The History of Princess Anne County Training School and Union Kempsville High School Princess Anne County/Virginia Beach, Virginia 1925-1969 Joanne Harris Lucas Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Educational Leadership and Policy Studies N. Wayne Tripp, Co-Chair Travis W. Twiford, Co-Chair Carol S. Cash Violet J. Hoyle February 14, 2013 Virginia Beach, Virginia Keywords: Black, County Training School, Desegregation, Industrial Education, Massive Resistance, Segregation, Separate-But-Equal The History of Princess Anne County Training School and Union Kempsville High School Princess Anne County/Virginia Beach, Virginia 1925-1969 Joanne Harris Lucas Abstract The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the history of Princess Anne County Training School and Union Kempsville High School in Princess Anne County/Virginia Beach, Virginia. The method of inquiry was qualitative, historical research that relied on oral histories to provide a cultural understanding of the school from the perspectives of its students, administrators, teachers, and staff. The school’s history was reconstructed through direct engagement with individuals whose interviews recounted the establishment, growth, operation, and demise of Princess Anne County Training School/Union Kempsville High School. In order to minimize the nostalgic influence and bring greater validity to the oral histories, data were also collected from historical accounts, school board and community organization minutes, local periodicals, and school artifacts. Segregation cultivated legally separate-but-equal schools for Blacks and Whites, with little or no attention given to actual equality. In 1925, the Black community in Princess Anne County, Virginia, mobilized to build a high school for their children who were denied an education beyond seventh grade. Princess Anne County Training School opened for Black students in 1938 and initially utilized a curriculum based on industrial education. It was the first and only Black high school in Princess Anne County/Virginia Beach, Virginia. As Princess Anne County Training School progressed, the Black community eventually repudiated the term, training school. The school’s name was changed to Union Kempsville High School in the fall of 1961. Gradual desegregation inaugurated by the Brown v. Board of Education decisions led to a decline in student enrollment, and Union Kempsville High School closed in 1969. iii Dedication This study is dedicated to the memories of my mother, Dr. Ruth Jones Harris; and my husband, Mr. Calvin Cromwell Lucas. From my mother’s example, I learned to keep God close and that there is always room for improvement. From my husband’s lifestyle, I learned that it is important to work hard, but it is equally as important to have fun. iv Acknowledgements I first want to give honor to God for the blessings that enabled me to successfully complete the course work for Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, and to successfully defend my dissertation. I am especially thankful to my parents, Dr. Curtis West Harris, Sr. and the late Dr. Ruth Jones Harris, who provided a home environment that emphasized the power of knowledge and assisted me in becoming a lifelong learner. My immediate family refers to itself as the Harris Connection, and our motto is: I am because we are; and since we are, therefore, I am. I am grateful that they are, so I can be. My daughter, Crystal, and my granddaughters, Alana and Sajé are sources of joy in my life—in return, I want my accomplishments to be a source of pride in theirs. I must also applaud my close friends for their steadfastness in encouraging me to finish what I started. I have tremendous respect for Dr. Tripp and Dr. Twiford, the co-chairs of my committee, and I am so appreciative of their patience and guidance. I thank you for your continued support even after retirement. To my other committee members, Dr. Cash and Dr. Hoyle, I thank you for consenting to play the essential roles of reader, critic, and listener in reference to my dissertation. Words cannot express my gratitude for the members of the Princess Anne County Training School/Union Kempsville High School Historical Committee who allowed me to assist in their charge of writing the history of the only Black high school in Princess Anne County/Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was through this committee that I was introduced to most of the individuals who became participants in my study. To those who participated in my study, I will forever be indebted to you. I marvel at your willingness and graciousness to share your memories of Princess Anne County Training School/Union Kempsville High School with me— thank you! I want to give special recognition to Mrs. Edna Hawkins-Hendrix, a local historian and author. When we met, she had already done extensive research on the Black schools in Princess Anne County/Virginia Beach, Virginia. She unselfishly shared amazing primary and secondary sources that became critical to the development of my dissertation. Edna Hawkins-Hendrix is an extraordinary human being, and I am so grateful for her kindness. v Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... ii Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 Context of the Study ..................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose and Significance of the Study ........................................................................................ 2 Statement of the Problem and Research Questions ..................................................................... 3 Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 4 Limitations of the Study ............................................................................................................. 10 Delimitations of the Study ......................................................................................................... 10 Definitions of Terms .................................................................................................................. 11 Organization of the Study .......................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2: The Education of Blacks in Virginia ...................................................................... 13 Prohibition of Black Education ................................................................................................. 13 Schools for Blacks Established by the Freedmen’s Bureau, 1865-1871 ................................... 15 Virginia Mandates Universal Education, 1870 ......................................................................... 17 Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 ........................................................................................................... 20 Period of Initiation and Awakening, 1870-1906 ....................................................................... 21 Period of Development and Accomplishment, 1906-1939 ........................................................ 23 Hampton-Tuskegee Model v. Talented Tenth ............................................................................ 26 County Training School Movement ........................................................................................... 32 Segregated Schools in Virginia ................................................................................................. 36 Quest for Equality ...................................................................................................................... 37 NAACP Legal Team in Virginia ................................................................................................ 39 Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 and 1955 .......................................................................... 40 Massive Resistance in Virginia ................................................................................................. 42 Chapter 3: The Education of Blacks in Princess Anne County/ Virginia Beach, Virginia .. 44 Black Education in Princess Anne County - Antebellum Years ................................................ 44 Black Education in Princess Anne County - Reconstruction .................................................... 46 Black Education in Princess Anne County/Virginia Beach - 20th Century ............................... 49 Chapter 4: The Oral Histories of PACTS/UKHS ..................................................................... 62 What is Oral History? ............................................................................................................... 62 Motivated Black Residents in Princess Anne County ................................................................ 65 County Training School Movement and PACTS/UKHS ............................................................ 81 Growth and Operation of PACTS/UKHS .................................................................................. 87 Day-to-Day Management ...................................................................................................... 88 Principal Leadership ............................................................................................................. 92 Role of the Teacher ................................................................................................................ 98 vi Student Success .................................................................................................................... 102 School Activities .................................................................................................................. 106 Desegregation and Demise of PACTS/UKHS ......................................................................... 111 Chapter 5: Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 120 Summary .................................................................................................................................. 120 Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 121 Recommendations For Further Study ..................................................................................... 128 References ................................................................................................................................... 130 Appendix A PACTS/UKHS Timeline ......................................................................................... 141 Appendix B The Renaissance Academy ..................................................................................... 144 Appendix C Entrance of PACTS/UKHS Museum ...................................................................... 145 Appendix D PACTS/UKHS Historical Committee .................................................................... 146 Appendix E Interview Questions for PACTS/UKHS Students, Administrators, Teachers, and Staff ............................................................................................................................................. 147 Appendix F Interview Questions for White Residents of Virginia Beach, Virginia ................... 151 Appendix G Training in Human Subjects Protection Certificate of Completion ........................ 153 Appendix H IRB Approval .......................................................................................................... 154 Appendix I Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Informal Consent for Participants in Research Projects Involving Human Subjects ......................................................................... 156 Appendix J Correspondence about Transcriptions and Risks Error ............................................ 159 Appendix K Confirmation Letter ................................................................................................ 161 Appendix L PACTS Association Trustees .................................................................................. 162 Appendix M Deed for Land to Build PACTS/UKHS ................................................................. 163 Appendix N PACTS and Agriculture Building 1938 And 1939 ................................................. 164 Appendix O PACTS/UKHS Administration, Faculty, And Staff 1934 - 1969 ........................... 165 Appendix P PACTS with Addition 1949 .................................................................................... 170 Appendix Q PACTS/UKHS 1953 - 1969 .................................................................................... 171 Appendix R Class of 1938 ........................................................................................................... 172 Appendix S Class of 1941 ........................................................................................................... 173 Appendix T Class of 1943 ........................................................................................................... 174 Appendix U Class of 1947 .......................................................................................................... 175 Appendix V Class of 1948 .......................................................................................................... 176 Appendix W Class of 1949 .......................................................................................................... 177 Appendix X Class of 1953 .......................................................................................................... 178 vii Appendix Y Class of 1954 .......................................................................................................... 179 Appendix Z Class of 1957 ........................................................................................................... 180 Appendix AA Class of 1962 ........................................................................................................ 181 Appendix BB Class of 1966 ........................................................................................................ 182 Appendix CC Class of 1969 ........................................................................................................ 183 Appendix DD Mr. Thaddeus Clay Smith, Sr. PACTS Principal 1938 - 1946 ............................ 184 Appendix EE Mr. Joseph V. Boykin, Sr. PACTS/UKHS Principal 1946 - 1969 ....................... 185 Appendix FF PACTS/UKHS Teacher Pictures ........................................................................... 186 Appendix GG 1938 Report Card ................................................................................................. 191 Appendix HH 1941 Report Card ................................................................................................. 193 Appendix II PACTS/UKHS Alma Mater .................................................................................... 195 Appendix JJ Activities/Clubs/Sports ........................................................................................... 196 Appendix KK PACTS/UKHS Newspaper .................................................................................. 210 Appendix LL Yearbook Page - 1946 ........................................................................................... 211 Appendix MM Yearbook Page - 1955 ........................................................................................ 212 Appendix NN Yearbook Page - 1958 .......................................................................................... 213 Appendix OO Yearbook Page - 1965 .......................................................................................... 214 Appendix PP Yearbook Page - 1966 ........................................................................................... 215 Appendix QQ Yearbook Page - 1968 (A) ................................................................................... 216 Appendix RR Yearbook Page - 1968 (B) .................................................................................... 217 Appendix SS Yearbook Page - 1969 ........................................................................................... 218 viii List of Tables Table 1 Virginia Public Schools, 1871 .......................................................................................... 18   Table 2 Course of Study for the Public High Schools of Virginia, 1910 ....................................... 26   Table 3 Princess Anne County Schools, 1886 ............................................................................... 48   Table 4 Economic and Social Survey of Princess Anne County, 1924 ......................................... 74   Table 5 Course Offerings for Princess Anne County High Schools, 1938 .................................. 103   Table 6 Traditions Established at PACTS/UKHS ....................................................................... 107   Table 7 Decline in UKHS Enrollment and Graduating Seniors, 1964 - 1969 ............................ 116 1 Chapter 1: Introduction Context of the Study Former students and teachers of Princess Anne County Training School/Union Kempsville High School (PACTS/UKHS) took a last walk through their dated but treasured school on Saturday, June 30, 2007 (Bowers, 2007). The luster was gone, but heartwarming memories lingered in the halls of the first and only Black public high school in Princess Anne County/Virginia Beach, Virginia. Since the closing of PACTS/UKHS in 1969, the building had housed the Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) Center for Effective Learning (Roth, 2007). A petition circulated “to have the school declared a historic landmark” (Payne, 1997a, A1), but the petition did not prevent the demolition of the aging structure in the summer of 2007 to make way for a multimillion-dollar VBCPS alternative education center called The Renaissance Academy (Roth, 2007). The symbolic last walk and demolition were bittersweet in the hearts and spirits of PACTS/UKHS Tiger alumni. According to a Union Kempsville High School graduate, “while we see plans for a beautiful new facility to serve many young people, there is a fear that once the building is gone, our history will be forgotten” (Bowers, 2007, p. 1). In the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision, the United States Supreme Court mandated separate-but-equal public facilities for Blacks and Whites (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896). Even though Plessy v. Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of separate accommodations on railroads, the decision was critical to the history of public education in the United States. Segregation became fundamental in the development of public education in the Commonwealth of Virginia as well as in Princess Anne/Virginia Beach. The separate-but-unequal reality of Plessy forced Black children in the county to pay tuition and travel to Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk if they wanted more than a seventh-grade education (Payne, 1997a). In 1925, Black parents organized the Princess Anne County Training School Association and began fundraising with the dream of “a safe and decent educational environment” (Payne, 1997a, p. A1) in the county where Black high school students could excel. The association raised $1200 within a year and purchased four acres of land to build such a high school (Payne, 1997a). Time did little to diminish the desires of the Black parents, and PACTS opened in the fall of 1938 (Hawkins- Hendrix, 2008). Bake sales were held and chicken dinners were sold to provide the new school 2 with everything from a set of encyclopedias to heating fuel (Payne, 1997b). What PACTS lacked in materials was made up with high expectations and commitment from the Black community (Payne, 1997b). The county training school movement began during the school term of 1911-1912 in Louisiana and supported the idea of an industrial education for Black students beyond seventh grade (Redcay, 1937). In 1938, the objectives of the movement coincided with the educational needs of Princess Anne County’s Black children. Gradually the term, training school, took on a negative connotation and came to be considered demeaning. Upon request from representatives of the Black community in 1962, Princess Anne County Training School was renamed Union Kempsville High School (Payne, 1997b). The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision declared segregated schools unconstitutional, and Black parents were granted Freedom of Choice in school selection for their children (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954). Union Kempsville High School’s population dwindled as its students began to transfer to better equipped, predominately White schools located closer to their homes. In 1969, the impact of desegregation and a declining enrollment finally led to the closing of PACTS/UKHS (Payne, 1997b). A timeline of the history of PACTS/UKHS is in Appendix A. Purpose and Significance of the Study In 2007, the Virginia Beach City School Board approved architectural plans to build The Renaissance Academy, a new alternative education center, on the original site of PACTS/UKHS. A picture of The Academy is located in Appendix B. The plans contained a physical commemoration of PACTS/UKHS arranged in an exhibit museum area including a replication of the Union Kempsville High School auditorium (Jones-Howell, 2006). The entrance of the museum is displayed in Appendix C. PACTS/UKHS alumni willingly joined forces with VBCPS officials to establish protocols for the collection of yearbooks, class rings, photographs, and other artifacts the organizers hoped to display in the museum (Jones-Howell, 2006). The plans for a museum to commemorate PACTS/UKHS impressed the researcher and provoked an interest in individuals who had a personal connection to the school as students, administrators, teachers, or staff members. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the history of Princess Anne County Training School and Union Kempsville High School in