Phenix Hall

Phenix Hall. Hampton University's College of Education and Continuing Studies. , George Perley Phenix, a prominent white educator from Maine, was elected the fourth and last principal of Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute on Jan. 30, 1930. His title was changed to president the following July 1, the same day the school's name was shortened to Hampton Institute. It was time for another major step, Phenix believed for Hampton to move toward college status. From a training institute founded for former slaves and their children, he wrote, "Hampton had gradually become a school for the children of self-supporting Negro parents." His goals were far-reaching. "If Hampton is to realize her possibilities, it is imperative that in buildings and equipment and in personnel, she represents only the best."

Phenix lobbied for and won state funding for a new public school, which the Institute would operate for both elementary and secondary students. Tragically, he did not live to see it because in October 1930 he drowned in a swimming accident. Named in his honor, the George P. Phenix Training School opened on this spot in 1932. Besides educating African American students, the school also offered classroom training for decades of Hampton Institute teacher graduates. By 1953, with lower grades shifted to other schools, it became the George P. Phenix High School.

Hampton Institute soon took a courageous stand. Because it no longer wished to run a segregated high school, it closed Phenix, demanding that the city established an integrated high school. The city was not ready for that step and opened a new, segregated Phenix High School on LaSalle Avenue in 1962. A year later, it was integrated. Its name was changed in 1967, and the school eventually closed. A new George P. Phenix School, offering kindergarten through eighth grade classes, opened in 2010. The name also survives as Phenix Hall, the home of Hampton University's College of Education and Continuing Studies.