Historic African American School Reopens Doors to Serve Children Once Again

Fifty-eight years ago, Calfee Training School closed its doors as a Jim Crow-era institution for African American children in Pulaski, Virginia. This September, it will reopen as a community and cultural center serving all Pulaski County residents, regardless of race or income level. Its first priority will be to address the county’s status as a childcare desert. Currently, Pulaski County has licensed full-day childcare slots for fewer than 10% of the area’s children under the age of 6.

The effort to revitalize the historic Calfee Training School began when two local conversations merged in 2018. Calfee alumni have long dreamed of rehabilitating the old school that has been sitting abandoned since the early 2000s. For years, other community leaders had been working on efforts to address the county’s dire childcare needs. When these groups toured the abandoned building together, former Calfee students were moved to action as they learned about the shortage of quality childcare in the county. The childcare team was inspired to learn about the school’s history which included a young and brave principal, a prominent and eventually successful lawsuit, a devastating school fire, and prominent attorney and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Since then, the school building has been acquired through a partnership with the Town of Pulaski. A fifteen-member board of directors was established to lead the non-profit Calfee Community & Cultural Center (CCCC). A robust community visioning process created an adaptive reuse plan that meets a variety of community needs starting in phase one with addressing the community’s childcare desert. In the CCCC’s first year of operations, it will serve 33 children aged 6 weeks through 5 years in the Harmon Learning Center which is named for Lucy and Chauncey Harmon, two Pulaski natives and Calfee educators. Once at full capacity, the Harmon Learning Center will serve 97 children and their families.

This first phase will also address downtown Pulaski’s status as a food desert with the Lena Huckstep Kitchen, named for Calfee Training School’s last cook remembered fondly for sending her delicious cornbread and other leftovers home with students whose families were financially struggling. Huckstep’s granddaughter, Karen Brown is CCCC’s treasurer and a board member. “My grandmother was an allaround good woman,” Brown reflects. “She would be honored, and I’m honored to have this kitchen named after her. She loved people and if she could help you, she would.”

Private and public funders have so far provided over $4 million for this historic school revitalization project. A Community Development Block Grant through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development provided a $1.5 million grant, the largest single contribution for the project to date.

“The initial phase of the CCCC provides a much-needed local resource for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with the Harmon Learning Center and Huckstep Kitchen,” says Mickey Hickman, CCCC Board President and Calfee Training School alumnus. “While I’m beyond proud to introduce children and families back into the halls and classrooms of my elementary school, I am also excited about the opportunity to share the history of Calfee Training School with the next generation. Our museum, the African American Heritage Center at CCCC, tells the stories of Calfee’s educators, students, and families who championed equal rights for local African American students and teachers, even impacting Brown v. Board of Education and the civil rights movement in the United States.”

A second phase of the project, scheduled to begin this fall, will include the historic preservation of the exterior of the building and the expansion of the shared-use commercial kitchen.

$4 million is the goal for the remaining phases of the project which will include a capital fundraising campaign for the dining and event hall, a stage for the arts, a digital lab, a museum about local African American history, and a community resource center that will provide multi-generational social, educational, and cultural programming to individuals and families in the New River Valley and visitors to the region.

“I am overwhelmed, in the most wonderful way, by the benevolence and support for this much-needed project,” states William Beverly, CCCC co-executive director. “With four million dollars left to complete subsequent phases of the project, we still have a long way to go, but I am grateful for the past and continued support. I am confident that our community will continue to rally around this important endeavor and community asset.”

Thanks to generous support from major funders and community support, CCCC will celebrate the grand opening of the childcare center at the renovated facility at One Corbin-Harmon Drive, Pulaski VA, on September 28 from 4:00 – 6:00 pm. The public is invited to the celebration.

Families interested in learning more about the childcare center before the grand opening may contact Harmon Learning Center Director Kayla Crowder at kayla@calfeeccc.org or (540) 440-8211 to set up a tour of the facility and learn more about its services and tuition.

Individuals and organizations interested in contributing to the campaign for the remaining phases of the project can do so at calfeeccc.org/donate or by mailing a check to Calfee CCC at PO Box 62, Pulaski, VA 24301. Those interested in contributing in other ways may contact CCCC co-executive director Jill Williams at giving@calfeccc.org or (540) 509-0808.

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