowell Delaney (1844-1926) Sponsor: Emanuel’s Production Locality: Amelia County Proposed Location: 12535 Fowlkes Bridge Road Sponsor Contact: Emanuel Hyde, [email protected] Original text: McDowell Delaney McDowell Delaney was born in Amelia County, Virginia in 1844 and was educated in a local freedmen school taught by his father. He served as a cook for the 14th Virginia Infantry Regiment and as a cook and teamster. After the Civil War, Delaney managed property at the Freedmen’s Bureau Hospital in Farmville, VA. In 1871 he served in the House of Delegates representing Amelia, VA. Delaney also served as the justice of peace, teacher, coroner and constable for Amelia County. Delaney was an ordained preacher and pastored several churches, namely, Chester Grove Baptist Church. Delaney was accredited for forming the Baptist Association in Amelia, VA. He died on May 30, 1926 and is buried here in the Chester Grove Baptist Church cemetery. 123 words/ 740 characters Edited text: McDowell Delaney (1844-1926) McDowell Delaney was born to free African American parents in Amelia County. During the Civil War he worked as a cook and teamster for the 14th Virginia Infantry Regiment. He later attended a school taught by his father and managed property at the Freedmen’s Bureau Hospital 5 in Farmville. Delaney represented Amelia in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1871 to 1873 and participated in a state convention of African Americans in 1875. He served the county as a justice of the peace, constable, and coroner. Delaney, an ordained minister, was pastor of Chester Grove Baptist Church for 35 years. 99 words/ 597 characters Sources: Donald Gunter, “McDowell Delaney (ca. 1844-after 1924),” Encyclopedia Virginia. McDowell Delaney death certificate, 1926. McDowell Delaney, Confederate Pension Application, 1924 (Confederate Pensions, Act of 1902, Servants), Library of Virginia. Richmond Whig, 27 Oct. 1871. Kathleen Halverson Hadfield, Historical Notes on Amelia County, Virginia (Amelia County Historical Committee), 1982. U.S. Census, 1850, 1860. 5.) Mt. Zion Methodist Church Sponsor: Mt. Zion Methodist Church Locality: Town of Woodstock Proposed Location: 158 N. Church St. Sponsor Contact: Zachary Hottel, [email protected] Original text: Mt.