“The William & Mary Bray School Lab uncovers, documents, preserves, and shares broadly the history and legacies of the Williamsburg Bray School (1760-1774) and its students.”

The William & Mary Bray School Lab is a unit of W&M Strategic Cultural Partnerships

May 3, 2024 Edition

Dear Margaret,

Greetings from the William & Mary Bray School Lab, and welcome back to Bray School Bulletins! Happy LAST DAY OF CLASSES to our William & Mary student readers, particularly those students who serve as Student Thought Partners and CHIP interns!

We are very pleased to share the latest news and updates with you from the W&M Bray School Lab...

In This Bulletin:

Museum Expo Wrap-Up
Matthew Whaley Elementary School Wrap-Up
The Williamsburg Bray School: A Story Worth Telling | May 4
Genealogy Meetup: Researching African American Ancestors | May 6
A Better Life For Their Children: Rosenwald Exhibit at VMHC | May 25

Museum Expo Wrap-Up

W&M Strategic Cultural Partnerships and Muscarelle Museum of Art among sponsors for inaugural W&M Museum Expo

W&M Strategic Cultural Partnerships was proud to serve as one of the sponsors of the inaugural Museum Expo at William & Mary. The event featured sixteen museum and cultural heritage sites from Maryland to Suffolk - including SCP units the Muscarelle Museum of Art and James Monroe's Highland - engaging with W&M undergraduate and graduate students about research and career opportunities.

Our thanks to our colleagues in Career Development and Professional Engagement for putting on an incredible event - we can't wait for the next one! (Also, thanks for the photos, too!)

Matthew Whaley Elementary School Wrap-Up

Innovative education for students in Williamsburg's history

The William & Mary Bray School Lab and Strategic Cultural Partnerships wrapped up a year-long active learning project with students from Matthew Whaley Elementary School recently.

The theme of the work was Turning Points in History in recognition of the 2024 National History Day theme. W&M Bray School Lab and Strategic Cultural Partnerships staff held information sessions with students on the Williamsburg Bray School and the Brafferton Indian School. The year-long program wrapped up with a History Showcase on April 24, featuring engaging, well-researched student projects on the Williamsburg Bray School, the Brafferton Indian School and the historical figure, Matthew Whaley.

Special thanks Mrs. Christine McBee at Matthew Whaley Elementary School for her eagerness to partner with us!

The Williamsburg Bray School: A Story Worth Telling | May 4

W&M Bray School Lab teams up with students from Academy for Discovery at Lakewood to present a dance event

ADL Dance Company is an after-school activity for middle school students from the Academy for Discovery at Lakewood, a Norfolk Public School. Under the direction of Kristen Hill, the dancers explore a variety of concert dance forms, such as ballet, modern and jazz, in preparation for performance.

This year, ADL Dance Company is focusing their efforts on researching and celebrating The Williamsburg Bray School, the oldest existing building in the country dedicated to the education of Black children, currently under restoration in Colonial Williamsburg.

Last fall, Hill brought her students to William & Mary for a day of learning and lunch from the team at the W&M Bray School Lab. Since then, we've been partnering to help develop this remarkable dance piece: filming their preview, doing genealogy workshops for the students, and serving as a sounding board for questions.

On May 4, 2024 at 2:00 PM, the ADL Dance Company will present their final dance performance, The Williamsburg Bray School: A Story Worth Telling, at Chrysler Museum of Art as part of the Norfolk Public Schools Fine Arts Festival.

Make plans to join us there - this event is free with no registration required!

Genealogy Meetup: Researching African American Ancestors | May 6

W&M Bray School Lab Genealogist Elizabeth Drembus to serve on panel

Join the Yorktown Library for this month’s special Genealogy Meetup with a guest panel discussing researching African American ancestors. Panelists are Dr. Jajuan Johnson of the William & Mary Lemon Project, Elizabeth Drembus of the William & Mary Bray School Lab, and Renate Yarborough Sanders of the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society. You won’t want to miss it! For adults 18+. Registration is not required

More information here

A Better Life For Their Children: Rosenwald School Exhibit at VMHC | May 25

The Virginia Museum of History & Culture will be opening a new exhibit focused on Rosenwald schools in Virginia - a look at one of the most transformative educational initiatives in American history with Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald developed a program: build thousands of schools to provide education for Black children across the segregated South.

W&M Bray School Lab Oral Historian Tonia Merideth was tapped by leadership at VMHC to provide oral histories for the project.

The exhibition runs May 25, 2024 to April 20, 2025.

Click here to learn more.

All images, unless otherwise noted, are by Grace Helmick '22

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