Healing Charlottesville
History of Jefferson SchoolJefferson School is a publicly owned, historic landmark. It was the proud culmination of one woman's dream, a teacher from Massachusetts, Miss Ana Gardner. Her vision was a school to train teachers. It was the first school in town to offer blacks a graded system of education.The current Jefferson School was built in 1926. It was built to last. The expanded school added high school grades. Before then, blacks had to move away for a high school diploma. Nannie Cox Jackson, born in Charlottesville in 1864, was a teacher for 46 years, 25 years at Jefferson. She taught home economics and started the first hot lunch program with money out of her own pocket. She lectured on manners during luch. We have an elementary school named in her honor. Students who attended Jefferson had to dress up in the style of the day. Even poor children had different clothes for school and for play. Children didn't carry weapons to school because they didn't need to. Violent and rude students were not permitted to attend. Students at Jefferson were better educated than our children today. Jefferson was a magnet school. I was in the school a year and a half ago. I took notice. The building has indoor plumbing and heat. The roof and walls do not appear in danger of collapse. As it has always been, that school should continue as a place of learning and commendable conduct. Jefferson was good enough for black children for generations. It was good enough for white sixth graders. I would be proud to say that my niece or nephew is a student at the historic Jefferson School, a landmark in public education. Blair Hawkins
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