Education
The first schools in Virginia were provided by churches. In 1870, a statewide public school system was established, but with separation of black and white pupils codified in Virginia law. One-room school houses cropped up throughout the county until school consolidation began around 1910. Few schools were well funded, and local residents often had to chip in. Schools for black children in Elliston and Shawsville benefited from the Julius Rosenwald fund. Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck, & Co., established the fund to help construct thousands of standardized school buildings throughout the South. Montgomery County closed these schools in the 1960 following the Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision and the end of school segregation.
These images are a small representative sample of our collection. Visit the museum to see all items on display, or contact us about accessing available files.
Elliston Elementary School, circa 1923
Den Hill School
Shawsville High School Senior Boys, 1948
Shawsville High School poster, circa 1935
Alleghany District High School: First row (l. to r.) Ann Givens Atkinson, Goldie Richardson, Ann Caroline Brookman, Betty Davidson, Barbara Graham, Peggy Matz. Second row: Mr. Richards (sponsor), Ruth Apgar, Oleta East, Mary Sue Johnston, Mary Agnes Hall, Phyllis Keith. Third row: Theodore Bradford, J.R. Harless. Absent were Harold Conner, Sylvia, Teddy, and Dorothy Perdue.
Shawsville High School principal Paul Zirkle and his wife Missouri, circa 1942
Shawsville High School class of 1937. Show (l. to r): top row Dorothy Webb, Etta Mae Jewell; middle row Colston Snead, Marjorie Wood, Tom Pearman, Thelma A. Richardson, Annabell Sisson, Verna Marie Graham, Donald Mitchell; bottom row Louise Watterson, Edna Mae Mills, Vera Peterson.
Alleghany Springs School class of 1905
Alleghany District High School girls from class of 1963. Shown (l. to r.) are Charlotte Ann Sisson, Judy Rice Musselman, Kathryn "Kate" Compton, Nora Compton, and Linda Brammer.
