Norfolk_mission_college_norfolk_virginia

The Norfolk Mission College (NMC) was a privately funded public school for

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

students in the

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

area. The school was established by the

United Presbyterians The United Presbyterian Church (1847–1900) was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination. It was formed in 1847 by the union of the United Secession Church and the Relief Church, and in 1900 merged with the Free Church of Scotland to form the United ...

and the first class started in 1883. NMC taught thousands of students at various levels of education and provided for students who could not afford the fifty cent

tuition Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

. The school lasted until 1916 and was then sold to the Norfolk school board and turned into Booker T. Washington High School.After the new Booker T. Washington High School opened in 1924, the building became Paul Laurence Dunbar Elementary School. In 1955, that building was demolished and now the Blyden Branch of the Norfolk Public Library is located on the same spot.

About

The Norfolk Mission College (NMC) was located on Princess Anne Road in

and included two buildings for classes, a school

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

, a church and a home for the school's principal. The

founded the school in 1882 when Reverend Matthew Clark discovered a need for African-American schools in Norfolk in 1882. The school started out teaching 467 students in the first year, when classes started in January of 1883. After that, the school taught significantly more students, with there being 1,050 students enrolled in 1884. The first principal was Reverend Clarke who worked for the Freedmen's Mission of the United Presbyterians board. The first class of NMC graduated in May of 1888. The school charged

, which was around 50 cents, though waived the fee for students who could not afford to pay. NMC educated

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

students and was the first privately funded public school for black students in Norfolk.

Curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

taught at the school included the usual subjects, such as math, science and history and also included

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and classes on the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. The school taught primary level classes, intermediate grades and high school level classes. When enrollment decreased, the United Presbyterian church sold the school in 1916 or 1917. The school was purchased by the school board in Norfolk and the John T. West High School was moved there. Later, the school was known as the Booker T. Washington High School. The building was demolished in 1955 and the Blyden Branch of the Norfolk Public Library is now located on the same spot as the original college. Before the building was demolished, graduates of NMC used to hold an annual reunion at the former college.

Notable students

* L. Eudora Ashburne (1887-1992), physician. *

James Wormley Jones James Wormley Jones (September 22, 1884 – December 11, 1958) was an African-American policeman and World War I veteran, who is best known for having been the first African-American FBI special agent. Early life Jones was born in Fort Monroe, ...

(1884-1958), FBI special agent. *

Cecil Mack Cecil Mack (November 6, 1873 – August 1, 1944) was an American composer, lyricist and music publisher. Biography Born as Richard Cecil McPherson in Portsmouth, Virginia, he attended the Norfolk Mission College and Lincoln University in Pennsyl ...

(1873-1944), composer. * Sarah Spencer Washington (1889-1953), businesswoman.

References

{{Authority control 1882 establishments in Virginia 1916 disestablishments in the United States African-American organizations Schools in Virginia Schools in Norfolk, Virginia Defunct schools in Virginia African Americans and education