The Walker-Grant School

The Walker-Grant School. Civil Rights Trail. , Fredericksburg's first publicly supported high school for African American students., Black education efforts in Fredericksburg began in 1836, when free Black people petitioned the Virginia General Assembly to start a school for free Black children. Later, local African Americans created (and funded) several institutions dedicated to serving African American students, including Shiloh to serving African American students, including Shiloh Church School, housed in Shiloh Baptist Church from 1867 through 1874; the Fredericksburg Colored School, opened in 1884; and the Fredericksburg Normal and Industrial Institute, which served high school students starting in 1903., In 1935, the city built its first publicly supported Black high school, the Walker-Grant School, on Gunnery Road. The school was likely built on to of the foundation of the Revolutionary War-era Fredericksburg Gun Manufactory, which employed enslaved laborers., Named after Joseph Walker and Jason C. Grant, the school honored the contributions of two local leaders in African American education. In 1968, when the Fredericksburg school system desegregated, Walker-Grant served as the city's first integrated middle school. Walker-Grant Middle School moved to a new building in 1988., [Captions:] , Joseph Walker was born enslaved in Spotsylvania County on December 17, 1854. After emancipation, he moved to Fredericksburg, where he worked first at a paper mill, then as a butler for a local judge, and finally as sexton of St. George's Episcopal Church, a position he held for over 50 years. He became deeply invested in Black education in this area and was active in many local political and fraternal organizations. Photograph courtesy Fredericksburg Area Museum., Jason C. Grant was born in Ontario, Canada, on January 9, 1861. His father had been enslaved in Kentucky, and fled the state when he was 21, settling in Canada. Grant attended the Wilberforce Educational Institute in Ohio before moving to Fredericksburg. He and Joseph Walker helped establish the Fredericksburg Normal and Industrial Institute. Photograph courtesy Fredericksburg Area Museum, The historic Walker-Grant building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998., Walker-Grant High School class of 1950 bravely protested segregation at the Fredericksburg Community Center.