The conflict experienced in Fredericksburg area carries into present day as those who desire to remember pieces of the past like desegregation are being met with opposition. This can be seen in King George County currently, one of the more rural counties surrounding the city of Fredericksburg. It is here that a conflict has risen around a school in disrepair that is a vital part of the county’s history. Ralph Bunche High School was built as a result of a lawsuit that was filed in 1947 saying that the prior schools lacked the proper facilities to ensure “separate but equal” schools in the area and it was built in 1949 [1]. Ralph Bunche High School educated King George County’s black students from 1949 until 1968, when the school system reached closer to the goal of full integration. It served multiple purposes since then, but it has been left vacant for the last couple of decades.
In 1997, the Ralph Bunche Alumni Association started calling for the county to preserve the school since it was so vital to the black history of the area. The school board told them they couldn’t do anything about it because the county supervisors controlled the finances for the county. On the contrary, the county supervisors said they couldn’t provide the funds to help restore the school because they didn’t own the property, the school board did. Due to the conflict between these two stakeholders, it took the alumni association ten years to convince the two boards to sit down and discuss the future plans for the school. In 2008, the two groups finally met and in 2009 they acquired the deed and started a study to determine the building’s needs and possible future uses. In 2010, the report was completed and they determined that the building was mostly sound, which led to the alumni association to start calling for the funds to repair it. Although they had some funds allocated to start the restorative work, it wasn’t sufficient enough to make the internal improvements that were desperately needed [2].
A few years later in 2013, the Ralph Bunche Alumni Association achieved a victory as Ralph Bunche High School was honored with a historical marker and earned its spot on the National Register of Historical Places [3]. For King George County, this is a huge achievement. Ralph Bunche is the only structure related to King George’s black community to be included on the National Register of Historical Places. Of the fifteen properties in King George on the National Register, Ralph Bunche is the only 20th Century building. With that being said, the project to restore the building came back into the limelight. In September 2016, funds were allocated to turn the building into a community cultural center and museum and the county supervisors put the Ralph Bunche Advisory Committee with developing the plan for the museum and ideas on how to fund it [4]. As they drafted the plans, the building still remained in disrepair and the funds weren’t coming in adequately to sustain progress on restoring the school.
Six months later in March 2017, Supervisor Cedell Brooks Jr. called for the Board of Supervisors to commit $1 million to the building of the Ralph Bunche Community Center and Museum. Some of the Board, including Ruby Brabo, argued against it saying that it is important to the county’s history, but other things in the county that require immediate funding should take priority. Brooks responded back by arguing that the county has plenty of money in their budget to allocate these funds and finally see this historical landmark receive the renovations it deserves. He continues by showing the plan for the museum including a preserved classroom from the 1960s and an exhibit highlighting the role black families played in King George during the days of segregation. Even with this compelling argument, the Board of Supervisors remained unmoved on their budget. Moving forward, the alumni association is hoping to secure funding outside of the county since it is now a registered landmark, but it is still up in the air whether enough funding will be secured in the new future. Many of the local supporters of the museum believe that it could have a far-reaching impact once built and remind people of this period of conflict and the positive results that came from it. One of the supporters Marc Waller commented on the museum, “’Visitors will leave with a message that change is possible, obstacles can overcome and that we all must strive to make a difference’” [5].
Works Cited:
[1] Dyson, C. (2017, March 23). Brooks Ready to Commit $1 Million to Ralph Bunche Museum. The Free Lance Star.
[2] Dyson, C. (2012, April 15). Time, Neglect Take Toll on Ralph Bunche School. The Free Lance Star.
[3] Unknown Author. (2013, May 15). Marker to be Dedicated Saturday at Ralph Bunche HS. The Free Lance Star.
[4] Editorial Staff of The Free Lance Star. (2016, October 9). Editorial: Ralph Bunche Video is Essential Reminder. The Free Lance Star.
[5] Dyson, C. (2017, March 23). Brooks Ready to Commit $1 Million to Ralph Bunche Museum. The Free Lance Star.
P. (n.d.). [Ralph Bunche High School, King George, Virginia, October 2012]. Retrieved from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Ralph_Bunche_High_School_Oct_%6012.jpg