National Historic Landmark

Moton, Robert Russa, High School

Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia
Listed
October 24, 1995
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
95001177

About this property

The Robert Russa Moton Museum (popularly known as the Moton Museum or Moton) is a historic site and museum in Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia. It is located in the former Robert Russa Moton High School, considered "the student birthplace of America's Civil Rights Movement" for its initial student strike and ultimate role in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case desegregating public schools. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998, and is now a museum dedicated to that history. In 2022 it was designated an affiliated area of Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park. The museum (and school) were named for African-American educator Robert Russa Moton. The former Moton School is a single-story brick Colonial Revival building, built in 1939 in response to activism and legal challenges from the local African-American community and legal challenges from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It houses six classrooms and an office arranged around a central auditorium. It had no cafeteria or restrooms for teachers. Built to handle 180 students, already by the 1940s it struggled to hold 450; the County, whose all-white board refused to appropriate funds for properly expanding the school facilities, built long temporary buildings to house the overflow. Covered with roofing material, they were called the "tar-paper shacks."

Location

Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia
37.29122, -78.39747

Categories

SOCIAL HISTORYPOLITICS/GOVERNMENT
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Farmville Historic District
Listed
0.8 mi
First Baptist Church
Early Republic
0.8 mi
Longwood House
Industrial
1 mi
Needham
Industrial
2.3 mi
Bentivar
Early Republic
3.8 mi

Questions about this property

When was Moton, Robert Russa, High School listed on the National Register?

Moton, Robert Russa, High School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 24, 1995.

What type of historic resource is Moton, Robert Russa, High School?

Moton, Robert Russa, High School is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Moton, Robert Russa, High School a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Moton, Robert Russa, High School has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Moton, Robert Russa, High School?

The period of significance for Moton, Robert Russa, High School is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Moton, Robert Russa, High School?

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