~ PVN staff report
LURAY — The Historic Andrew Jackson School Museum Committee will host the Page Valley’s first annual celebration of Black History Month at 1 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 24 at the West Luray Recreation Center.
The 2024 theme is “African Americans and the Arts” spanning the many impacts Black Americans have had on visual arts, music, cultural movements and more. This is a culmination of events that students, churches and The Rec Center have been working on all month. There will be a play, announcement of the essay contest winners, and more.
While the program will take place from 1 to 3 p.m., the Historic Andrew Jackson School Museum will be open from noon to 4 p.m. The one-room museum contains an original chalkboard and the original ceiling and floorboards from the Andrew Jackson School, as well as exhibits that highlight former teachers (showing that only one lived in Luray, while other hailed from North Carolina, West Virginia, D.C. and all across Virginia.) Other items highlight former students through everything from old photographs to an original roll sheet from 1926.
The building now known as “The Rec” has had many uses over the years since it was a school, including a dance hall. Now, the structure represents the cultural center of a community.
“On Jan. 12, 1926, the Andrew Jackson School replaced School No. 5 that sat adjacent to St. John’s Church and opened its doors to black students in grades 1 through 7,” reads the historical marker in front of the building, which was dedicated on Aug. 13, 2022. “The school board added one grade each year until they reached the 11th grade — where they stopped. Up to 1959, black students had to travel outside the Page Valley in order to complete their high school diploma.”
Check out the video below to learn more:
Learn more about Living Legacy Luray at https://livinglegacyluray.org/
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