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The Gainsboro History Project

Booker T. Washington Trade School

A Short but Highly Productive Run

In addition to providing education for black youth in neighborhood schools, Gainsboro was also home to a branch of the Booker T. Washington Memorial Trade School, affiliated with and funded by the Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial. It was advertised as the only private, state approved vocational school in Virginia for African Americans. Over its five years of operation in Roanoke, from 1949-1955, the school produced over 500 skilled workers and trained nearly 1,500 others in various courses.

For its first five years the school was run as a World War II veteran training program approved by the Virginia State Department of Education. It operated from two locations in Roanoke: 1401 Salem Avenue, SW and 28-30 Centre Avenue, adjacent to the Virginia Theatre. Sidney J. Phillips served as president of both the Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial and the Trade School. Mrs. A.V. Mundy was the school’s director.

The school trained African American veterans, both men and women, in various trades, including:

  • auto mechanics
  • carpentry, bricklaying, plastering, and painting
  • sheet metal work
  • radio repair
  • shoe repair
  • tailoring
  • shorthand and typewriting
  • bookkeeping
  • beauty culture
  • home economics and food
A poster or newspaper ad for the Booker T. Washington Memorial Trade School. The Headline reads: Negro veterans and others, men and women, a golden opportunity
Ad for the Booker T. Washington Memorial Trade School from The Chicago Defender, September 10, 1949.

The first graduating class of seven students held its commencement exercises in June 1949 at High Street Baptist Church on Centre Avenue.

A group of ladies watch intently while one woman does another's makeup.
Booker T. Washington Memorial Trade School Class. Courtesy of Roanoke Public Libraries.

Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial, Franklin County, Virginia

Sidney J. Phillips, a former student of Booker T. Washington, was responsible for establishing the Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial organization, which sponsored the trade school in Gainsboro. Its land holdings later became the Booker T. Washington National Monument, in Franklin County, Virginia.

The effort began at a public auction in 1945, where for $7,610 Phillips purchased the Burroughs Farm, where Booker T. Washington was born enslaved in 1856. Between 1945-1955 Phillips assembled over 500 acres of land.

The mission of the Memorial was to preserve and restore the farm and slave cabin, as well as establish a demonstration farm, a museum celebrating African American accomplishments, a national radio program, a local elementary school for Black students, and a regional African American vocational school. One branch of this school was the Booker T. Washington Memorial Trade School located in the Gainsboro neighborhood of Roanoke.

In less than a decade, after struggling economically, the Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial went bankrupt. In 1955, the Virginia General Assembly purchased the land for the purpose of donating it to the federal government. Congress approved accepting the property and establishing the Booker T. Washington National Monument in 1956, and the following year the National Park Service took control of the site.

Today, the national park property contains approximately 225 acres and includes a living history farm and visitor center. The property is on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors can find information on the Booker T. Washington National Monument Park  at https://www.nps.gov/bowa/index.htm

Booker T. Washington Commemorative Coin

In the mid-1940s, there was nationwide interest in the Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial project. In 1946 the U.S. Congress authorized the minting of up to five million Booker T. Washington Commemorative half dollars over a 5-year period. Booker T. Washington was the first African American to appear on a United States coin. Additionally, it was the first U.S. coin designed by an African-American artist, Isaac Scott Hathaway, of Kentucky.

The Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial organization sold the coins to raise funds for its programs, ranging from preservation of the birthplace site to its educational efforts, including the Booker T. Washington Memorial Trade School in Gainsboro. Coins were sold for $1.00 (from the Philadelphia Mint) and $1.50 (from the San Francisco and Denver mints). In later years the commission sold coins in sets of three for $6.00-8.50. Of the 3.17 million coins minted, the public purchased 1.57 million coins and almost 1.6 million were returned to the mint and melted.

Half Dollar Coin with Booker T Washington on the front
Booker T. Washington Commemorative Coin, front.
Back of Half Dollar coin with Booker T Washingtons memorial and original cabin featured
Booker T. Washington Commemorative Coin, back.

See Also

  1. Notable African American Educators
  2. Neighborhood Schools Open Doors for African Americans
  3. Notable Graduates of Gainsboro Schools

Sources

Display Ad. (1949, September 10). The Chicago Defender.

French, S. A., Barton, C., & Flora, P. (2007). Booker T. Washington Elementary School and segregated education in Virginia: Historic resource study Booker T. Washington National Monument. National Park Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. http://npshistory.com/publications/bowa/hrs.pdf .

Hengeveld, D. (2016, May 10). Booker T. Washington commemorative half dollar. Coin Update. https://news.coinupdate.com/booker-t-washington-commemorative-half-dollar/

Phillips, S. (1955, January 29). Facts and accomplishments of Booker T. Washington Birthplace Memorial. Library of Congress. The Tribune. 

Roanoke trade school to open Sept. 12.  (1949, September 3). New Journal and Guide. 

United States Mint. (2017, Mar. 30). Booker T. Washington commemorative coin legislation.  https://www.usmint.gov/learn/history/historical-documents/booker-t-washington-commemorative-coin-legislation