The Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth, commemorated as the

Jennie Dean Jane Serepta Dean (April 15, 1848 – May 3, 1913) (nicknamed "Jennie" or "Miss Jennie") was born into slavery in northern Virginia, freed as a result of the American Civil War, and became an important founder of churches and Sunday Schools for A ...

Memorial Site, was a former

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

for African-American children in

Manassas, Virginia Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Prince William County, although the two are separate jurisdi ...

. The current site name honors the school's founder, Jennie Dean, a charismatic ex-slave who believed in the value of vocational education for African-American youth of both sexes. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> Dean and other African Americans (with assistance of sympathetic whites) established the school as a private residential institution in 1893. In 1938, after the Virginia Supreme Court finally interpreted the 1902 state constitution's free public education requirement as mandating public schools for African American children as well as white children (through litigation sponsored by the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

), a regional public school system took over operations and ran the school until 1959. Thus, for approximately two decades between 1938 until 1958, the Manassas Industrial School formally became the only school for secondary education of African American students in five northern Virginia counties (

Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educat ...

Fairfax Fairfax may refer to: Places United States * Fairfax, California * Fairfax Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California * Fairfax District, Los Angeles, California, centered on Fairfax Avenue * Fairfax, Georgia * Fairfax, Indiana * Fa ...

, Arlington,

Loudoun Loudoun ( gd, Lughdan) is a parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland and lies between five and ten miles east of Kilmarnock. The parish roughly encompasses the northern half of the Upper-Irvine Valley and borders Galston Parish (which encompasses the ...

and Fauquier). After World War II, northern Virginia's population increased and the NAACP followed victories improving salaries for black teachers and allowing black children to receive bus rides to segregated schools by litigating directly against segregated schools. This led to several important court decisions against segregation in the 1950s and 1960s, including

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...

and a companion case from Virginia. Opponents of integration initially implemented a

massive resistance Massive resistance was a strategy declared by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. of Virginia and his brother-in-law James M. Thomson, who represented Alexandria in the Virginia General Assembly, to get the state's white politicians to pass laws and p ...

strategy, which initially closed schools integrating even pursuant to court order, but eventually led to integrated schools. The Manassas Industrial School closed in 1959, after the Virginia Supreme Court and a three-judge panel of federal judges both separately ruled on January 19, 1959 ( Lee-Jackson Day in Virginia) against the core Virginia Massive Resistance legislation. The Manassas Industrial School buildings were demolished and a new elementary school with ball fields and park facilities constructed nearby. A series of historic markers was erected on the property and the site landscaped. In September, 2015, the school's class roster for 1927 was discovered. The Principal was William C. Taylor. Class colors were Red and Black. Class flower was a White Rose. Class roll was: William Henry Bailey, Garnetta Cornelia Battle, Ruth Estelle Clarke, Edward Albert Chambers, Naomi Agusta Dean, Edith Mae Gaskins, Harry Wilson Hall, Virginia Kelley Kenny, Paul Emanuel Rier, Adrian Francais Robinson, Mary Viola Roberts, Kathleen Lewisha Thomas, Rosa James Thomas, Tasco Delany Thomas, Hazel Belle Voorhees, William Henry Waddell, George Shermy woodson, Roberta Josephine Waters and Mary Synora Waller. Class motto was: Pick out your peak and climb. The site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1994.

References

External links

Manassas Industrial School & Jennie Dean Memorial
- City of Manassas {{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia African-American history of Virginia School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia School buildings completed in 1893 Buildings and structures in Manassas, Virginia Parks in Virginia Tourist attractions in Manassas, Virginia Monuments and memorials in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Manassas, Virginia