Boydton Academic and Bible Institute
Boydton, Virginia
Boydton Academic and Bible Institute was opened in 1879 in building that had been abandoned by Randolph-Macon College when it moved to Ashland in 1868. Dr. Charles Cullis, a humanitarian from Boston, purchased the property in 1878 and opened the school with the partial purpose of training African-American preachers and teachers.
Cullis sent Mr. and Mrs. Sharpe to Boydton to operate the school. Mr. Sharpe, having poor health, died not long after their arrival, and Mrs. Helen Bradford Sharpe, his wife, took over and became the guiding hand of the Institute for more than 30 years.
The school consisted a large four-story brick building, a two-story house and 425 acres of land. A boarding department was added and courses offered on the secondary level.
In 1910 the school was purchased by the Christian Alliance of New York City. It was operated by the Alliance until 1916 when the school was forced to close due to lack of support. Shortly afterward, the property was transferred to an alumni board of trustees, who reopened it using tuition fees and private contributions. The new school had four years of high school courses added to the curriculum, and in 1927 the first high school class graduated. After 1922 high school subjects were dropped. The school continued to operate as an elementary school until 1935, when it was permanently closed. As a result of the efforts of Dr. Cullis, Mrs. Sharpe and others, Boydton institute produced many of Mecklenburg County’s finest teachers and ministers of the past century.
Marker is on Highway Fifty Eight (U.S. 58) 0.1 miles east of Jefferson Street, on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
