Historical marker to be dedicated to African American, Native American school in Powhatan

POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The Virginia Department of Historic Resources will unveil a historical marker this weekend for Belmead, the site of two private schools for African American and Native American youth in Powhatan County.

Belmead was designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis in 1845 and was built by enslaved African Americans as the home of Phillip St. George Cocke, who was the president of the Virginia Agricultural Society and a Virginia Military Institute board member.

In 1893, Belmead was purchased by Pennsylvania Congressman Edward de Vaux Morrell and his wife, Louise Drexel. In 1895, Louise and her sister, Katharine Drexel, established St. Emma Agricultural and Industrial Institute, which was later named St. Emma Military Academy for Boys in 1895, and later founded St. Francis de Sales School for girls.

St. Emma was the only military school educating young African American men in the U.S. for decades and both St. Emma and St. Francis educated thousands of students from across the country until closing in the 1970s, according to the Department of Historic Resources.

Belmead was added to the list of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2011 and in September 2022, the Virginia Board of Historic Resources approved the installation of a historical marker to educate visitors on the historical significance of the site.

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