Margaret Stephenson collection on Nansemond County Training School

Margaret Stephenson (1942-2014) was born in Richmond, Virginia to Lucille Long Bowles, originally of Severn, NC and later of Como, NC. After graduating from Highland Springs High School in Richmond, Virginia in 1960, she married E. Frank Stephenson, Jr. of Como, NC and attended Chowan College before earning her bachelor's degree in Mathematics from North Carolina State University. She subsequently earned a Masters degree in Architectural History from the University of Virginia. She also taught art at Chowan College and Paul D. Camp Community College and worked for the City of Raleigh's Planning Department and the Virginia Department of Transportation's Environmental Division.

As an architectural historian, Professor Stephenson collected historical information about the Nansemond County Training School, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 in (Holland) Suffolk, Virginia. Constructed in 1924, it was the first public high school for African American students in Nansemond County and was one of the schools that received start up money from the Julius Rosenwald fund ($1,500). It was also funded by African American families ($5,000), and $11,500 in public money.

Booker T. Washington encouraged Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) an American businessman, philanthropist, and part owner of Sears and Roebuck Company to address the poor state of African American education in the Southern United States, which suffered from inadequate buildings and teaching materials. After meeting Washington in 1911, Rosenwald incorporated the Julius Rosenwald Fund in 1917. By the time the program ended in 1932, it had produced nearly 5,000 schools, 217 teachers’ houses and 163 shop buildings for the education of Black students in the rural South. The documentation in the National Register of Historic Places states that the "Nansemond County Training School is an excellent example of rural southern school architecture. The combination of public and private money and monies from the Julius Rosenwald Fund show how strongly the community wanted to be able to educate its African American population in a modern school building."

The Nansemond County Training School grew out of the Little Fork School located on the estate of William Jackson Copeland who had the vision to provide a building site to meet the educational and cultural needs of African American children of the day. The original school was destroyed by fire with its replacement being built in 1924 and becoming known as the Nansemond County Training School.

The building, with seven classrooms and one auditorium, contained an elementary and secondary school, was one of ten Rosenwald schools in Suffolk, Virginia. The Rosenwald schools were known for their standardized floor plans which were designed to let sunlight into the classrooms in the afternoon to save money on electricity and heating. Hannibal E. Howell was its first principal from 1919 to 1961, serving for 42 years. In 1964, the name was changed to Southwestern High School and after the racial integration of county schools, became Southwestern Intermediate School. Today it is called Southwestern Elementary School and is located next to the Nansemond County Training School which is currently used for storage.(East Suffolk High School was also a Rosenwald school for Black students (1926-1965)

Sources Speidell, Phyllis, "Raising Funds to Restore Historic School into Heritage Center" Pilotonline.com. The Virginia Pilot. January 10, 2008. https://www.pilotonline.com/news/article_cec46b96-ce08-5a9c-9b70-8ae452cb5921.html

Staff reports. "School Celebrates Reunion" Suffolk-News Herald. July 27, 2015. https://www.suffolknewsherald.com/2015/07/27/school-celebrates-reunion/

"Nansemond County High School". Wikipedia. Accessed 6/14/22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nansemond_County_Training_School

"Suffolk Scrapbook" Mae Burke regarding the Nansemond County Training School https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozt2F3HICus

Agnew, Tracy. "Four Rosenwald Schools Stand in Suffolk" Suffolk-News Herald. March 1, 2010. https://www.suffolknewsherald.com/2010/03/01/four-rosenwald-schools-stand-in-suffolk/

(Rev. 10-90) NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 10246018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES REGJSTRATION FORM . https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/133-5065_Nansemond_County_Training_School_2004_Final_Nomination.pdf