By: Neven Almaas, Alyssa Diefenbach, and Layla Mazzone
In 1866 the Christiansburg Institute was founded
into a school for the formerly enslaved and throughout the years has turned
into a memorial for its black history. This Institute is one historical piece
for black history and crucial to the development of the education system during
this time. The Christiansburg institute has not only a lot of history but is
still making history today by teaching people racial justice, sharing its history
and even hosting tours and raising money for remodeling.
The Christiansburg
Institute is a very
powerful place in defining equality and education during its time. The
institute started in 1866, a year after the Civil War ended. The founder of the
Christiansburg Institute was Captain Charles S. Schaeffer who built this school
to educate former slaves. Schaeffer, a union soldier and a Minister from
Philadelphia who came down to Virginia and started schooling 12 former slaves.
He started this institute in a rented house called The Hill School and in three
years after being founded, the school had over two hundred students. Over the
years, the name of this establishment changed from The Hill School to what is
now known as, Christiansburg Institute.
In the year 1869, which was a special year for
this institute, Booker T. Washington caught wind of its successes and became an
advisor for the Christiansburg Institute. Soon after, Washington started to
integrate a similar curriculum into this Institute from the Tuskegee institute
that he founded, creating a stronger education system for its students. Because
of this, the Christiansburg institute started evolving into a well-known school
and by 1897, Edgar A. Long, a close friend of Washington’s, started to work for
the institute as a teacher.
Throughout
the years, Long became the principal and served for 17 years. With Washington
as its founder and Long as the school's leader, this institute started to
thrive and spread equality and safety among its students. In 1947, the
Institute expanded, now educating people in 15 surrounding counties. By 1966,
the Christiansburg Institute came to an end and closed due to public school
integration and the Friends Freedman Association deed to the property.
Christiansburg Institute is in
Christiansburg Virginia. The institute may have been originally meant to teach
formerly enslaved African Americas, but it began to help the people who wanted
to teach others when they may not have had the individuals or the facilities.
The main goal was to help prepare the freed slaves, so they were able to
understand more out in the world and set them up for success during an
oppressing time, especially since it was hard for freed slaves to get an
education.
When the Christiansburg Institute shut down in 1966, the Institute was formed again years later to renovate, restore and develop the institute into a building for remembrance and historical teaching. Now, the building is a place to show and teach people racial justice, about the history of the institute and to promote education. They do this by taking you on tours of the building and the Smokehouse Museum and even in class presentations such as Community learning center. The reason they provide all these opportunities to teach individuals and show them about the purpose of the institution by explaining all the history and artifacts that come with it, including the people involved as well as black history.
Before the
county of Christiansburg became an institute for freed slaves, the town itself
was visited by Confederate leaders like T. “Stonewall” Jackson and J.E.B
Stuart. Over the past 64 years of history created inside the Institute,
unfortunately, the building started to erode and decay causing only one last
remaining structure from the original Christiansburg Institute campus that
stands today. The last remains were named after Edgar A. Long, the principal in
the institute. Because of what little remains, the building is on the listing
for the National Register of Historic Places (NHRP) which aims
it at being historically preserved, which as of today people, petitions, and
organizations like the Christiansburg
Institute Inc are
currently gaining funds to restore the old building to be used as a museum and
archives to preserve African American history, artifacts, and the institute
itself. In current day, a renovation of the building’s rooftop is being funded
and an event is being held by the CI, Inc. The event for raising money for this
special institute is, The Virtual Mural
Contest , which is
a contest to create a mural by the people representing the history of the
institute as well as Black History.
Other events, including tours on the campus
are available today, to explore the institute and learn in person about the
history of the campus. Trails like the Black History Month
trail and the Montgomery Historic
Christiansburg Walking tour, explore the campus itself as well as other areas like the
Christiansburg Town Square “where enslaved people were regularly sold at public
auction before Emancipation.” (Black History Trail, 2021, para. 3), or other
schools like the Hill School and Friends Elementary School, both former African
American schools. Other trails include one for the Baptist Church named after
Charles S. Schaeffer himself, the Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church. The church
today is still open and used for services like Sunday School, communions,
meetings for prayer, and a schedule posted on their official Facebook page.
The Christiansburg Institute was created originally to educate freed slaves but blossomed into not only a historical structure but a symbol for black history and still lives to educate people today. The Christiansburg institute has not only a lot of history but is still making history today by teaching people racial justice, sharing its history and even hosting tours and raising money for remodeling. With the amount of history and people to help grow this institute, the Christiansburg Institute without a doubt will live on forever in the hearts of those who serve, help and maintain the prosperity of this building.
