Board of Historic Resources Quarterly Meeting
14 December 2017
Sponsor Markers - Diversity
1.) Pauline Cauthorne Morton (1912-2004)
Sponsor: Lambda Psi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Locality: City of Franklin
Proposed Location: North College Drive between Paul D. Camp Community College and Franklin Public Library
Sponsor Contact: Alfreda Talton-Harris, , 757-620-7155
Original text:
Pauline Cauthorne Morton
Civic minded Pauline Cauthorne Morton was born on February 19, 1912 in Dunnsville, Virginia. She completed high school in 1928 and graduated from Virginia State College in 1933 with her bachelor of science degree in education and later a master’s degree in education from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Upon marrying Samuel Percell Morton, then principal of the Hayden High School in Franklin, Virginia, she taught home economics in the high school before eventually accepting a position as assistant supervisor for home economics education and the school lunch program for the Department of Education, responsible for all of the schools in the southeastern portion of Virginia, retiring as state area supervisor after 30 years. She also served as an officer in the Statewide Home Economics Association.
In her Franklin community, she served as chairman of the Franklin City School Board, chairman of the Paul D. Camp Community College, chairman of the Franklin Democratic Party, chief officer of the Electoral Board, member of senior services SEVAMP, Franklin City Library Board and several other state and local boards and governor’s committees. Of her numerous honors and recognitions, the one which best reflects her civic involvement is a resolution from the Franklin City Council for serving on over 23 various committees for the community of Franklin. She also served as chairman of her Deacon Board at First Baptist Church, Franklin, helped form her church Sesame Street Day Care Center and helped to form the Franklin Cooperative Ministry.
She was the niece of Helen M. Cauthorne, a charter member of Alpha Epsilon chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated at Virginia State College and was initiated herself in 1931 at Virginia State. She went on to charter two Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated chapters in her local communities, Zeta Epsilon Omega (Suffolk, Virginia) in 1954 and later chartered Lambda Psi Omega Chapter in Franklin, Virginia in 1978. Beyond the local level, she served as the sixth Mid-Atlantic Regional Director of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
She served for 15 years as president of the Virginia State University, Human Ecology Alumni Chapter, with a scholarship established in her name there and president of the Old Dominion Home Economics Association. She held lifetime memberships in Links, Inc., the Order of the Eastern Star, the National Council of Negro Women, and the local NAACP that she helped to form. She also helped to form the Cosmonettes, a Franklin social club, and served on the J. R. Thomas Camp Board of Trustees for over 50 years.
She passed away on February 7, 2004.
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Edited text:
Pauline Cauthorne Morton (1912-2004)
Pauline C. Morton, civic leader, graduated from what is now Virginia State University in 1933. She began working for the Virginia Department of Education in 1947, during the segregation era. Before retiring in 1974, she supervised home economics education across southeastern Virginia and implemented the federal school lunch program in her region. Morton was Mid-Atlantic Regional Director of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first Greek-letter organization for African American women. She helped organize the Franklin NAACP chapter in 1943, chaired the Franklin City Public School Board and the board of Paul D. Camp Community College, and served on more than 20 other civic committees.
105 words/ 687 characters
Sources:
The Crisis, Jan. 1944.
Norfolk Journal and Guide, 20 Sept., 13 Dec. 1947, 24 May 1952, 21 July 1956, 24 Jan. 1959, 20 July 1963, 18 Jan. 1969, 21 Sept. 1974.
Petersburg Progress-Index, 23 July 1953, 15 Nov. 1963.
Richmond Times-Dispatch, 18 May 1958.
Suffolk News-Herald, 10 Feb. 2004.
Annual Reports of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Ivy Leaf Magazine, May-June 1968.
Harry Hone, ed., Community Leaders of Virginia, 1976-1977 (1977).
Carolyn Carter Modlin, “The Desegregation of Southampton County, Virginia, 1954-1970,” Ed.D. diss., Virginia Tech, 1998.
Who’s Who in Virginia, 1974-75.
“CivicMakers: Pauline C. Morton,” www.thehistorymakers.com
“36 Years of Timeless Service,” (Lambda Psi Omega Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.), 2014.
2.) Lt. Col. Howard Baugh, Tuskegee Airman
Sponsor: Howard Baugh Chapter, Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.
Locality: Petersburg
Proposed Location: corner of N. Sycamore (Alt 301) and Old Streets
Sponsor Contact: Richard Baugh, , 410-507-9755
Original text:
Lt. Col. Howard Baugh, Tuskegee Airman
Howard Baugh (1920-2008) was born and raised in Petersburg, VA. He graduated from Virginia State College (University) in 1941 and then joined the US Army Air Corps. He completed Pilot Training at Tuskegee Army Air Field in 1942 and was deployed to Sicily with the 99th Pursuit Squadron. He flew 135 combat missions during WWII and was credited with 1.5 Aerial Victories. His many medals and awards include the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, the French Legion of Honor, and the Congressional Gold Medal. Also a 2006 Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame Inductee, he was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery with Full Military Honors.
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Edited text:
Lt. Col. Howard Baugh, Tuskegee Airman
Howard Baugh (1920-2008) was born and raised in Petersburg. He graduated from what is now Virginia State University in 1941, joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, and completed pilot training at Tuskegee Army Air Field in 1942. Deployed to Sicily with the 99th Fighter Squadron, Baugh flew 135 combat missions during World War II and was credited with 1.5 aerial victories. He later served as Director of Flying Training at Tuskegee. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, the French Legion of Honor, and the Congressional Gold Medal. A 2006 Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame inductee, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
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Sources:
Howard Lee Baugh service records, National Personnel Records Center
Daniel L. Haulman, “Chronological Table, Airmen Aerial Victory Credits”
USA Today, 6 June 2004.
Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society, Hall of Fame members
Richmond Times-Dispatch, 26 Aug. 2008.
Style Weekly, 21 April 2004.
3.) Mt. Zion United Methodist Church
Sponsor: William A. Olson
Locality: Leesburg
Proposed Location: 12 North Street NE
Sponsor Contact: Bill Olson,
Original text:
Mt. Zion United Methodist Church
After the Civil War, the African-American members of the Old Stone Church congregation desired their own place of worship. They purchased the land at this site for $250 and built Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal Church in 1867. The Rev. William Obadiah Robey is considered to be the founding pastor. Mount Zion’s original clapboard exterior was stuccoed and the sanctuary moved to the upper floor circa 1929. Mount Olive United Methodist Church in Gleedsville officially merged with the Mount Zion congregation in 1985.
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Edited text:
Mt. Zion United Methodist Church
Mt. Zion, recognized as the oldest continuing African American Methodist congregation in Virginia, traces its origins to the Old Stone Church, established in Leesburg in 1766. Black members of Old Stone Church, desiring their own church after the Civil War, purchased land here for $250 in 1867 and built Mt. Zion. The Rev. William O. Robey, who taught in schools for emancipated African Americans, led the congregation. From 1939 to 1968, Mt. Zion was part of the segregated Central Jurisdiction of the Methodist Church. Mt. Olive Church, established by African Americans in nearby Gleedsville in 1889, merged with Mt. Zion in 1984-1985.
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Sources:
“The Old Stone Church,” in Encyclopedia of World Methodism, 1414.
Loudoun County Deed Book 5X: 42.
Minutes of the Fourth Session of the Washington Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1867).
Mt. Zion History Committee, “145th Anniversary, Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, 1867-2012” (2012).
“Directory of the Presbyterian Congregation at Leesburg, Virginia” (1954).
Betty L. Morefield, et al., The Essence of a People II (Leesburg: The Black History Committee, Friends of the Thomas Balch Library), 2002.
The Washingtonian, 29 Sept. 1888.
Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2007.
Mt. Olive Methodist Episcopal Church, National Register nomination (2005).
Mt. Zion v. Eliza Diggs and other cases, Loudoun County Courthouse, Leesburg, 1926-1929.
4.) Shady Grove (Rosenwald) School
Sponsor: Shady Grove (Rosenwald) School, Inc.
Locality: Louisa County
Proposed Location: 2924 Three Chopt Road, Gum Spring
Sponsor Contact: Taren Owens, , 804-873-2728
Original text:
Shady Grove (Rosenwald) School
Shady Grove (Rosenwald) School operated from 1925 to 1962 in Louisa County. The building was funded with contributions from the public ($400), the Julius Rosenwald Fund ($400) and African-Americans ($700). The present day structure presents itself much as it was when constructed between 1924 and 1925, as a one room one teacher plan with original wooden floors, narrow board ceilings and narrow board walls set diagonally creating a chevron effect. Primarily African American support and labor built this school which served the educational needs of several generations of Louisa’s black community and today serves all members of the community.
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Edited text:
Shady Grove (Rosenwald) School
African Americans in this area organized a patrons’ league and campaigned in the 1920s for a new school to replace the inadequate facility then in use. Shady Grove School, built on a standard one-teacher architectural plan, opened here in 1925 for students in grades 1-7. Funding for the building came from the African American community ($700), Louisa County ($400), and the Julius Rosenwald Fund ($400). The Rosenwald Fund, established by the president of Sears, Roebuck, and Co. and inspired by the work of Booker T. Washington, helped build more than 5,000 schools and supporting structures for African Americans in the rural South between 1917 and 1932. Shady Grove School closed in 1962.
112 words/693 characters
Sources:
Shady Grove School National Register nomination (2009)
Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Card File Database
Letters (1920-1926), in The Land Between the Rivers: Piedmont Virginia Digital History; http://www.piedmontvahistory.org/archives14
5.) St. Clare Walker High School
Sponsor: Middlesex County
Locality: Middlesex County
Proposed Location: 2911 General Puller Highway (US Route 33)
Sponsor Contact: Pete Gretz,
Original text:
John Henry St. Clare Walker
Distinguished educator and civic leader, led one of the first state accredited rural high schools for blacks in Virginia. Son of former Virginia slaves and the oldest of 15 children, he was born in 1876 in Middlesex County. He served for 40 years as an educator of mathematics, agriculture and history. Walker was a Spanish-American War Veteran, Hampton Institute alumnus and local pioneer. His financial contributions, doctrines and legacy included a love for people, unity, achievement and progress. In 1948, the community built a new school named in his honor. His name stands for perseverance and excellence.
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Edited text:
St. Clare Walker High School
African American residents of Middlesex County established the Langston Training School (later the Middlesex Training School) in 1917 to serve elementary and high school students. The Rosenwald Fund supported construction of a new building ca. 1921. John Henry St. Clare Walker, principal for two decades, expanded the high school curriculum from two to four years despite inadequate funding. The high school moved here in 1939. Later renamed in Walker’s honor, it was among the first rural high schools for black students to be accredited by the Virginia Department of Education. Students garnered awards for academics, athletics, and the arts. The county’s school system was desegregated in 1969.
107 words/698 characters
Sources:
Easter Holmes, “John Henry St. Clare Walker, 1879-1961”
Easter Holmes, “The St. Clare Walker Story,” Southside Sentinel (1969)
Southside Sentinel, 18 June 1953, 6 Aug. 1959.
Norfolk Journal and Guide, 2 Sept. 1939, 8 July, 28 Oct. 1950, 6 Feb. 1960, 9 Jan. 1969.
Richmond Times-Dispatch, 28 June 1953.
Tommy L. Bogger, A History of African-Americans in Middlesex County, 1646-1992 (1994).
Fisk University Rosenwald Database
St. Clare Walker Middle School history: http://www.mcps.k12.va.us/Schools/St--Clare-Middle-School/SCW-History.aspx
U.S. Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 (Ancestry.com)
John Henry St. Clare Walker death certificate
6.) Woodlawn Methodist Church
Sponsor: Board of Trustees of Woodlawn Faith United Methodist Church and Gum Springs Historical Society
Locality: Fairfax County
Proposed Location: 7730 Fordson Road
Sponsor Contact: Lawrence Wright,
Original text:
Woodlawn Methodist Church
This historic sanctuary is the third building erected by a community of former and free Christian slaves and their families, many who worked as slaves or free man and women of color at the Mount Vernon Estate (Home of our nation’s First President, George Washington) or the nearby historic Woodlawn Plantation. After the Civil War, members of this free African community of Woodlawn, on land purchased from the Quakers, the trustees of the Woodlawn Colored Meeting and School Association established the Woodlawn Methodist Episcopal Church, the first African American church to officially register in Fairfax County, Virginia in October of 1866. With the expansion of the Fort Belvoir Military Base, this complete community was acquisitioned by the Federal government. Many of the displaced residents moved north to the Gum Springs community and built this sanctuary in 1941 with the bell tower from the Woodlawn location atop!
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Edited text:
Woodlawn Methodist Church
African Americans in Woodlawn, four miles southwest of here, established Woodlawn Methodist Episcopal Church ca. 1866. The Woodlawn area, formerly part of George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, was home to people recently emancipated from slavery, African Americans who had been free landowners before the Civil War, and northern Quakers who had arrived in the 1840s. The Methodist church, built on land purchased from Quakers, housed a Freedmen’s Bureau school that became a public school by 1871. The congregation established a cemetery and in 1888 built a new sanctuary. When Fort Belvoir expanded during World War II, the church moved here to the historically black community of Gum Springs.
108 words/697 characters
Sources:
Martha Claire Catlin, “Liberty and Divine Worship: The African American Methodist Congregation at Woodlawn,” History in Motion (Winter 2016).
Woodlawn Methodist Church, Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites Report
Woodlawn Cultural Landscape Historic District (proposed) nomination form, 2016.
Martha Claire Catlin, “The Woodlawn Crossroads Parcel as a Historic Property” (2011).
Judith Saunders-Burton, “A History of Gum Springs, Virginia: A Report of a Case Study of Leadership in a Black Enclave,” Ed. D. Project, Vanderbilt University, 1986.
http://www.fxgs.org/cemeteryRecords.php?cid=183
Sponsor Markers
1.) Birthplace of Curtis Morton Turner (1924-1970)