Drayden Schoolhouse

Drayden Schoolhouse. An African American Story. , The Drayden Schoolhouse stands upon its original site on land donated by Mary Ellen and Daniel A. Gross in 1889. The simple one-room design is characteristic of practical Victorian architecture and of other one-room schools in St. Mary's County at that time., When the school opened its doors in 1890, Drayden was one of three schools for African American children in the Valley Lee District, an area which also contained nine white schools. One teacher taught grades one through seven, with as many as forty or more students attending class in the single room., There were no public high schools open to African American students in St. Mary's County until 1934. Some students attended Pomonkey High School in Charles County. Many Catholic children attended Cardinal Gibbons Institute. In 1944, when Drayden closed, the schools were still segregated, but there were two public high schools available to African American students, Banneker and Jarboesville., [Captions:] , (Above) Photo of Cardinal Gibbons Institute courtesy of St. Peter Claver Church., (Left) Drayden's unique feature is the diagonally beaded, hand-run paneling and original green paint in the interior. Although exterior paint was not found on early schoolhouse, the building was painted in 2000 to preserve the original siding planks., (Far Left) African American schools in St. Mary's. Broken circles indicate approximate locations. Map courtesy of the Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions.