Bowling Green Industrial Academy was a private school established by members of the Caroline Sunday School Union in order to provide Negro children of Caroline County, Virginia a secondary education. It opened on October 5, 1903 with 5 students and 1 teacher. Liston Leander Davis was the principal and vocational
education teacher. The Academy received its charter from the
State Corporation Commission of Virginia on April 21, 1904. A board of trustees was established to manage
its affairs. Many board members members members of the Sunday School Union.
The Board of Trustees paid all the expenses associated
with operating the Academy, including the cost of instruction, facility upkeep,
and room and board for the students.
The school was supported with financial and
material contributions from churches, Sunday schools belonging to the Sunday
School Union, and individuals from the Negro community. The school also received support from friends
of all races outside the community.
The rising cost associated with the
Academy made it a constant struggle for the trustees to maintain the
school. In 1913, they asked County Superintendent of Schools John Washington for financial
assistance. Washington sought aid from the Slater Fund. The trustees agreed to turn over the school
to the Caroline County School Board to receive money from the Slater Fund and
establish a public secondary school for their children.
On October 28, 1914, Bowling Green Industrial Academy became part of
the Caroline County public school system when the trustees donated the
land
and school buildings to the Caroline
County School Board. The school was renamed Caroline County Training School.
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