PUBLIC "-//Thomas Balch Library//TEXT (US::ViLeTBL::viletbl00147:: Ashburn Colored School, 1870-1962)//EN" "viletbl00147.xml" A Guide to the Ashburn Colored School, 1870-1962 Ashburn Colored School, 1870-1962 SC 0071 Rebecca K. Ottinger Thomas Balch Library © 2006 By Thomas Balch Library. All rights reserved.

Conditions of Use

Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word, created by Stephanie Adams Hunter, 26 May 2011 Description is in English 2013-11-21 Converted to schema conforming EAD by dtd2schema.vh.xsl. A Guide to the Ashburn Colored School1870-1962 A Collection in theThomas Balch Library SC 0071 Rebecca K. Ottinger

Thomas Balch Library 2006 Rebecca K. Ottinger Thomas Balch Library Descriptive Summary Thomas Balch Library Ashburn Colored School 1870-1962 SC 0071 English The collection consists of photocopies of land records about property belonging to John McComly that was later acquired by the Loudoun County Public Schools. There are transcriptions of two deeds from 17 December 1870 and 17 December 1892, and of McComly's will prepared by Bronwen C. Souders, a member of the Education Committee of Waterford Foundation. The collection includes photocopies and typed transcriptions of articles concerning the history of Loudoun County's public schools, and lists of students who attended Ashburn Colored School. The lists also have information about the teachers, their salaries, and physical description of the building. Bronwen Souders, Waterford, VA Administrative Information Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

No physical characteristics affect use of this material.

Preferred Citation

Ashburn Colored School, 1870-1962 (SC 0071), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

Bronwen Souders, Waterford, VA

Alternative Form Available

None

 Accruals

2005.0075

Processing Information

Rebecca K. Ottinger, 16 May 2011

Historical Information

Records are unclear about when Ashburn Colored School was started. It was built on land distributed from the estate of John McComly (McCanerly) (ca. 1786-ca. 1867) between Anna Elizabeth Adrain (ca. 1808-?), who was his housekeeper, and her sons Peter E. Adrain (1837-after 1910) and James A. Adrain (1838-1915). The Adrains are also identified in some documents as "Adrian." In 1892 James A. and Olivia E. (1852-1940) Adrain sold two and one fourth acres to B.F. (Benjamin Franklin) Noland (1858-1939), who sold one half acre of the property to the Trustees for the Public Free Schools of Broad Run District, Loudoun County, VA.

In 1869 Virginia's General Assembly mandated public schools for all children in the commonwealth, with the stipulation that white and African American students would have separate facitilies. In 1870 Loudoun County's first public schools opened with 55 schools - 46 for white students and 9 for African Americans. In the early years of these public schools the county was divided into six districts: Leesburg, Mt. Gilead, Mercer, Jefferson, Lovettsville, and Broad Run. The County School Board of Loudoun County, Virginia sold the tract to John Kerns (1921-1960) in 1959 after the school closed.

It is unclear when the Ashburn Colored School was built, but the description for insurance purposes in 1940 shows a one room frame building estimated to be 20 1/2' by 32 1/2' with three windows on two sides, heated by a wood stove. The enrollment for the years 1920-1958 varied between 11 and 49.

 Scope and Content

The collection consists of photocopies of land records about property belonging to John McComly that was later acquired by the Loudoun County Public Schools. There are transcriptions of two deeds from 17 December 1870 and 17 December 1892, and of McComly's will prepared by Bronwen C. Souders, a member of the Education Committee of Waterford Foundation. The collection includes photocopies and typed transcriptions of articles concerning the history of Loudoun County's public schools, and lists of students who attended Ashburn Colored School. The lists also have information about the teachers, their salaries, and physical description of the building.

Arrangement

Folder

Adjunct Descriptive Data Bibliography Ancestry Library Edition, United States census, http://www.ancestrylibrary.com (Accessed 5/11/2011). Ashburn Colored School, 1870-1962 (SC 0071), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA. Frain, Elizabeth R. Union Cemetery Plats A & B, 1784-1995. Willow Bend Books, Lovettsville, VA, 1995. Loudoun Cemetery Database. http://www.leesburgva.gov/index.aspx?page=940 (Accessed 5/11/2011). Loudoun Times Mirror, obituary, 26 October 1939. Loudoun Times Mirror, obituary, 5 May 1960. Loudoun Times Mirror, obituary, 13 August 1981. Poland, Charles P. Jr. From Frontier to Suburbia: Loudoun County, Virginia: One of America's Fastest Growing Counties. Heritage Books: Westminster, MD, 2005. Public Information Office and Office of Student Records of Loudoun County Public Schools, Loudoun County, VA. Other Finding Aid

None

Technical Requirements

None

Related Material

None

Contents List Legal Documents and Research Loudoun County Public Schools