Brown School

Brown School was a two-room schoolhouse for African-American students in the Snow Creek area of Franklin County. The school was financed with local donations and Rosenwald funds. It was built on a concrete foundation, and it was heated with a stove. The building did not have electricity, running water, or indoor restrooms. Dudley Thurman, Vivian Poindexter, Mimmie Watson, and Chappie Goode were teachers at the school.

Brown School
August 1935
Library of Virginia


Brown School
August 1935
Library of Virginia


Brown School, c. 1930s
The Animo (FCHS yearbook, 1986)
Library of Virginia


Brown School (circled),
schoolhouse map of Franklin County,
Virginia State Planning Board, 1935


Brown School, c. 1930s
reprinted in The Animo (FCHS yearbook), 1986


Brown School, 2023
Photograph by William B. Gibson


Brown School, 2023
Photograph by William B. Gibson