Product Description
Seven letters that trace the arc of the Williamsburg Bray School—from its founding in 1760 to its closing in 1774—are the foundation for a collection of essays that explores history and implications of the 18th-century school for enslaved and free Black children. These letters are some of the surviving correspondence between the Williamsburg school's administrators and the Associates of Dr. Thomas Bray, a London-based Anglican charity whose charge was to minister to what it saw as the spiritual needs of African Americans.
The essayists reflect on the evolution of the Williamsburg Bray School, offering a variety of perspectives on the school and the children who attended it. Some pieces reflect years of research and writing on the establishment of the school. Others, including writings from some of the descendants of these students, represent more recent opportunities to reflect on the school and its historical context.
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and William & Mary's Bray School Lab collaborated to collect these essays that make up the book’s five chapters. In addition to a short history of the school, a map that pinpoints where the children resided in Virginia’s colonial capital, and photographs of the historic letters, the book delves into the 21st-century discovery of the Williamsburg Bray School building, its subsequent move from the William & Mary campus to Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area, and the restoration of the structure that, when completed, can help tell the complicated story of race, religion, and education in Williamsburg and early America. Author Antonio Bly also shares the poignant story of Isaac Bee, a student at the school who broke the bonds of his enslavement to a Williamsburg planter and rose up from slavery to freedom.
Features
- Edited by Maureen Elgersman Lee and Nicole Brown
- A Colonial Williamsburg Publication
- 176 pages plus two 16-page photo inserts
- Measures about 6"W x 9"H
- Soft cover
A flat rate shipping fee of $4.99/book applies.
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Book
I am thoroughly enjoying learning about the yesteryears of what it was like in Williamsburg, a place where my address is located but not in the Colonial District where the storyline is. Interesting though a lot of History of people that may have been connected.
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Bray School Scholars
An excellent snapshot of a little-known part of American history.
