Oldest schoolhouse for Black children in US moved to museum

By Ben Finley | The Associated Press The Bray School is aligned with a set foundation at its new location in Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Va. on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023 after it was moved from the William & Mary campus. It is believed to be the oldest surviving schoolhouse for Black children in the U.S., built 25 years before the American Revolution. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP) WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — A building believed to be the oldest surviving schoolhouse for Black children in the U.S. was hoisted onto a flatbed truck and moved a half-mile Friday to Colonial Williamsburg, a Virginia museum that continues to expand its emphasis on African American history. Built 25 years before the American Revolution, the original structure stood near the college campus of William & Mary. The pinewood building held as many as 30 students at a time, some of them free Black children studying alongside the enslaved. Hundreds of people lined the streets to celebrate its slow-speed trip into the heart of the living history museum, which tells the story of Virginia’s colonial capital through interpreters and restored buildings. For historians and descendants alike, the Bray School contradicts the belief that all...