This page is presented by LVHS in cooperation with the “Save Brookvale History Committee” (SBHC), an independent citizens’ group seeking to preserve and share history, stories, and memorabilia of Lancaster’s former segregated Black high school and its students, and to encourage thoughtful community planning about the building’s future.
LVHS and SBHC thank everyone who has provided research or materials for this digital archive, including the Committee’s own members, LVHS staff and volunteers, the Kilmarnock Museum/Carroll Lee Ashburn, Brookvale alumni, and many others in the community.
For more information, to get involved, or if you have materials to share or loan, please email savebrookvalehistory@gmail.com.
Save Brookvale History Committee:
Pixie E. Curry (coordinator), Doug Campbell, Hampton Campbell, Andrea Williamson Curtis,
Toni Williamson Dorsey, Francine Aytes Hunter, Dennis Lee, Sr., Faith Gaskins Waddy.
Liaisons:
Lancaster Public Schools-Jessica Davis
Lancaster Virginia Historical Society-Karen Hart and Lex Forrester
Kilmarnock Museum-Carroll Lee Ashburn
Lancaster County Board of Supervisors & Administration-Ernest Palin, Bill Lee, Don Gill, John Bateman
About Brookvale
Brookvale High School, located off Devil’s Bottom Road between Kilmarnock and Lancaster, existed as a segregated Black school from 1959 to 1969. It opened in January 1959 for students in grades 8-12, replacing the county’s first Black high school, A.T. Wright, that had been established in White Stone about 1910. In Fall 1962, Brookvale added an Elementary division and became a combined facility housing all grades 1-12.
Brookvale High School’s last graduating class was in Spring 1969, as forced integration was finally being implemented for the next school year. This came 15 years after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Black students in grades 9-12 were integrated into Lancaster High School (in Kilmarnock) for Fall 1969 and Brookvale High School was closed. The building became Mantua Intermediate School, then served as Lancaster Primary School from 1973 until it permanently closed in 2023. (Photo from 1960 Brookvale yearbook).
Yearbooks
Yearbooks were scanned by SBHC. These are large PDF files, so please have patience while they load. Originals were provided courtesy of Carroll Lee Ashburn, Kilmarnock Museum Director, and lenders to the museum, Martha Lee and Elaine Davenport.
If you have yearbooks from any of the missing years and are willing to loan them for scanning, please contact LVHS.
- 1958 A.T. Wright
- 1960 Brookvale
- 1963 Brookvale
- 1965 Brookvale
- 1966 Brookvale
- 1968 Brookvale Part 1 and Part 2 (divided due to file size)
- 1969 Brookvale Part 1 and Part 2 (divided due to file size)
1969 Brookvale Warriors State Championship Baseball Team
Additional Resources
Check back for more resources as this page grows…
And be sure to also visit the Save Brookvale History Committee’s own website:
SAVE BROOKVALE HISTORY
https://www.brookvalemaydayswag.com/
School history, photos, memories, interviews, merchandise, newsletter, and more!
Historical Highway Marker
Historical Highway Marker, sponsored by the Save Brookvale History Committee, was approved by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Installation/Dedication is anticipated Fall 2025, date to be determined.
