Josephine School Community Museum

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Josephine School Community Museum

The Josephine School Community Museum & Clarke County African American Cultural Center is housed in a circa 1882 two-room schoolhouse in Berryville, Va.

Its mission is to preserve and share Clarke County’s Black history.

06/19/2026

Enjoy a day of FREE entertainment and presentations on Saturday, June 20, in Rose Hill Park, located at 31 E. Main St. in Berryville.

• noon to 5 p.m. “Black History Exhibit: 1619 thru 2025” in the Barns of Rose Hill (where there are restrooms and water fountains)
and in Rose Hill Park…
• noon DJ Donnie Young
• 12:35 p.m. welcome by emcees Allison Seymour TV & Marc Clarke
• 12:40 p.m. National Anthem performed by Pastor Barbara Davis
• 12:45 p.m. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” led by Pastor Barbara Davis
• 12:50 p.m. prayer and song by St. Like Baptist Church
• 12:55 p.m. performance by M.L.A MIME
• 1:15 p.m. performance by KanKouran West African Dance Company
• 1:50 p.m. Dorothy Davis presents flag memorial
• 2 p.m. solo by vocalist Jeffery Walker
• 2:05 p.m. speaker Nadir Al-Khalili
• 2:15 p.m. solo by vocalist Jeffery Walker
• 2:20 p.m. MLK voice artist Rev. Jeffrey O. Johnson Sr.
• 2:50 p.m. “Juneteenth” committee closing remarks
• 4 p.m. Souled Out Band concert

06/17/2026

See you Saturday in Rose Hill Park at Clarke County’s Juneteenth Celebration! It’s from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at 31 E. Main St. in Berryville, Va. Bring chairs or blankets and enjoy FREE entertainment...
• emcees Allison Seymour & Marc Clarke
• Souled Out Band
• KanKouran West African Dance & Drum Troupe
• MLK voice artist
• M.L.A. Mime
• exhibits and presentations
• food available for purchase
Plenty of parking is available in municipal lots in town and at the Berryville-Clarke County Government Center (101 Chalmers Ct.).
Questions? Contact Alverna White at 703-283-0348.

06/15/2026

Enslaved people chained together and marched from one place to another by owners or slave traders is a “coffle.” Coffles ranged in size from fewer than a dozen to 200 or more. Slave coffles were rarely mentioned in southern newspapers because they were so common they were unworthy of remark. Most descriptions of coffles come from accounts by abolitionists and travelers from other parts of the country.

“What to the Slave is the 4th of July?” begins at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 4, 2026, at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (901 Amherst St., Wi******er). The FREE presentation celebrates one of Frederick Douglass’s most well-known speeches, which he first read on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York.

Excerpts of “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” will be read by retired college professors James R. Coates Jr. and Miles K. Davis. The July 4 event is presented in partnership with the Josephine School Community Museum. Contact the JSCM at 540-955-5512 or [email protected]. Contact the MSV at 540-662-1473 or [email protected].

06/08/2026

On June 19, 1865 – almost one month after the Civil War ended and slavery was abolished – Union general Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and issued General Order Number 3:

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freed are advised to remain at their present homes, and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts; and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

News of their freedom gradually reached the approximately 250,000 slaves in Texas as individual plantation owners informed their slaves.

One year later, formerly enslaved people in Texas celebrated the day they were freed. They and their descendants continued annual June 19 celebrations, which spread across the South. The name “Juneteenth” was first used in the 1890s, and the day became more commercialized in the 1920s and 1930s.

“Juneteenth” became a federal holiday in 2021 when Congress enacted, and President Joe Biden signed, the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.

Clarke County’s fifth annual Juneteenth Celebration is on Saturday afternoon, June 20, in Rose Hill Park, located at 31 E. Main St. in Berryville. The day of entertainment, exhibits, presentations, food, and family fun is FREE and open to all.

06/05/2026

Historic preservation begins with you, and the Josephine School Community Museum welcomes photos and memorabilia related to Clarke County’s Black history to add to its collection. Donations – like this 1965 Johnson-Williams High School letterman jacket patch – are gratefully accepted. Contact the museum at (540) 955-5512, (540) 333-0692, or [email protected].

Johnson-Williams High School was an all-Black school until 1966. It opened in the early 1930s as Clarke County Training School for African American students in grades 1 through 12. It was expanded in size over the years and, in 1951, it became Johnson-Williams High School. It remained an all-Black school until 1966 when all Clarke County public schools were desegregated.

06/03/2026

This kindergarten class graduation photo – with teacher Miss Virginia standing at right in the shrubberies – was taken on the steps of St. Luke Baptist Church on Liberty Street in Berryville. The photo was published in The Clarke Courier in March 1968; however, this is Miss Virginia’s class of 1966-67. The girl identified in the Courier caption as Vanessa Lokly is actually Yvonne Jackson Stribling.

Liberty Street was part of Blackburn Town, a Black community on the north side of the Town of Berryville. Blackburn Town – like Josephine City – was also named for a Black woman. It encompassed Bundy Street, North Buckmarsh Street, North Church Street, and Liberty Street.

Josephine City was the Black community at the southeast end of town named for a freed slave who helped establish the community. Josephine Street was annexed into the town in 1989.

06/01/2026

Our neighbor and partner, Clermont Farm, hosts “Lloyd Williams & the Marines” at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 6. The program honors Clarke County native and World War I hero USMC Major Lloyd W. Williams and highlights Clermont’s deep military roots from the French & Indian War to World War II.

The afternoon includes access to historic rooms connected to Williams’ childhood, special displays of Marine Corps memorabilia, and a reception featuring Veramar Vineyard wines. Tickets are $25; purchase at the door or at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/zf8cvvw? Clermont is located at 151 Clermont Lane in Berryville. Contact the farm at 540-955-0102 or [email protected].

Josephine City, established in 1870 by formerly enslaved and free African Americans, would not exist were it not for the owner of Clermont Farm. The Josephine School Community Museum celebrates that connection.

05/29/2026

Many thanks to those who helped date this photo of the Josephine City School. It was taken in or shortly after 1930 – after it was moved a few hundred feet south of where it was built (and where it currently sits).

The two-room elementary school was built in 1882 close to the Josephine City’s only road. It was moved when the four-room Clarke County Training School was built in 1930.

After it was moved, it was used for home economics and agriculture classrooms, and the Clarke County Training School taught grades 1 through 12.

05/26/2026

This photo in the Clarke County Historical Association archives is identified as a group of Clarke County Training School pageant participants. Handwriting on it says, “1926-27 pageant – my bunch.” The Clarke County Training School wasn’t built until 1930, so maybe the pageant was a fundraising event for the proposed school. Can anyone provide more details or identify anyone in this photo?

05/21/2026

The Josephine School Community Museum Board meets at 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 26, at the museum located at 303 Josephine St. in Berryville. Meetings are open to the public. New board members are needed, too. If you want to learn more about preserving Clarke County’s Black history, please consider attending a board meeting.

Board meetings are generally on the fourth Monday of each month, occasionally changing because of holidays – such as Memorial Day – or inclement weather. Contact the museum at (540) 955-5512 or [email protected].

Address

303 Josephine Street
Berryville, VA
22611

Opening Hours

1pm - 3pm

Website

http://jschoolmuseum.org/

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