Katie McKinney, Colonial Williamsburg’s Margaret Beck Pritchard Curator of Maps and Prints, knew what books students used at Williamsburg’s Bray School.
Finding the most popular text used at the school, though, proved to be a challenge. And as the opening of the school site nears, such work has become more critical.
McKinney’s examination of historical documents told her which books had been procured for the school, where enslaved and free Black children were educated between 1760 and 1774. She knew that the students likely progressed from a basic primer, The Child’s First Book, to a book titled The English Instructor and then on to a book of psalms, the New Testament, and The Book of Common Prayer.
Between 1760 and 1763, at least 140 copies of The Child’s First Book — more copies than of any other book — were shipped from England to the school. As the title suggested, the book was used by students just learning to read. Curators were eager to see the book to understand more about the students’ education.
The problem was, no one could locate a copy. As part of the team tasked with furnishing the school, McKinney spent a year searching, to no avail.
“Finding this book seemed to be an important part of understanding how and what the children at the school would have learned at a basic level, regardless of how long they were able to stay at the school,” McKinney said. “I had nearly given up hope.”
Then, while conducting research in Cambridge, England, McKinney came across a reference to the book’s publisher, John and William Oliver of England. She was able to distinguish the book from others with the same title. That ultimately led her to the Library of the Francke Foundation in Halle, Germany, which had a single copy of the book, first published in 1760. Librarians at the Francke Foundation scanned the copy and sent high-resolution images to Williamsburg.
In the book’s 32 pages, which were made from a single sheet, folded and then stitched together, children were introduced to the alphabet. It also contained lessons using religious passages.
Using the scanned copy as a model, Colonial Williamsburg’s printers produced 1,000 copies of the book on an 18th-century press. Peter Stinely, supervisor of the Print Shop, noted that the reproductions even included flaws found in the original, such as a letter that dropped down slightly below the rest of the line. Visitors to the Bray School will be able to see and even hold the reproduced copies of books the students used.
Researching the Furnishings
McKinney is just one of the curators whose research offered guidance in furnishing the school. McKinney and Tara Chicirda, Colonial Williamsburg’s senior curator of furniture, have studied descriptions and images of schoolrooms from the 17th to the 19th centuries.
The schoolroom, Chicirda concluded, should have a variety of benches for students, and a table and chair for the teacher. The students likely would not have had a table or chairs of their own.
The building that housed the school also served as the living quarters of its teacher, Ann Wager. There’s no inventory of Wager’s possessions, so Chicirda examined those of 27 other women in York County who, like Wager, were widows who died between 1770 and 1780 and whose economic situation was likely similar to the teacher’s.
“While Ann was an educated woman, the fact that she worked after the death of her husband when she was
in poor health suggests an economic need,” Chicirda said. “Her salary as the Bray School teacher was the equivalent of a journeyman’s salary in Williamsburg for the period. So, while she could have afforded furnishings, they likely would not have been terribly fashionable or new.”
Among the furnishings Chicirda chose were a bed with curtains; a table that could have been used for dressing, bathing, reading, writing and eating; a small looking glass to go on a wall; a leather-bottomed chair; two yellow-pine storage chests; ladder-back chairs; a dining table; a tea table and a desk.
Angelika Kuettner, Colonial Williamsburg’s curator of ceramics and glass, took advantage of archaeological discoveries at the building’s original site near the corner of present-day Prince George and Boundary streets, where William & Mary’s Brown Hall now stands. Fragments of ceramics and glassware, including a teapot and mugs, helped inform her decisions as to what would go in the building.
All the curators working on the project had to deal with gaps in the historical record. “We have nothing in Ann Wager’s words,” said Amanda Keller, the Foundation’s curator of historic interiors and household accessories. “We had to ask ourselves: How would Ann Wager have used this space?”
“There can always be new discoveries, new technologies that will allow curators in the future to figure out something we couldn’t,” she said. “Our work is never done.”
Reproducing the Furnishings
While curators are purchasing some of the furnishings for the building, much is being produced by Colonial Williamsburg’s tradespeople. The blacksmiths, bookbinders, brickmakers, cabinetmakers, carpenters, joiners and weavers have all contributed in addition to the printers.
At Hay’s Cabinetmaking Shop, Master Cabinetmaker Bill Pavlak built a desk and Journeyman Cabinetmaker John Peeler built two tables. All three pieces were based on originals in the Foundation’s collection that Chicirda deemed appropriate. Pavlak noted that the 18th-century master of the shop, Anthony Hay, sent some of the children he enslaved to the Bray School.
Joiners built the benches for the schoolroom, as well as chairs and chests like those Wager used. Journeyman Joiner Peter Hudson said that tracking down wood was challenging. Most wood available today is dried but for the chairs he wanted fresh wood. Hudson scouted trees in the Historic Area but ultimately found what he needed across the York River in Gloucester.
Master Joiner Brian Weldy said the 17 pieces joiners made offered them a chance to practice a range of skills. The benches are not all alike, since the school most likely obtained used benches from different places.
“Our emphasis was on function, not fashion,” Weldy said. “The students needed a place to sit.”
Brickmakers made several thousand bricks for the project, including some for a second chimney that had to be reconstructed. Master Brickmaker Josh Graml noted that the majority of the bricks made in Williamsburg during the colonial era were made by workers who, like the majority of the children who attended the Bray School, were enslaved.
“This is the first time many of the newer tradespeople have had a chance to contribute to a large-scale project in the Historic Area,” Pavlak said. “It’s an exciting process.”
On Nov. 1, a ceremony is planned to officially open the Williamsburg Bray School site. Please visit www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/events/special-event-the-bray-school-opening for details.