Curator's Statement

I expected much from my travels to D. Webster Davis Demonstration School since, as my preliminary research had indicated, there were  many wonderful treasures at Ettrick. I had already been in touch with Professor Lucious Edwards, Archivist for Virginia State University, long before my site visit and knew of many significant documents at the archives. And I had always been so interested in VSU, an institution whose education faculty seemed to appear at various progressive education meetings during the 1940s.  But the weekend visit was so much more than I had anticipated.

As a former archivist myself, I felt at home when I entered the Special Collections & Archives at Lindsay-Montague Hall. I so enjoyed the atmosphere—a hard-working  and well-used setting, typically understaffed as is the case at most archives, efficient, and appropriately cluttered (not too much, however, an appropriate level to suggest that the area was always in use.) The space indicated to me that the facility was run by someone who was actively involved with acquisitions. And that was certainly the case as I met Lucious Edwards, a university archivist and historian who approaches his work with great thoughtfulness and good cheer. I cannot adequately express my thanks for his assistance—not only guiding me towards appropriate materials (including, Loyal Sons and Daughters by Edgar Toppin, the fantastic pictorial history of the institution), but also helping me in my efforts to contact alumni from D. Webster Davis.

While all of my interviews have been important and interesting at the various school sites I have visited, I was quite moved by the efforts of so many of the alumni from D. Webster Davis. Some individuals underwent considerable inconvenience to meet with me, and they did so— graciously and willingly. I suspect they all knew that the memory of this remarkable school must be kept alive and, for this, I shall forever be thankful.

My interviews could not have been more important and significant but, also, just outright fun. After a wonderful meeting with Dorothy Burhanan, we starting chatting and I learned that her niece, who lives in Columbia, is an individual I hold in the highest regard after serving on various committees with her at the Columbia Museum of Art. And the afternoon session with Claudia V. Goode Jennings, Viola Bouldin Maniego, Marion E. Vaughan, and Mattie Wilkerson was, as I came to expect, informative and delightful, due of course to the graciousness, dignity, and kindness of these women. I smiled and laughed as they told stories, as I did when I visited Isabel Berry’s home and Clarence Butcher’s home and heard honest, sincere people talking from the heart.  Principal Colson would have been so proud of all of these graduates!

Laureta Matthews

My research was developing in various ways during this brief residency; however, I still wanted to learn more about the context of Virginia State University and D. Webster Davis but, as happens—I think  to most oral historians and, certainly, quite regularly to me—I did not quite know the "proper" questions to ask. I had learned so much about the school, but every lab school-university developed their own dynamic relationship, each being different, and I did not know how to formulate questions. Laureta Matthews—wise and dignified—must have seen this in my facial expressions, and she taught me much about schools, colleges, educational research, and kindness to strangers. I would have gladly stayed and extended the interview for hours and hours since I realized this would become one of those occasions that I would never forget. I left Mrs. Matthews' home hoping that someday I could approach her wisdom, dignity and humanity.  I know that I shall not, but I will continue to try.

Craig Kridel
Curator, The Museum of Education
E. S. Gambrell Professor of Educational Studies

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