Bray School Lab effort gets underway at W&M
WILLIAMSBURG — The College of William & Mary is launching a research initiative that is focused on a school that educated enslaved and free Black children in the 18th century.
William & Mary says the Bray School is likely the nation’s oldest surviving schoolhouse for African Americans.
The Bray School building is still on campus. William & Mary said the initiative provides an opportunity to tell the stories of Black residents whose place in the historical narrative was overlooked.
The effort to restore and research the building is a joint effort between William & Mary and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The Bray School Lab will take into account the evolving roles and social perceptions of democracy, education and slavery.
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A gift from two alumni, Steven W. Kohlhagen and Gale Gibson Kohlhagen, is jump-starting the lab. The Kohlhagens remember the Bray School building vividly from their time as students in the 1960s.
“The university held people in slavery, and nearby, the Bray School was created so that enslaved and free African American children could be educated,” Steve Kohlhagen said in a statement. “They were part of this society, but their story hasn’t been told. It’s time.”
Northam appoints first children’s ombudsman
RICHMOND — Gov. Ralph Northam has appointed an attorney to serve as Virginia’s first director of a recently created child advocacy agency.
Eric Reynolds will assume the role of director of the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman, Northam’s office announced Thursday.
The ombudsman’s office was established last year to serve as a mechanism for reporting concerns about the treatment of children in Virginia’s foster care system.
According to a biography provided by Northam’s office, Reynolds has worked as an attorney for a number of state agencies, including serving as legal counsel for the Department of Social Services and the Office of Children’s Services. He also has represented parents and children in child welfare and family law cases.
“I am honored to serve in this inaugural role,” Reynolds said in a statement. “I was drawn to this position because I know how much of an impact it can make.”
In 2018, the state’s legislative watchdog agency recommended creating an ombudsman’s office to help fix problems in the foster care system.
Carnegie Medal goes to hero in mass shooting
VIRGINIA BEACH — A man who helped save his colleagues during the 2019 mass shooting in Virginia Beach has received a posthumous medal from the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.
The Virginian-Pilot reported Wednesday that Ryan Keith Cox got the Carnegie Medal.
The medal is awarded to people throughout the U.S. and Canada who risk their lives for others. It’s considered North America’s highest civilian honor for heroism.
Cox, 50, directed seven of his colleagues to barricade themselves inside an office during a gunman’s rampage at a Virginia Beach municipal building in May 2019.
He refused the pleas of his colleagues to join them because he wanted to help others.
Cox, who worked as a public utilities account clerk, was one of 12 people killed that day.
“We would not be in here today if Keith had not forced us into that room and made us stay in there. He gave his life so that all seven of us women could have ours,” Tara McGee, one of Cox’s co-workers, told The Virginian-Pilot after the shooting.