Grads of Beach's bygone black school get peek at new museum

By Jaedda Armstrong

VIRGINIA BEACH

Erma Brown stared at a picture of her late grandfather Friday. As tears rolled down her cheeks, she explained how in 1926, he and other parents purchased land at Witchduck Road and Cleveland Street to help build Princess Anne County Training School for the area's black students.

At the time, they had to travel to Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk because the schools in Princess Anne County were for white students only.

The school opened in 1938 and was renamed Union Kempsville in 1961. It closed in 1969 after segregation ended.

On Friday, 10 alumni gathered inside the one-room museum that honors the school's founders, students and staff. In 2007, after the city demolished the school, a group of alumni wanted others to continue to learn about Union Kempsville's place in history.

City school officials agreed and approved $500,000 to build the museum, located inside Renaissance Academy, an alternative middle and high school that now sits on the site of the original school.

The 1,400-square-foot space is not finished, but Friday the 10 alumni were allowed in. The group, called the Princess Anne County Training/Union Kempsville High School Historical Committee, spent nearly three years compiling artifacts including textbooks, letter sweaters and athletic trophies.

"This is unbelievable," said Brown, a 1962 graduate and retired government worker, as she wiped her eyes.

On display were photos of the first debutante ball and graduation and a touch-screen kiosk to view virtual yearbooks. The group pointed and laughed as they recognized classmates and teachers.

"That building only had four rooms," said Roy Reid, a 1943 graduate who later came back as the school's first band director, pointing to a picture of the original school.

Reid could be spotted in a graduation picture, clad in his cap and gown.

"Look at you!" someone yelled pointing out Reid's silly smirk and glasses. At the end of the visit, smiles were wide and tears were flowing. But the work wasn't done.

The group headed to a conference room to continue writing the school's history, which will appear in a booklet for museum guests.

The museum is slated to open May 17, and admission will be $3 to $5, officials said.

"We're in awe of everything," said Margie Wilson Coefield, a 1962 graduate and the group's chairwoman.

"This will tell the story of the African American people of Princess Anne County and what our ancestors did to ensure we, too, could get a quality education."

Jaedda Armstrong, (757) 222-5110, jaedda.armstrong@pilotonline.com