In 1931, J. Edgar Thomas, Susie Wharton Thomas and William H. Bailey sold a lot in the town of Accomac containing 0.842 of an acre to the trustees of the Accomack County Colored High School Association for $750. The trustees, Reverend R, C. Hughes, W. J. Laws, R. H. Hall, G. W. Downing, Mary N. Smith, C. H. Ewell and Alma Parker purchased the property and in 1932 built the first secondary school for the black children of Accomack County. The first class graduated in 1935. This school was named for Mrs. Mary Nottingham Smith (1892-1951), a trustee of the school and a person well known on the Eastern Shore. Born in Northampton County, Smith had worked in the Accomack County school system since 1921 as Jeanes Educational Supervisor.
The Jeanes Foundation (also known as the Negro Rural School Fund) was founded by a Quaker, Anna T. Jeanes, to improve vocational training programs for teachers of black students. In 1953, a larger high school, also named Mary Nottingham Smith, was built on another site. In 1956, the first school was renamed T. C. Walker Elementary School, after an African American attorney from Gloucester County. This building was demolished in 1987. A historical marker has been erected at that site.
As part of integration, the new school was renamed Mary Nottingham Smith Middle School in 1970 and remained active in this role until 2004.
Source: excerpts from The Virginia African American Hertiage Program
No comments:
Post a Comment