September 5, 2024

Lucille Smith will provide an overview of her new book about the three segregated Black High Schools in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County from 1926-1951.

From the late 1800’s to 1951, there were more than 45 one and two-room feeder schools created in Albemarle County.  The schools fed into two of the three area segregated Black high schools.  In 1926, Jefferson High School opened its doors to serve students in Charlottesville from grades six through nine, and for the first time, Black students would receive an education beyond eighth grade. In 1926, the five room Albemarle Training School became the County’s first four year high school for Black students, including grades seven through ten.  In the 1930’s, Esmont High School served Black students from Esmont and other feeder communities in southern Albemarle County, educating students in grades five through eleven. Lucille will discuss the importance of preserving this rich history Many of the schools began as makeshift facilities, in need of repair, poorly heated and badly ventilated.  Teacher and students had access only to worn, second-hand books for teaching and learning. Her book will provide a pictorial history of the more than 45 feeder schools, the seven Rosenwald schools of the County and the path for the schools to become High Schools.

Thursday, September 5 at 4 o’clock IN PERSON at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center