Historical marker unveiled for African American, Native American school in Powhatan

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

On Saturday, June 22, a dedication for a state historical marker issued by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources for Belmead took place at the marker’s location at the intersection of Anderson Highway and Bell Road in Powhatan County.

According to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Belmead was designed in 1845 by architect Alexander Jackson Davis and was built by enslaved African Americans as the home of Philip St. George Cocke, who was 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. During the 1890s, Louise and her sister, Katharine Drexel, headed efforts to establish St. Emma Industrial and Agricultural Institute, which was later named St. Emma Military Academy, and St. Francis de Sales High School.

Robert Walker graduated from St. Emma Military Academy in 1965 and is also the chairman of the Rock Castle Group, which is an organization of alumni from St. Emma and St. Francis de Sales High School.

“Oh man, it was quite an experience,” Walker said about his time at the school. “My time there was actually a blessing in disguise. We need something like that right now for some of the young kids out there today, that need some tough love and discipline, and the structured lifestyle that a military academy provides.”

Walker said both schools are important as they served as boarding schools for African American children at a time where there was limited opportunities for them.

“I think the only reason that the schools are not here now is because we finally had integration, and it allowed kids to be able to go to any school,” Walker said. “So, the doors opened up for African American people all over the country.”

St. Emma Military graduate Dorie Bailey said St. Emma graduates would receive three diplomas, one for industrial, military, and academics.

“It has provided a great foundation and dedication to discipline, moral rectitude for the growth of Black Americans,” Bailey said. “It has brought us a long way.”

According to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 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.

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 the marker to educate visitors on the historical significance of the site.

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