African-American Education Museum set to open in Washington

WASHINGTON, N.C. (WITN) - An African American Education Museum is set to open at a school that was used for black children before schools were integrated.

P.S. Jones High School, which was established in 1924 for black students from 1st through 12th grade, is finally getting the recognition it deserves.

The museum Curator, Alice Mill-Sadler, attended this school in the 60′s and says prominent black leaders nearly 100 years ago advocated for schools like this.

“Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington came to Washington in the early 1920′s to advocate for funding for schools for rural areas in Beaufort County,” Sadler said.

Raymond Lawrence graduated in 1967 and tells me his fondest memory was playing on the football team and winning a few championships.

In 1968 the school was forced to integrate under state law. A day Sadler remembers happened in her junior year of high school.

“My mom called and said you’ve got to come home right now and I was like what’s going on and she said you’ve been drafted to the white school,” Sadler said.

That school was Washington High.

Sadler says a lot of memorabilia that belonged to P.S. Jones High School students were thrown away or misplaced as a result of integration.

And now nearly five decades later, through funding from the community, she hopes the museum will keep history alive for future generations to know what black people fought for.

The ribbon cutting for the museum will take place on Saturday at noon, right off North Pierce Street in Washington.

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