Howdy! It’s time for another local history podcast brought to you by Round the Triangle. In this episode, we are exploring the controversy surrounding Magruder Elementary School in York County. The school was named after Confederate General John B. Magruder, a figure infamous for ordering the burning of Hampton during the Civil War.
“Having known for some time past that Hampton was the harbor of runaway slaves and traitors, and being under the guns of Fort Monroe, it could not be held by us even if taken, I was decidedly under the impression that it should have been destroyed before; and when I found [its] extreme importance to the enemy, and that the town itself would lend great strength to whatever fortifications they might erect around it, I determined to burn it at once.” - Gen. John B. Magruder, 1861
When members of the York County community protested the school’s name in 2021, the York County School Division offered a different explanation. They claimed the school was named for the Magruder area of Williamsburg, a former African American settlement displaced by the creation of Camp Peary during World War II. However, this account contradicts historical newspaper records. A 1954 Daily Press article states that the school “was named for a Confederate general.”
While some have described the Magruder community as “lost,” their legacy lives on through descendants who actively pursue a better understanding of their history. My guest, Brian Palmer, is a Peabody award-winning journalist based in Richmond, Virginia. He's working on a documentary about the Magruder community called "Make the Ground Talk" alongside his wife, Erin Holloway Palmer. Brian himself has family ties to Magruder and we'll discuss those roots, the importance of a complete understanding of U.S. history, and why this is a pivotal moment to reconsider old names for schools like Magruder Elementary.
If you’re interested in learning more about this history, please join me at the Lemon Project Symposium on March 22-23, and if you like this podcast, please consider subscribing and sharing with friends and family.
*Correction: in the podcast I mention that I had heard Magruder used to be Frederick Douglass Elementary. However, according to newspaper archives, they were two separate schools. During Jim Crow, Magruder was a school for white children, and Frederick Douglass was a school for Black children in York County.
Why "Magruder" Elementary?