Thomas Warren standing in front of Five Row school

Datecirca 1930

MediumPhotograph

DimensionsOverall: 10 x 8 in. (25.4 x 20.32 cm.)

Credit LineReynolda House Museum of American Art

CopyrightPublic Domain

Object number20-1108-01

DescriptionThomas Warren stands in front of the school, which opened with only six students in 1918 but grew to enroll 34 students. They read Washington Irving’s “Rip van Winkle,” and memorized the “Gettysburg Address.” Painting, drawing, and music – subjects that were not common in public schools at the time – were also in the curriculum.

“It was an eight-month school, the others were six months at that time. It was like a private school.” --Teacher Evelyn Phillips

ProvenanceMaterial gathered for "Spirit of Reynolda: African American Contributions, 1912-1962" exhibition at Reynolda House Museum of American Art, 1993. Image identified and copy print gifted by Eugenia Parent.
Exhibition History1993
Spirit of Reynolda: African American Contributions, 1912-1962
Reynolda House Museum of American Art
Published ReferencesMayer, Barbara, Reynolda: A History of an American Country House (Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 1997), page 47.

Millhouse, Barbara Babcock, Reynolda: 1906-1924 (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2011), page 114..

Status

Not on view

Collections

Five Row