Edwin Washington Project

George Washington Carver School in Purcellville. Undated Photo of Carver class.

Edited 8/18/23, 8/30/2023 (see also Purcellville Page for overlapping history of Willing Worker School and Carver) See also vertical files in the Edwin Washington Archives, Douglass HS building, Leesburg.

Photographs

A contemporary photograph as well as earlier school photos exist on the Lincoln Preservation Foundation Page.

Photo by Thos E. Sims, Jr. Source: Insurance Analysis and Permanent Record – Property of Loudoun County School Board: Garrett Insurance Company (Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company), Leesburg, Virginia. October 1940. EWP Archives, Box 11.

Opening and Closing

Carver was built in 1948 as the first modern elementary school for Black children in Loudoun, then closed in 1968, following integration, to become a school storage facility. 

Physical and Map Location

700 S 15th St, Purcellville, VA 20132

Petitions

The Archives contain an undated petition (Patrons and Citizens of Purcellville Colored School, unk) Carver Petition complaining that Rosalie McWashington was transferred, which the patrons felt was an injustice.   This had to have been before May 1956 because the petition appears to have been signed by her husband, a taxi-driver named Linden McWashington who died in an auto accident May 19, 1956. (Orr, 1956). 

That said, Rosalie McWashington taught through the 1957-58 school year……usually teaching 4th grade.  It is also possible that she remarried after her husband passed away because the next school year, 1958-59, there is a Rosalie J. Austin teaching 4th grade through 1965-66…and the handwriting looks very much the same!  Rosalie Austin didn’t teach in 1966-67, but returned in 1967-68 to teach 6th grade at Carver.  That’s the end of the class lists.  We don’t know if she retired or transferred someplace else…..or if she was the same person.  Sources for Section 4:  (a) Orr, R. (1956). Certificate of Death #12547 for Linden McWashington. Purcellville: Department of Health.  (b) Patrons and Citizens of Purcellville Colored School. (unk). Petition to School Board of Loudoun County. Purcellville: Purcellville Colored School.

Transportation

Walking was a common method of school transportation even before the creation of Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS).  It’s believed that students who lived within 3 miles of a school could walk from their home to school.  The figure at https://edwinwashingtonproject.org/s/ewp/item/31133 shows the location of the school with a circle representing the area from which students could have walked, back and forth from their home to the school.  Travel by horse was also used and could have extended the travel distance.  Video narrated by Nathan Bailey.

History

See Purcellville Page, which covers all colored schools in Purcellville, Loudoun, Va.

The Carver Alumni Association  has preserved much of the Carver School history.  Local historian Louis Jett is also an excellent source of information.  Their history can be found at the Carver Center library in Purcellville.  

According to Nancy Emerick, Oscar’s great grandson’s widow, Oscar considered the construction of Carver as one of his greatest accomplishments. (Source: Interview by Larry Roeder, 9/23/2016).

• By 1936, the Purcellville Colored School (also known as the Willing Worker's School) was considered very overcrowded and thus had to use rented space.  The Superintendent (Oscar Emerick) also felt it was an unsuccessful school at that time and needed to be replaced by a new school building, though Carver would not be built until 1948. (Source:  Emerick Report to the School Board, Feb 12, 1936, EWP 2.2, County School Board), Restoration and Preservation of Historic Carver School, Purcellville, Va., 2004.  According to Nancy Emerick, Oscar’s great grandson’s widow, Oscar considered the construction of Carver as one of his greatest accomplishments. (Source: Interview by Larry Roeder, 9/23/2016).

Instructors

Rosalie McWashington was Carver’s initial principal. The campaign for a new school had begun in 1927.  In 1946, McWashington came to Carver with 15 years prior teaching experience, according to the Annual Reports of the Superintendent found in the LCPS Archives in Round Hill, and continued to instruct at Carver at least through the 1952/53 academic year. 

While she was the Principal the first year, that role changed to Alfred Talbot, Jr. the following year.  He arrived with a BS degree from Hampton and then proceeded to obtain a Masters Degree.  McWashington studied at West Virginia College and by 1949 was shown to have obtained a BS, though it’s possible she might have had one all along.   As for Mr. Talbot, his  “class lists” end in 1952-53 when he taught 8^th grade…..for the last time?  The first class list with his name on it was during the 1947-48 school year when he taught 7^th grade—then again in 1948-49.  In 1949-50 he changed to 8^th grade and that continued until his last year, 1952-53.  We don’t know if he retired or transferred.

More details on instructors are being developed.

Insurance and Physical Description

The eight room George Washington Carver School in Purcellville (now the Carver Senior Center) was considered the county’s first modern elementary school for black children.

Additional Photographs

Photos above courtesy of the Loudoun Emancipation Association