ings in the 1960s. And separate those little schools

ings in the 1960s.

And separate those little schools were. For Black folks, just assuring barely adequate conditions was a constant struggle, with much of the funding and support coming from private rather than public sources. Impetus (and public pressure) for improvement, not surprisingly, came from within the Black community with leaders such as Anna W. Green (1890-1949), a local giant in this effort, in the forefront. Support from two philanthropic organizations, the Rosenwald and the Anna T. Jeanes Funds was critical to progress in the early 20th Century. The former provided standardized plans and finances for construction of ‘Graded’ (code word for Black) schools while the latter supported staff for vocational training. Several of the Rosenwald Graded Schools remain within the county. Current community efforts are focused on the preservation and renovation of one of these, the Scrabble School.

After 1900, the increasingly complex industrial age necessitated more widespread secondary education and public high schools appeared on the scene. Unfortunately in many rural localities there was not even a semblance of separate but equal secondary facilities. Counties such as Rappahannock and Madison had no options for high school classes for Blacks. Culpeper and Orange counties had Black secondary schools that Rappahannock students could attend on a tuition basis, but like the Graded Schools, they were sub par in comparison to their White counterparts. Some improvement in quality, but not location, came in 1937. Through the efforts of Anna Green and others, Rappahannock County agreed to subsidize a portion of the cost for Black students to attend the Manassas Industrial Institute. The level of training there was better than the local options but once again there were catches. The number of slots available for out-of-county students was limited. And