The historic Bray School building was where teachers taught freed and enslaved black children. Its restoration began 250 years later by the laboratory of the William and Mary Bray School.

The Williamsburg Colonial School opened its doors on September 29, 1760, and more than two and a half centuries later, it is preserved and honored.

Tonia Merideth is an oral historian and descendant of a Williamsburg Bray School student. She says the silence of the history surrounding the school and the people connected to it is a challenge for historians trying to piece together the full story of the school’s life. that the school touched.

“The genealogists and I are working hard to tell a more complete story of these children, going through all the records – including oral histories – we have one from a descendant member of the community. We have his family and that of two families who sent students to the Bray school,” Merideth told Scripps News.

The Bray School was open from 1760 to 1774 and taught up to 400 black children ages 3 to 10 in an area that is now Williamsburg, Virginia.

Merideth says she didn’t know she shared a family connection with the school and its students until coming to Williamsburg. She says she discovered the history of the Bray school 11 years ago and it captivated her enough to go there and be part of the project.

Surprisingly, she says it was only after this commitment that she learned of her personal genetic connection to the school.

“I feel like the first day I saw this school and touched it, these kids wanted me to tell their story,” she said.

As the school was being restored and moved to a safe location, descendant members of the community joined dedicated lab workers who are part of the project to celebrate the restoration.

Matt Webster works with the Bray School project and said he thinks the biggest challenge is preserving these stories, in the work they do.

“It’s not just a building,” Webster said. “It’s a place where life happened.”

The restored school is expected to open to the public this spring.