State Historical Marker to Be Unveiled for Whitesville Elementary School in Accomack County

Virginia Department of Historic Resources
(dhr.virginia.gov)
For Immediate Release
August 2026

Contact:
Ivy Tan Ager
Department of Historic Resources
Marketing & Communications Manager
ivy.ager@dhr.virginia.gov
804-482-6445

State Historical Marker to Be Unveiled for Whitesville Elementary School in Accomack County

—The school was built using funds contributed by a variety of sources, including the Black community and the Julius Rosenwald Fund, a 20th-century school-construction program in the rural South created after a partnership between the president of Sears, Roebuck, and Co., and Booker T. Washington—

—Text of marker reproduced below—

PLEASE NOTE: DHR creates markers not to “honor” their subjects but rather to educate and inform the public about a person, place, or event of regional, state, or national importance. In this regard, erected markers are not memorials.

RICHMOND – The Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) has announced that a state historical marker approved by the Virginia Board of Historic Resources will be dedicated in Accomack County for Whitesville Elementary School, a 20th-century school built for Black children during racial segregation in Virginia’s public schools.

The marker dedication will be held Friday, August 14, starting at noon, at the site of the marker, located at 23459 Leslie Trent Road in Parksley (23421). Guests may park along the side of the road. This event is free and open to members of the public.

A brief dedication program will take place before the marker’s unveiling. Among the individuals scheduled to speak are representative leaders of the International Brotherhood of Yahshua’s Disciples for the Finishing Work, Inc.; alumni of Whitesville Elementary; and a history griot.

Whitesville Elementary School was built in 1925 to serve the children of Whitesville, an African American community in Accomack County that had developed alongside the town of Parksley in the 1880s. The school was built with $1,700 from the Black community and $4,150 in public funds. A contribution of $900 for the school’s construction came from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, a school-building campaign in the rural South established in 1917 and inspired by a partnership between Rosenwald, the president of Sears, Roebuck, and Co., and Booker T. Washington, the founding principal of Tuskegee Institute. The Rosenwald Fund helped build an estimated 5,000 schools for Black students across the South by leveraging local spending. Whitesville Elementary School closed in 1964. Accomack County Public Schools desegregated in 1970.

The Virginia Board of Historic Resources, which is authorized to designate new state historical markers, approved the manufacture and installation of the Whitesville Elementary School historical marker in June 2025. The marker’s sponsor, the International Brotherhood of Yahshua’s Disciples for the Finishing Work, Inc., covered its manufacturing cost.

Virginia’s historical highway marker program began in 1927 with installation of the first markers along U.S. Route 1. It is considered the oldest such program in the nation. Currently there are more than 2,600 state markers, mostly maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation, except in those localities outside of VDOT’s authority.

Full Text of Marker:

Whitesville Elementary School

This school was built in 1925 to serve the children of Whitesville, an African American community that had developed alongside Parksley in the 1880s. A contribution of $900 came from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, created in 1917 after Rosenwald (president of Sears, Roebuck, and Co.) and Booker T. Washington (founding principal of Tuskegee Institute) had partnered in a school-building campaign. Rosenwald funding helped construct about 5,000 schools for Black students across the South by leveraging local spending. The Whitesville school, built with $1,700 from the Black community and $4,150 in public funds, closed in 1964. Accomack County Public Schools were not fully desegregated until 1970.

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