“Born January 8, 1896, in White Stone, Virginia, Isaac Lewis was an inspiration to the community and was always ready to help his fellow man.

A dedicated worker to the PTA of A.T. Wright School, he tried to bring change to the schools and community by addressing issues that involved both Blacks and whites as well.

Mr. Lewis was not satisfied with the school board ability to provide educational facilities and services to the schools for black children.  He led the children of A.T. Wright school to the white school for enrollment.  They were refused, but it opened the eyes of the Lancaster School Board and the people of Lancaster County.”

Although his life was threatened, he did not stop fighting for integration and equality for facilities and services. Mr. Lewis lived to see two granddaughters in Lancaster High School.  He was a World War I veteran and proud of his record of fighting for his country.”

Albert Terry Wright (1871–1944) was born in Hanover County, Virginia. He taught in the black schools of Richmond and, by 1908, at White Stone in Lancaster County. By 1921 Wright was principal of the county’s first high school for blacks, which was constructed largely with funds raised by black residents. Named in his honor. A.T. Wright High School served black students until 1959 when the county opened Brookvale High School. The history of the man and his school exemplified the struggle for education by Virginia’s rural blacks.

Inscription: 1991 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number J-91.)

This is the Julius Rosenwald High School in Northumberland County, VA.

“When it opened in 1917, it was known as Northumberland County Training School. As with all Rosenwald Schools, funding to support the construction was provided by local African Americans and the Rosenwald Fund, a foundation established by Julius Rosenwald, an Illinois businessman and philanthropist. Between 1912 and 1932, the program helped produce 5,357 new educational facilities for African Americans across fifteen southern states, providing almost 700,000 African American children in rural, isolated communities with state-of-the-art facilities at a time when little to no public money was put toward Black education. In Virginia, the initiative helped fund 382 schools and support buildings in seventy-nine counties. In 1932, the school was renamed the Julius Rosenwald High School. It closed in 1958. In 2010, the Julius Rosenwald School Foundation of Northumberland County, Inc. was formed to preserve the legacy of the school.”

Did you know that during the construction of Julius Rosenwald, the Northumberland County students came to A.T. Wright and lived with families in White Stone to continue their education; staying during the weekdays, then back home on weekends until the school was finished?

We are Family!

“Simon Conquest owned a restaurant and a concrete block business located on Route 3 one half mile outside of Kilmarnock, Virginia, across from the former office of Dr. Morgan E. Norris.

Simon Conquest’s innovative and inventive ability with cinder blocks and cement well curves were made in a building in the rear of his restaurant.

He employed three local men, James Cox, Tom Cox and Ellis Harcum. They used an assembly line operation to make the cinder blocks. The process involved mixing sand and cement, sprinkling with water until damp, then packing them in a metal form. They were set out in the sun to dry.

During the summer months, approximately 160 blocks were produced in an eight hour day. Some of the instruments used were iron hammers or iron poles, hoes, rakes, and shovels. The blocks were loaded on trucks by hand and delivered to homes and merchants for their building needs. Many buildings still stand today that were made from these blocks.

Simon Conquest and his employees also dug wells and put cement curves in them. The curves were made from cement, gravel and sand with enough water added to make it pasty in consistency. The mixture was poured into round metal forms and left to dry. After they dried, the forms were separated and the curves were rolled on the trucks for delivery. His invention greatly contributed to the sanitation of well water.

Simon Conquest also owned and operated a business where he sold gas, tobacco, food, cakes, and candy. His wife Annie helped with the operation of the restaurant assisted by Robert and Leorah Urkums, and Marie Harcum, and Elnora Jones.

In time their business grew and prospered to become a great gathering place for the community to socialize.

Simon Conquest was known throughout the county to be the first inventor of the cinder blocks and cement well curves in this area.”