A History of the Origins of Schools’ Names: Committee Members Alma Dietz, HCS Social Studies K-12 Curriculum Leader: Committee Chair Luci Cochran, Executive Director, Hampton History Museum Beth Austin, Registrar & Historian, Hampton History Museum Charles Baumgardner, Social Studies Elementary Teacher Specialist Beth Leatherwood, Secondary Teacher Specialist Rodney Richardson, Phenix PreK-8 Assistant Principal EARLY CHILDHOOD Robert R. Moton (1867-1940) ● Opened in 1948 ● It was named after Robert Russa Moton, who was born in Amelia County, Virginia. He is buried at Hampton University ● At the age of 18, Moton enrolled at Hampton Institute ● He graduated in 1890 and became the Commandant in charge of military discipline (remained for 25 years) ● He was a close friend of Booker T. Washington, the founding principal of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and the two shared a conservative vision of race relations. ● Dr. Moton was named president of Tuskegee Institute following the death of Dr. Booker T. Washington ● Both the physical plant and academic programs were expanded during the Moton administration ● Moton was honored as one of the speakers for the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., May 30, 1922, and his contributions to humankind earned him honorary degrees from Oberlin and Williams College, Virginia Union, Wilberforce, Lincoln, Harvard, and Howard Universities. He was recipient of the Harmon Award in Race Relations (1930) and the Spingarn Medal (1932) ● Moton resigned from his presidency in 1935 because of declining health and died 5 years later. ● The school was named after Moton and opened in 1948 after the Phoebus branch of the NAACP was asked to negotiate with the town of Phoebus and Elizabeth City County ● In 2005, the school became home to preschool students as the Robert R. Moton Early Childhood Center participating in the Virginia Preschool Initiative ● Moton School Mascot: Falcon ● Sources: ○ “Robert Russa Moton,” Encyclopedia Virginia: Virginia Humanities, accessed August 10, 2020 1 ○ “Robert Russa Moton: Second President of Tuskegee Institute,” Tuskegee University, accessed August 10, 2020 ○ “Moton School,” How Our Past Defines Our Future, accessed August 14, 2020 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS Aberdeen ● The original school was built in 1938 ● It was demolished and rebuilt in 1973 ● Named after Aberdeen Gardens, a New Deal planned community initiated by Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), designed specifically for the resettlement of African-American workers in Newport News and Hampton ● In 1934, the Hampton Institute secured a $245,000 federal grant to create the housing development ● It was the only resettlement community for blacks in Virginia and only the second neighborhood in the nation for blacks financed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Subsistence Homestead Project ● It was added to the Virginia Landmark Register on March 10, 1994 and the National Register of Historical Places on May 26, 1994 ● Aberdeen School Mascot: Lion ● School Plaque ● Sources: ○ “Aberdeen Elementary School: About Us,” Hampton City Schools, accessed June 29, 2020 ○ “Aberdeen Gardens: Hampton VA, “ The Living New Deal, accessed June 29, 2020 ○ St. John Erickson, 2018, "Hampton University at 150: Aberdeen Gardens built by blacks, for blacks", The Daily Press, March 31 Armstrong ● It was built in 1922 and is Hampton’s oldest continuous school ● The school was named in honor of the Armstrong family. The school stands today on land donated by the children of William Nevins Armstrong, the brother of Hampton Institute founder Gen. Samuel Chapman Armstrong. ● General Samuel Chapman Armstrong was a Union General during the Civil War who led African American troops ● After the Civil War, Samuel Chapman Armstrong joined the Freedmen’s Bureau and with the help of the American Missionary Association would go on to establish Hampton Institute ● Armstrong School Mascot: Lion ● Sources: ○ “About Armstrong School for the Arts 2017,” Hampton City Schools, accessed June 29, 2020 2 ○ William Nevins Armstrong Papers (MS 39). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/12/resources/3016 Accessed August 12, 2020. ○ “Samuel Chapman Armstrong,” Hampton University, accessed June 29, 2020 ○ St. John Erickson, 2018, ‘Hampton University at 150: Visionary educator founded landmark school’, The Daily Press, March 24. Francis Asbury ● School opened in 1916 with additions in 1937 and 1954. ● Fire damaged the school in 1963 but it was rebuilt in 1964 ● Named after Francis Asbury (1745-1816), a preacher in the Methodist Church who was ordained by John Wesley ● Came from England in 1771 to preach in the British American Colonies and was neutral during the American Revolution ● In 1784 he was ordained as a bishop of the Methodist Church in America and served in that capacity until his death in 1816 ● Interesting side note: In 1780, Asbury met the freedman, Henry Hosier, a meeting the minister believed to be "providentially arranged". Hosier served as Asbury’s driver and guide and, though illiterate, memorized long passages of the Bible as Asbury read them aloud during their travels. Hosier eventually became a famous preacher in his own right, the first African American to preach directly to a white congregation in the United States. ● Asbury School Mascot: Fox ● Sources: ○ “Francis Asbury 2020,” Wikipedia, accessed June 29, 2020 ○ “Francis Asbury: Methodist on Horseback,” Christianity Today, accessed August 6, 2020 ○ “Harry Hosier: An American Who Gave a Beat to Methodist Preaching,” Archives & History The United Methodist Church, accessed August 6, 2020 Barron ● Barron Elementary School opened in 1961 ● Barron Elementary was named to honor the Barron family, an old Hampton family with origins that go back to the 17th century, of which several members in succeeding generations made significant contributions to the history of our city, state, and nation. ● Family members served from the early Virginia Navy serving in the American Revolution to the U.S. Navy up to the Civil War. ● Captain Samuel Barron came to Virginia from Bristol, England in the 17th century. He was placed in command of Fort George (now known as Fort Monroe). He died in 1750 leaving 3 sons. 3 ● The youngest son, James Barron (1740-1787), was appointed by Thomas Jefferson (Virginia’s governor) to command Virginia’s Navy in 1779. ● When James Barron died in 1787, he left 2 sons, Samuel and James. Both joined the Virginia Navy and would eventually join the United States Navy in 1798. ● Samuel Barron (1809-1888), a grandson of James Barron, was a U.S. Naval officer who resigned his commission to join the Confederate Navy in May, 1861. His rank in the Confederate Navy was first as a captain and then promoted to commodore. He, and his son, Samuel Barron, Jr. (1836-1892) both served in the Confederate Navy during the Civil War. ● Members of the Barron family were slave owners ● Barron School Mascot: Knight. (See photo of a knight holding a sword and shield on school website) ● Sources: ○ Barron Elementary School 2017, Hampton City Schools, accessed 29 June 2020, <https://bar.hampton.k12.va.us/school-information>. ○ Spencer, W. F., & the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Samuel Barron (1809–1888). (2020, January 9). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from <http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Barron_Samuel_1809-1888>. ○ “Deposition of William Cooper and Anne Cooper describing a fugitive slave of James Barron,” Hampton Museum Archives, catalog number 2016.1.7 accessed August 12, 2020 ○ “Samuel Barron (Jr.),” Find a Grave Memorial, accessed August 12, 2020 ○ “Inventory of the James Barron Papers (1) 1776-1899,” Swem Library, College of William & Mary, <https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=wm/viw00021.xml>, accessed 13 August 2020. ○ “Inventory of the James Barron Hope Papers (II) 1820-1923,” Swem Library, College of William & Mary, <https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=wm/viw00094.xml>, accessed 13 August 2020. ○ “James Barron,” Naval History and Heritage Command, U.S. Navy, <https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/research-guides/z-files/zb- files/zb-files-b/barron-james.html>, accessed 13 August 2020. ○ Property tax lists, Elizabeth City County, 1782-1787, 1798, 1790. ○ Robert Armistead Stewart, The History of Virginia’s Navy in the Revolution, (Richmond, Va.: Mitchell & Hotchkiss, 1934), 144-148. A.W.E. Bassette ● School opened in 1970 ● Named after Andrew Walter Ernest Bassette (1857-1942) 4 ● He rose from an impoverished background to become an educator, lawyer, businessman, civic and religious leader ● Born November 1857, possibly enslaved. ● He entered the teaching profession after graduating from Hampton Institute in 1876 ● In 1895, he founded one of the first schools for African-American children. ● Was a founder of the Peoples’ Building and Loan Association to aid African- Americans in the community to secure loans for property. ● His granddaughter, Rachel Noel, was a politician and civil rights leader in Colorado. ● Bassette School Mascot: Panda ● Sources: ○ “Andrew W. E. Bassette (1857–1942),” Encyclopedia Virginia, accessed August 6, 2020 ○ “Rachel Noel (1918-2008),” Denver Public Library, accessed August 6, 2020 ○ “Bassette Elementary School,” How Our Past Defines Our Future, accessed August 14, 2020 Booker ● The Hampton School Board decided in the early 1960s to build the school to accommodate the rapidly growing elementary school population in this area. ● The School Board wished to name the school after a Hampton family that had shown a great deal of interest in education and wanted to make their community a better place, especially for children. They selected the Booker family. ● Booker school opened in 1968 ● Named after the Booker family with origins that go back to 1621 ● The origin of the Booker family began when Captain Thomas Purifoy came over on the ship “George” in 1621. In 1631, he purchased 500 acres of land on the northwest branch of the Back River in Elizabeth County, which later became part of Hampton. ● One of Captain Purifoy’s descendants married Captain Richard Booker (1723- 1764) and from this marriage, George Booker (1747-1816) was born.