Guinea (Brittain) Colored
Edited 8/18/2023
Opening and Closing
Probably closed in 1921/22. Source EWP: 6.6 Guinea
Physical and Map Location
Located in Lovettsville. Lat: 39.25435. Long: -77.69591. Near Arnold's Store.
Petitions
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/31163 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.
History
The Edwin Washington Archives has term reports for 1919-1921.
Students cards only cover 1919-1921. No record prior to then. Not open in 1921/22
For Britain: See history provided by the Black History Committee on the Guinea/Brittain Community.” Britain (or Guinea) – Sometimes Blacks established settlements by purchasing land and old dwellings from earlier white settlements, which saved many log cabins in Loudoun from ruin. This was the case in Britain, on the lower slope of Short Hill in the southwest corner of the German Settlement. Wooded, hilly, or poor land sold for as little as eight dollars an acre after the Civil War, and here was a place where freed people could establish themselves. Down Morrisonville Road, Ned Davis, free black man from Petersburg, had a home, workshop, and kiln where he produced red ware pottery in the decades surrounding the Civil War. Mount Sinai Free Baptist Church, built in 1880, also served as a school until 1915. Unlike most black settlements, Britain had a post office. Blacks moved away by the 1920s.” Source: Brittain (or Guinea) in Black Communities of Loudoun County, FRIENDS OF THOMAS BALCH LIBRARY. See also “The Society of Friends,” pg 22 in The Bulletin of the Historical Society of Loudoun County, Virginia, 1957-1976.
Instructors
- 1892/93: John B. Spriggs of Harpers Ferry, W. Va. Grade of Certificate 2rd. Instructed at Brittain, which may have been another name for Guinea. Source: Lists of Teachers, 1892-1975 (Census 1893 Colored A of Colored Teachers for the School Year closing July 31, 1893), Richmond, Virginia, USA: Virginia Department of Public Instruction/Education.
- 1893/94: John B Sriggs of Harpers Ferry, W. Va continued to instruct on a 2nd grade certificate at Brittain. Source: Lists of Teachers, 1892-1975 (1893 1894 Colored Reel 4418 Census of Colored Teachers 1893/94 – March 30, 1894), Richmond, Virginia, USA: Virginia Department of Public Instruction/Education.
- 1894/95: Mr. Spriggs continued at Brittain. Source: Lists of Teachers, 1892-1975 (1895 Colored A Census of Colored Teachers 1894/95 – Done Dec 10, 1894), Richmond, Virginia, USA: Virginia Department of Public Instruction/Education.
- 1895/96: Miss Sara L. Lewis of 229 2nd St, NW, Washington, DC instructed at Brittain on a 3rd grade permit. Source: Lists of Teachers, 1892-1975 (1895 Colored A Census of Colored Teachers 1894/95 – Done Dec 10, 1894), Richmond, Virginia, USA: Virginia Department of Public Instruction/Education
- 1921: Geneva Browna at Guinea. Source: Brown, Geneva. (1921). Term Report for Guinea Colored School in Lovettsville. LCPS, Purcellville.2)
Insurance and Physical Description
1921: Guinea School was a wooden frame, one room structure with ten windows for ventilations. It sat on a 3/4 acre lot with wires to enclose the space. The structure was heated by a wood stove. There were also 8 desks and seating for 24. In 1921 16 students, 8 boys and 8 girls used the school. No American flag flew on the school house. guinea-colored-school.pdf is a summary of the Term Report for 1921, the only year for which we have such a report. Source: Brown, Geneva (1921). Term Report for Guinea Colored School in Lovettsville.
Sanitation
In 1921 Frame toilets were provided, but were described as being in bad condition.