Brown Elementary School receives historic marker in Winston-Salem
City officials and family members of Robert Washington Brown gather in front of a historic marker for Brown Elementary School, which was renamed to honor Brown's commitment to educating students. DJ SIMMONS/WFDD
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City officials and family members of Robert Washington Brown gather in front of a historic marker for Brown Elementary School, which was renamed to honor Brown's commitment to educating students. DJ SIMMONS/WFDD
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Winston-Salem City Councilmember Annette Scippio speaks at a ceremony to unveil a historic marker for Brown Elementary School. DJ SIMMONS/WFDD
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A historic marker for Brown Elementary School was unveiled in a ceremony on Thursday in Winston-Salem. DJ SIMMONS/WFDD
The city of Winston-Salem unveiled a historic marker on Thursday to honor the legacy of Brown Elementary School. It will cement the history of a space that served the local African-American community for decades.
The school was open from the early 1900s until 1977. Today, a mixed-housing community, Brown School Lofts at Legacy Heights, stands where the building once was.
Councilmember Annette Scippio says the ceremony was important because so much local Black history has been destroyed.
"To recognize the school is very special in the hearts of those who knew what was here in this space, on this soil," she says. "To recognize the people who gave so much during times when we had so little is very, very special."
Scippio says this will preserve memories of a key part of the community. Those thoughts were echoed by former students at the ceremony.
"We will always come back and read and remember what used to be here," Daniel Jenkins, a former student, says.
He attended the school from 1963 to 1970. Jenkins says honoring the school's legacy allows future generations to remember its history.
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