RICHMOND — The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s Bray School Project has been recognized by Preservation Virginia with the 2024 Louis J. Malon Outstanding Preservation Achievement Award.
Preservation Virginia is a privately-funded, statewide historic preservation entity that advocates, manages six historic sites and partners with other organizations to ensure the relevancy of the Commonwealth’s historic places.
According to Preservation Virginia, studies show that communities and quality of life are enhanced when individuals, organizations and local governments adapt, restore and highlight historic places and stories unique to Virginia, and each year since 1971, it recognizes exemplary historic preservation projects and historical research in the Commonwealth.
The Williamsburg Bray School, the oldest extant building dedicated to the education of Black children in the United States, is the 89th original building to be preserved and restored by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Preservation Virginia noted. It will be used as a focal point for research, scholarship and dialogue regarding the complicated story of race, religion and education in Williamsburg and in America.
This year’s awardees will be honored at a ceremony Friday, Sept. 27, at Main Street Station in Richmond.
