Black Education in Orange County

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Orange County, the story of black education doesn't start with a grand building or a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It starts quieter than that.

It starts in churches. It starts in private homes. As early as the 1870s, that's where the children went to learn, because that's what was available, and the people of those communities made it work.

You hold onto that image for a second, because it matters to everything that comes after. In 1887, a school for black children was opened in the Duncan Woods community. A real school.

And soon another was established in Orange itself. They called it the Orange Colored School, and for a time, that was its name. Then 1930 came around, and the school was renamed in honor of educator Robert Russa Moton.

That name carried the school forward for a while. Then 1946 brought another renaming, this time for a woman who had given herself to that school in the most enduring way possible, a longtime principal by the name of Emma H. Wallace.

Two renamings, two acts of recognition, two ways a community said: these people matter, these names belong on the door. There was also an elementary school located near Rebeck Crossing, up in the northern part of the city, another quiet piece of this larger story. And by 1960, the county had Franklin Elementary and North Junior High both up and in operation.

From church pews and parlor floors in the 1870s to two operating schools by 1960. That's the arc. That's what persistence looks like when it shows up every single morning.

What the marker says

Schools for Orange County’s black children were held in churches and private homes as early as the 1870s. In 1887 a black school was opened in the Duncan Woods community, and another was soon established in Orange. Known as Orange Colored School, it was renamed in 1930 in honor of educator Robert Russa Moton and again in 1946 for longtime principal Emma H. Wallace. Another elementary school was located near Rebeck Crossing in the northern part of the city, and by 1960 Franklin Elementary and North Junior High were in operation. (1988)