The Stubbs School is typical of African-American public schools scattered throughout the county between 1870 and 1952.
This modest one-room school opened in the early 1930s. The building lacked electricity and plumbing. Its only heat source was a cast iron stove. The school's sparse furnishings included a slate blackboard and an assortment of homemade desks and benches. The typical day began with prayers followed by lessons in spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar and geography with a break for lunch and recess.
Over 30 children in grades 1 - 7 filled the classroom each September. By spring, daily attendance averaged 15 students. The School Board closed Stubbs School for several sessions during the late 1930s and early 1940s due to low attendance before closing it for good in 1943. In 1952 all African-American one-room schools closed and the students transferred to the newly constructed John J. Wright Consolidated School.
Caption of map): The Stubbs School was relocated to Spotsylvania Courthouse from Stubbs bridge Road in 1999 in an effort led by the Spotsylvania Black History Committee. In 1952, John J. Wright Consolidated School opened on the former site of the Snell Training School. The school was integrated in 1968 and is known today as the John J. Wright Middle School.
Caption of portrait, upper right): John J. Wright (1863 - 1931), a Spotsylvania County native, attended a one-room school and later graduated from the Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute. Mr. Wright devoted his life to improving educational opportunities for African-Americans. He was instrumental in the establishment of the first African-American high school in the county, the Snell Training School which opened in 1913.
Caption of lower left picture): Children playing in front of a school at Massaponax.