“It is inspiring to see how the discovery of a structure can set of events that inform understanding and enhance knowledge,” William & Mary professor Ann Marie Stock said in a recent interview with the Gazette.
Stock is the presidential liaison for strategic cultural partnerships at William & Mary.
According to Stock, the discovery of the Bray School on William & Mary’s campus, the strategic decision of President Katherine Rowe of W&M and President Cliff Fleet of CW to combine forces to leverage this historic asset, and the generous gift made by Steve and Gale Kohlhagen “created a display of fireworks that will continue to spark new questions and ignite new projects for many years to come.”
The Bray School in Williamsburg was one of the first schools in colonial America that educated enslaved and free Black children.
I asked Stock, what is the educational component of the Bray School story that would resonate with today’s audiences?
“The Williamsburg Bray School story reveals the power of partnership,” Stock said. “The William & Mary Colonial Williamsburg collaboration has allowed us to shed light on our community’s early history and disseminate our findings across the country and beyond. Working together we engaged many stakeholders — descendant community members, W&M Bray School lab specialists, students, alumni and faculty, CW archeologists and architectural historians, and many others. We combined our respective strengths in research and restoration to make a difference in our world.
“As an African proverb teaches, ‘If you want to go far, take others with you!’”
According to Stock, there was so much to learn from the Bray School project.
The William & Mary Bray School Lab has demonstrated that it’s possible to expand the historical archive and enhance understanding by employing new different approaches. Oral histories, for example, make visible subtleties and nuances previously unknown. Similarly, genealogical research reveals connections among families and communities and generations. And community engagement research allowed for the creation of the recently published volume, “The Williamsburg Bray School,” co-edited by Maureen Elgersman Lee and Nicole Brown and including numerous essays by descendants and community members.
“In this way we are demonstrating that historical inquiry is an active process rather than a completed product,” Stock said.
The strategic cultural partnerships between William & Mary and Colonial Williamsburg is an evolving enterprise and one of many collaborations designed to benefit both institutions, Stock said.
“Through strategic cultural partnership, the division I direct, W&M students are actively engaged in applied learning opportunities at CW as part of the Cultural Hermitage Immersion Program. CW specialists and W&M faculty fellows partner in existing projects related to a variety of topics ranging from conservation of paintings to the analysis of data around the visitor experience.”
Stock continued, “We are paving the way for an innovative initiative that will combine our strength in learning design and professional development, on the one hand, and historical interpretation on the other. We envision countless K-12 teachers and students, university students and museum professionals benefiting from this.”
As is often the case, significant historical discoveries happen by chance or diligent research.
Terry L. Meyers, who after 46 years of teaching English retired from William & Mary as chancellor professor emeritus of English, wrote an introduction to “The Williamsburg Bray School.”
“How did I, a specialist in Victorian poetry, come to discover a forgotten eighteen-century structure on campus?” he wrote.
“Well, one thing I noticed when we moved here in 1970 was that my century, the nineteenth century had been erased,” he continued. “It is hard to live in Williamsburg and not to be interested in its history. I did. I became interested in that missing century, the years between 1780 and 1924, between colonial Williamsburg and Colonial Williamsburg (The Living History Museum). I kept my eyes open for nineteenth-century Williamsburg, including local accounts such as one that proved central.”
Meyers connected the dots, and with the combined effort of William & Mary and Colonial Williamsburg, the original Bray School was restored.
It is already serving as a magnet to attract a large, new segment of visitors interested in American history, told in all its dimensions.
Frank Shatz is a Williamsburg resident. He is the author of “Reports from a Distant Place,” the compilation of his selected columns. The book is available at the Bruton Parish Shop, and on Amazon.com.