The Swag Images
Black education was hard fought and hard won.
There are countless stories of communities of hard working Black people giving donations from small wages; no wages, to help build schools, to provide transportation and other resources so their children could get an education.
This activism occurred not only on the Northern Neck, but in countless rural Black communities in the segregated United States of America. The struggles to have equal opportunities in the quality of education was not lost on people like Lancaster County citizens Issac Lewis, William Crosby, Simon Conquest, Albert Terry Wright, Rev. Daniel H. Chamberlayne, Dr. Morgan E. Norris, and so many, many, many more who organized, boycotted, and confronted the obstacles placed in the way of equal education for the Black community.
So it is especially pleasing to have the students of Lancaster Elementary School to participate with the Brookvale May Day event by providing art to be used in the branding of this event.
The Save Brookvale History Committee requested utilizing young artistic talents of Lancaster and Northumberland Counties art students to render images that would adorn t-shirts that was be used to promote the May Day 17, 2025 event, and to help generate funds.
Specific guidelines were given:
The main focus of the art was the re-imagining of the spirits of the Black schools with their school colors and mascots alongside the present schools of Lancaster and Northumberland public schools that will be used on t-shirts, memory cards, and other gifts for people who donate funds towards the function of the May Day event and as an investment in the future for the site.
The students did not disappoint.
It is one thing to tell someone a vision but then to see how one vision manifests in the mind of a young person is truly amazing. Great care went into every one of these images. The imagination of the young artists is touching.
The other wonderful gift; the warm tone of curiosity was part of the palette. To draw inspiration for the project, yearbooks photos were shown to the students; many recognizing relatives. They asked questions that weren’t specific to art, but what stories were being told in the pictures…not only were the kids excited but the teachers were excited to answer questions from students.
I am so proud of what the kids contributed to this project. Every effort will be made to ensure every piece of art will be showcased.
I want to thank Stephanie Brown for volunteering to showcase the LES art at Rapahannock Art League. Also Lancaster County Public Schools Superintendent Jessica Davis, LES’s Marilyn Sprouse, and all the other educators and staff at LES who encouraged and assisted with this wonderful outcome. Thank you also to Kat Perez from Northumberland Public Schools.
Thank you, the visitors to this gift shop, and a very big thank you to our young people.
Pixie E. Curry
The shop is still under construction.
With your donation, you can select a gift at the given level.
Instructions to order items:
Please use the WooPay for the Brookvale and Central baseball caps, and paper products that will be added at a later time (you can click on the image(s), place your items in the cart, then proceed to checkout where the WooPay option is available).
For book “Fight On, My Soul,” click on book which takes you to the author’s site of choice, Amazon, to purchase book.
All other items come from the third party vendor, Spring, which will take your order, payment, and then ship directly to your address. Please click on image name(s), i.e. “tote bag,” scroll down to “description” then click on either the image(s) or “click here to order” to direct you to the Spring website. There you can start the ordering process, and will also find more color options for some of your purchases at Spring’s website.
Thank you.
