Kemper School

Description:

Kemper School was the African American school for the the Green Valley community, Kemper opened in 1875 within Green Valley's AME Zion Church. Upon it's opening, Kemper was one of three schools for African American children, joining schools in the black communities of Hall's Hill and Freedman's Village.

In 1885 the school moved to a one-story, wood-frame school house on 3/4 of an acre of land. The school was named for Virginia Governor James L. Kemper who supported education for African Americans. By 1893 the school had outgrown its original structure and a new brick, two-story school house was created by Noble Thomas, the first black contractor in the county. In 1944 the school expanded further with the addition of the Kemper Annex, which was renamed Drew in 1955 in honor of leading African American blood plasma researcher and Arlington resident Dr. Charles Drew.

In 1964 Kemper ceased to function as a school, replaced by the larger Drew School. The building was demolished in the 1980s to make room for partially subsidized town-homes.


Date:

1875

Creator:

None recorded.

Source:

Chris L. Jenkins, “Balancing Nauck’s Past and Future: As Development Draws Closer, Residents of Historic Neighborhood Seek to Preserve its Heritage” The Washington Post (4 July 2002).

Subject

None recorded.

Identifier

None recorded.

Contributor

None recorded.

Rights

No known restrictions. Rights assessments are your responsibility.

Citation

“Kemper School,” Built By the People Themselves, accessed March 28, 2024, https://lindseybestebreurtje.org/arlingtonhistory/items/show/37.

Geolocation

KemperSchool.jpg