Colonial Williamsburg restoring school for Black children
This 1921 image provided by the The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation shows the front elevation of the Dudley Digges House in its original location on Prince George Street, in Williamsburg, Va. The schoolhouse where enslaved and free Black children were taught before the Revolutionary War will be moved from the William & Mary campus to Colonial Williamsburg and restored to its original state, officials announced Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. (Earl Gregg Swem/John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library/The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation via AP)
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — A schoolhouse in Virginia where enslaved and free Black children were taught before the Revolutionary War will once again become part of Colonial Williamsburg.
The 18th century building will be moved from the campus of William & Mary to the living history museum several blocks away.
Both institutions announced Friday that the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is buying the building that once housed the Bray School, where Ben Franklin and other benefactors supported the education of Black children from 1760 to 1774.
Its mission was to impart Christian education to Black children.