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St. Emma's Military Academy catalog and postcard, C0380, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.
Purchased by Lynn Eaton in 2019.
Processed by Liz Beckman in December 2020. EAD markup by Liz Beckman in December 2020.
St. Emma Military Academy, also known as St. Emma's Military Academy, was a school for Black boys in Powhatan, Virginia. It was founded in 1895 as the St. Emma's Industrial and Agricultural Institute. The school's founders, Edward de Vaux Morrell and his wife Louise, were from Philadelphia. The school was located at Belmead, which had been a plantation where Philip St. George Cocke enslaved hundreds of Black men, women, and children. As noted by Greg McQuade in a news story for WTVR Richmond, "Ten thousand young men graduated in nearly 80 years. A stark contrast to the dark beginnings of Belmead," ("Former cadets push to save old African-American military academy"). Robert Walker, a graduate of the school, said, "You would leave here with a military diploma. A trade diploma and an academic diploma,"(quoted in McQuade, "Former cadets push to save old African-American military academy"). St. Emma's Military Academy closed in 1972.
Program catalog and postcard sent by a student from St. Emma's Military Academy, a high school for Black boys in Powhattan, VA. The postcard is written by Ernest Noble to his mother Sadie Noble in New York City.
The Archives and Special Collections of Manhattan College and the De La Salle Christian Brothers hold
This collection contains two items.
"Edward De Veaux Morrell," (7 Aug 1862–1 Sep 1917), Find a Grave Memorial no. 139668945, www.findagrave.com, accessed December 17, 2020, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/139668945/edward-deveaux-morrell Koons, Kenneth E., "Cocke, Philip St. George (1809-1861)," Encyclopedia Virginia, Virginia Humanities, accesed December 17, 2020, https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Cocke_Philip_St_George_1809-1861 McQuade, Greg, "Former cadets push to save old African-American military academy," CBS 6 News Richmond, WTRV.com, accessed December 17, 2020, https://www.wtvr.com/i-have-a-story/former-cadets-push-to-save-old-african-american-military-academy Virginia Humanities, "Belmead (St. Emma's Military Academy)," AfroVirginia, accessed December 17, 2020, http://places.afrovirginia.org/items/show/39