[Note— My friend, Mars, once suggested young children should hear from me about living in a Jim Crow world. Kids born in the 2010s and living in Southern California have no first-hand knowledge. I was born and grew up in a Jim Crow world from 1961 to the fall of 1969. I am part of a dying breed, so Mars has a point. No one seems interested in hearing me talk about the things I knew which are an important part of American history. Perhaps, some fear I might deviate from dogma. See the Harvard Club of San Diego.
I don’t rewrite history to sooth dogma. I know what I knew as a young kid in Hickory Hill. The following offers a nice overview of my known Jim Crow world from birth to the age of seven. As a kid that age, I have no memories of racism, prejudice or bigotry. My known Jim Crow world was family and black people. I attended Hickory Hill Elementary School on the hill. My Dad attended Hickory Hill and George Washington Carver High School. My Grandma attended Hickory Hill on land formerly owned by her grandfather, Daniel Brown (1833 - 1885).
Twymans had a reputation for smarts in the county.
However, the Friends were more plugged in and influential. I grew up in the 1970s across the street from James B. Friend, Sr., a real estate developer of black neighborhoods and homes. His son, James B. Friend, Jr., was married to the Principal of Matoaca High School. James B. Friend III was my student council vice-president in high school. Mrs. Helen Friend was my fourth grade teacher. Another Friend was the girlfriend and sweetheart of my Uncle James Scott. Friends were everywhere as you will observe in the names below. My world was a southern small-town where 90 percent of black families had two parents and families had known each other for generations.
I was blessed in hindsight, Jim Crow notwithstanding.]
African-American high school’s legacy lives on
By Jennifer Drummond CONTRIBUTING WRITER
February 27, 2008
The design was simple: a two-story, dark red brick, box-shaped building with a few steps leading to an entrance of triple-glass doors. Although just a short distance from the highway, this historic school named after the Africa-American educator and inventor of peanut agricultural science, George Washington Carver, was almost hidden and easy to pass by. The building now has a new name — the Chesterfield Community High School — and its doors are still open to students just as it was 60 years ago.
On September 8, 1948 with 347 students, Carver became the only high school in Chesterfield County where African-Americans could receive a high school education. The school was created as the result of a merger of Hickory Hill and D. Webster Davis high schools. Hickory Hill was the county’s first African-American high school, and also served as an elementary school. It was built on the northern end of the county, which was later annexed into Richmond. D. Webster Davis, which was owned by what is now Virginia State University, was in the southern part of the county. The eventual closing of the two schools and their merged enrollment became the student population of Carver with a more centralized location. Maroon and white were the school colors, representing each school, and they were known as the wolverines.
“Mr. James Spencer was the former principal of Hickory Hill, which was founded in 1915, and it was an old and dilapidated building, so Mr. Spencer approached the Chesterfield School Board for a new high school building for Negroes,” recalled Brenda Friend Briggs, a retired attorney and Carver graduate from the Class of 1961.
“The man fought for black schools in Chesterfield County until he retired, and he was very involved in wanting to see black people getting a good education,” added Susie Brown, a Carver graduate from the Class of 1950.
Carver was a hub of activity for students and fostered relationships among families throughout the community. “All my siblings graduated from there,” said Briggs.
Students left home as early as 5:00 a.m. just to get to a bus stop so they could go to Carver. Facilities were extremely modest. One room served as the gym, cafeteria and auditorium for the 13-classroom school.
In addition to being a high school, Carver also housed offices for several prominent local African-Americans, including Marguerite Friend Christian who served as the supervisor of elementary schools in Chesterfield. Christian is the only African-American woman in the county to have a public school named after her, the Marguerite Christian Elementary School.
In the beginning, Carver only offered classes through the 11th grade. “My class was the first class graduating under the 12-year plan. Before, you only went to 11th grade, and then the school system changed it,” said Brown.
Brown met her husband, Ellwood, while they were both students at Carver. He was one year ahead of her. The couple attended their prom together at Carver.
There were about 8-12 graduates in the first graduating class of 1949, and Ellwood Brown was one of them. “I really enjoyed it. I played on the basketball and baseball team,” he recalled. After graduation, he went to trade school for a year at Virginia State. His wife, Susie, also attended Virginia State.
In September, the Browns will celebrate 55 years of marriage. “I did not have a favorite teacher or subject, but enjoyed school. That’s where I met my wife so I am sill enjoying it,” he said.
Even with all the positives of having a school such as Carver, there still were negatives. The school was substandard, said Briggs. “When the white schools discarded their books, we got them.” Research has also shown more county money was spend per white student than on black students. Despite the inequities, Carver still thrived and continued to graduate African-American students until it closed its doors in 1970, as many schools were fully integrated by that time. In 2001, the building became home to Community High School.
According to Briggs, many of Carver’s graduates went on to leadership roles in education, administration and management. Some also became attorneys and clergy.
This year is Carver’s 60th anniversary. In celebration, a book has been published about the school, and a book signing will be held at Fort Lee on August 23. There is also a Carver choir in the works.
Carver graduates also support current students at Community High School through scholarship programs. “We have adopted the school to bring a linkage between the current school and the original Carver school, both of which have operated in the same building with similar missions,” explained Briggs. “We had to come from all over the county due to segregation. They come by choice from all parts of the county. It is still an all county environment.” George Washington Carver High School The New South
“Carver High, dear school of mine.
It’s you that I adore
In thee all things are so divine:
I'll love you forever more”
— Last Stanza of Carver’s alma mater
Written by Mae Friend