Tourists are drawn to the Northern Neck for its rural and Chesapeake Bay heritage. In building an official heritage area, the five-county region has established an Oyster Trail, Artisan Trail and Watermen Heritage Tours. Now, the African American Education Trail has been added.
Despite segregation and the poverty that went with it, African American communities found a way to build schools and hire teachers. Last year alumni of historical African American schools here worked with Economic Development and Tourism Coordinator Lisa Hull to map some 70 schools throughout the Northern Neck.
“The African American Education Trail is a part of our history that has not been told.”
A.T. Johnson School in Westmoreland County is now a museum on the trail. 87 year old Herbert T. Gaskins was a 1949 graduate.
“I also drove the school bus as I went to school. I was only 16 years old.”
The family history of Marian Veney Ashton, museum director for A.T. Johnson, includes slaves, indentured servants and freemen. She has a deep attachment in the making of the education trail and drove several hours from Maryland for each meeting.
“We're now telling folks that our African American history, it is living history. And it just keeps living as long as we keep telling the story. So the African American history, whether it's this county or any county or any state, is a very hard and ugly history. But the thing is would we be who we are without that history. And would we be able to move forward if we couldn't look back.”
You can find more information on the trail here.