We are commemorating Black History Month in February. One of my favorite books in RELIC is Lucy Phinney’s “Yesterday’s Schools,” which showcases schools in Prince William County (both white and Black).

According to Mrs. Phinney in her preface, “This study is concerned only with the County’s public elementary schools from their beginnings in 1869 until they were fully integrated nearly a century later in 1966.”

The Rosenwald Fund started in 1914 to aid Black schools by raising additional money to erect schoolhouses in Black communities.

According to Mrs. Phinney, “While many parts of the South failed to provide any schooling for Black children… this does not seem to be the case in Prince William County. Though colored schools were physically inferior to their white counterparts… there were schools available” (page 41).

But it was not until the 1966-67 school year that Antioch-Macrae, Washington-Reid, and Jennie Dean were desegregated.

The author looks at individual schools and their history and includes a photograph if available. “Yesterday’s Schools” is a great resource in RELIC’s collection.