“Standing Still Was Not an Option”: Carver Celebrates 75 Years
More than 300 community members were present at the George Washington Carver Regional High School Alumni Association 75th anniversary gala Saturday, Oct. 21. The event capped off a year of celebrations in recognition of Virginia’s only regional school to offer secondary education to Black students in four counties during the era of racial segregation.
Throughout the evening, attendees heard addresses from Culpeper Mayor Frank Reaves Jr., Culpeper County Supervisor David Durr and keynote speaker Dr. Belle Wheelan, former Virginia Secretary of Education. Carver alumna Joan Gaither Graves lit a memorial candle in honor of classmates who had passed, and following dinner, Dr. Hortense Hinton-Jackson, alumni association vice chair, led a “roll call” in which members of each of the graduating classes shared memories from their time at Carver.
There was also plenty and of fun and dancing to be had, with music by the Moonlighters and Hit The Deck Entertainment.
It was a joyous and momentous occasion befitting an educational institution that had a profound impact on the local community. In 1948, after decades of advocacy from Black community members and their allies, Carver opened its doors in Rapidan to minority students from Orange, Culpeper, Madison and Rappahannock counties. Over the next 20 years, those students would receive a high-quality education from a school that boasted not only a strong academic curriculum, but award-winning sports, music and agricultural programs.
The school closed in 1968 following integration. Today, the building houses the Carver 4-County Museum, located in the former school library, which keeps the Carver story alive through in-house and traveling exhibits documenting the history of the school and its students and staff. It is also home to community programs like the Carver Food Enterprise Center, which opened in September to provide job training and a space for emerging culinary entrepreneurs.
Carver 4-County Museum Vice President Alan Johnson said that after hosting celebrations throughout 2023 in each of the four counties, holding a collective gala was a perfect way to honor the innovative legacy of Carver as a regional school and the cooperation it took to bring the school to life.
“It was an opportunity for the four counties to have to display leadership,” Johnson shared. “That meant the school boards, the board of supervisors, the parents, both black and white, they had to listen to the advocates. They had to come together and develop some kind of consensus in order to build this school. It took 45 years or so for that to happen, but the people were persistent. So, if you have any overarching reason for October 21, it is citizenship, and it's led by those who are persistent enough to advocate for quality education.”
That spirit of persistence and citizenship was passed on from the school’s founders and faculty to the alumni, many of whom stayed in the area and went on to become pillars of their communities, contributing to both the local economy and to civic life.
“When they came back to Orange, Culpeper, Madison and Rappahannock, they changed the trajectory of those communities, both in the workforce development and through citizenship.” Johnson said. “I think that's fundamentally what all Americans want — to be a part of a community and respected by your peers. And so that means that the school system worked.”
The same spirit of collaborative activism has allowed the George Washington Carver Alumni Association to continue making a difference in the community today. To date, the organization has provided more than 200 scholarships to local students through community fundraising. Furthermore, when the alumni association sought to restore the original name of the school the façade of the building, where it had been replaced by “Piedmont Vocational School” shortly after integration, they were met with unequivocal support from local stakeholders like the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors that proved critical in achieving success.
During her keynote address, Dr. Belle Wheelan praised the blueprint left by the founders for those seeking to change their communities for the better.
“Solutions to problems are not always simple, but they do exist,” she noted. “Had our ancestors not tried to find a way to get to neighboring communities or to get to situations where they could be taught one-on-one, many of them would not have graduated from high school at all. They recognized that standing still was not an option — that they had to do something to go and find the solution — and ultimately found our own high school right here in George Washington Carver.”
The prevailing theme shared by the many alumni who attended the event was gratitude for those founders who refused to give up until they found a solution.
Astorie Turner Acty, a 1953 Carver alumna, said that she especially cherished her relationships with teachers and the skills she gleaned from her home economics classes, which she later used to provide for her family.
“In my marriage, I had three daughters,” she reflected with a smile. “I made their dresses, curtains, everything except shoes and socks. I’m 88 now, and I just thank God for allowing me to go to George Washington Carver.”
Marlene Ware is a graduate of the Class of 1961. At Carver, she not only received an education that would form the foundation of a 40-year career in nursing, but she also met her husband Howard, another alumnus. On the evening of the gala, the Wares were in attendance with their eldest daughter Ailsa and grandson Howard, passing on the legacy of George Washington Carver Regional High School to the next generation.
“I think it’s very important for our kids, and they are very much interested in the history there at Carver — how we persevered during difficult times, how people rode the bus so far to school,” Marlene Ware shared. “Our parents were very much concerned about us getting an education, so now we are building on the backs of our ancestors that provided a great education for us as well.”
For more information about the George Washington Carver Regional High School Alumni Association, including current projects and how to donate, visit www.gwcaa.org. To learn more about the Carver 4-County Museum and view the museum’s digital exhibit collection, visit www.carver4cm.org.