Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth

Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth. The Manassas Industrial School Historic Site. , The grounds on which you are standing were once a bustling school, with numerous classrooms and residential buildings, a dairy barn, orchard and farm, and other amenities meant to sustain and educated African-American students from all over Virginia. Built at a time when segregation created a lack of formal education opportunities for African-Americans, the school offered academic courses in mathematics, geography, music, literature and English. Vocational training included carpentry, blacksmithing, shoemaking and painting for boys; and sewing, cooking, the domestic arts and laundry methods for girls. Students graduated with skills that helped them be successful at home and at work., [Captions:] , This modern view of the campus shows the footprint of the original buildings, outlined today in stone. Summaries of the history of each building are provided adjacent to the stone outlines. , , Manassas Museum Collection, A classroom view taken in 1911 shows boys learning the art of cobbling and shoemaking at the Manassas Industrial School. , , Manassas Museum Collection, The Manassas Industrial School Class of 1908 stares confidently at the camera as they prepare to take the skills they have learned and enter the workforce. , , Manassas Museum Collection, In this classroom view, girls are learning a variety of sewing skills. , , Manassas Museum Collection