St. Emma's Military Academy catalog and postcard

Access and use

Location of collection:
George Mason University
2400 Fenwick Library
Special Collections Research Center
Fenwick Library MS2FL
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Mieko Palazzo
Phone: (703) 993-2220
Fax: (703) 993-2669
Restrictions:

There are no access restrictions.

Terms of access:

The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/).

Materials created prior to 1925 are in the Public Domain. These materials have no known restrictions.

Preferred citation:

St. Emma's Military Academy catalog and postcard, C0380, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Summary

Extent:
.01 linear feet 1 folder
Creator:
St. Emma's Military Academy (Powhatan, Va.)
Abstract:
Program catalog and postcard sent by a student from St. Emma's Military Academy, a high school for Black boys in Powhattan, Virginia.
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

St. Emma's Military Academy catalog and postcard, C0380, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

Program catalog and postcard sent by a student from St. Emma's Military Academy, a high school for Black boys in Powhattan, VA. The postcard is written by Ernest Noble to his mother Sadie Noble in New York City.

Biographical / historical:

St. Emma Military Academy, also known as St. Emma's Military Academy, was a school for Black boys in Powhatan, Virginia. It was founded in 1895 as the St. Emma's Industrial and Agricultural Institute. The school's founders, Edward de Vaux Morrell and his wife Louise, were from Philadelphia. The school was located at Belmead, which had been a plantation where Philip St. George Cocke enslaved hundreds of Black men, women, and children. As noted by Greg McQuade in a news story for WTVR Richmond, "Ten thousand young men graduated in nearly 80 years. A stark contrast to the dark beginnings of Belmead," ("Former cadets push to save old African-American military academy"). Robert Walker, a graduate of the school, said, "You would leave here with a military diploma. A trade diploma and an academic diploma,"(quoted in McQuade, "Former cadets push to save old African-American military academy"). St. Emma's Military Academy closed in 1972.

Acquisition information:
Purchased by Lynn Eaton in 2019.
Processing information:

Processed by Liz Beckman in December 2020. EAD markup by Liz Beckman in December 2020.

Arrangement:

This collection contains two items.

Physical location:
R 72, C 3, S 4
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard