LURAY — It wasn’t easy to find a photo of Andrew J. Jackson, the Black businessman and community leader for whom a school that served Black students was named, from 1925, when it was built, until 1959, when it closed. 

But that didn’t stop interested community members, alums, and relatives of alums from rising up in response to community need, searching and searching until they found one. 

In the 1920s, Black students couldn’t attend white schools because they weren’t welcome. But working with Jewish American business leader and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, Black community members stepped up to ensure their students could and would receive the education they deserved. 

Andrew Jackson was a local merchant, said Sibbie Jeffries, a member of the Historic Andrew Jackson School Museum Committee. 

The cost of building the three-room school was $5,467, and the community raised half of that money, according to a museum brochure. 

Sears, Roebuck president Rosenwald worked with Booker T. Washington to build schools for Black students throughout the South. According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, by 1928, a third of Black children living in rural parts of the South were educated in a Rosenwald school. The trust estimates that only 10 to 12 percent of those school buildings survive today. 

When the school first opened, it educated students through grade 9. But through community advocacy, the school was later expanded to 11th grade. Students were eventually able to go to boarding school in Manassas to complete 12th grade. 

For too long, Andrew J. Jackson, the local merchant and school’s namesake, “was a name without a face,” said Judy Johnson, an alumna of the school. 

“Today, we correct an omission from history,” said Johnson at a portrait unveiling at the school building Saturday. 

Jackson had no biological children of his own, but Jennifer Jones, a descendant of Jackson’s brother, was present for the ceremony, along with other members of her family. Jones, a history major who works in the Chesterfield County Circuit Court, discovered the connection to Jackson through genealogy research. 

“It’s amazing,” she said. “I never imagined that I would connect to someone who would think to leave this much of a legacy.” 

The school building is “a celebration of the enduring belief that education has the power to change lives,” said Bryan Huber, Superintendent of Page County Public Schools. “Nearly 100 years ago, members of Luray’s Black community looked beyond the challenges of their day-to-day and imagined something greater for their children. They didn’t wait for someone else to build that opportunity. They created it themselves.” 

They did it by organizing community fundraisers to raise the money they needed, even though doing so was not easy, he said. 

“Community members raised money dollar by dollar to build a school determined to give their children the education they most absolutely deserved,” Huber said. “In fact, the community exceeded its goal because they believed that investing in children was worth every bit of sacrifice. I share that same feeling.” 

This was done despite the challenges. 

“The Andrew Jackson was not built because circumstances were easy or convenient,” Huber said. “It was built because this community believed that education was worth every bit of sacrifice. That belief still inspires us today.” 

The site of the Andrew Jackson School continues to serve as a recreation center for Page County students, said Dan Bogdewic, a member of the Page County School Board who represents District 1.

Pastor Audré King runs the rec center, which serves Page County children Monday through Thursday during the school year. The center provides transportation to the center, feeds the children who come, and offers tutoring services. 

King said the center also offers a summer program from Monday through Wednesday. 

“We pick them up, we bring them here, we bring them home,” King said. “It’s all free.” 

In that way, Jackson’s legacy continues to this day.

For more information about the Historic Andrew Jackson School, see livinglegacylurayva.org/andrew-jackson-school-museum.