by Melinda Payne
It has been 60 years since Botetourt County schools were integrated and 25 years since the all-Black school, Central Academy, regained its name. Both events mark milestones in Black History in the county, and the organization that has served as a watchdog for improving education for Black students during segregation and assuring a smooth transition for Black students during integration, is commemorating both events with a daylong celebration on May 9.
The Botetourt County Wide League will present May Day 2026 at Central Academy Middle School in Fincastle from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. featuring historical activities Central Academy, the Black school, held during traditional celebrations from 1959-66. There will be conversations about school life before and after integration, a salute to the administrators and teachers who formed the school, a walk down memory lane related to the change of name of the school from Central Academy to Botetourt Intermediate in 1966, to William Clark in 2001 and back to Central Academy in 2001, gospel music, a talent show, games, food, auction and much more.
“The Botetourt County Wide League has been around a long time and we are extremely proud of our efforts in making sure that the contributions of Blacks in the county don’t go unnoticed,” said Curtis Brown, who serves as president of the organization. “On the occasion of these two significant events, we want to take the time to celebrate the path we have traveled, so we’re hopeful others will come out and join us.”
The Botetourt County Wide League was reconstituted in September 1996, after the school board renamed the school William Clark. A story in The Roanoke Times reported on that meeting.
Verlina Hinton called it “a slap in the face.’’ It was one thing when the name of her old school – the last Black school in Botetourt County – was changed from Central Academy to Botetourt Intermediate 20 years ago. At least that name represented the county. But now to name it after William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame, that is too much. To take a piece of Black history and name it after a white man whose only connection to the county is his marriage to a Fincastle girl, Hinton says, is an insult to the black children who attended the school and to the Black man who sold his property so it (Central Academy) could be built.
It took five years of monthly attendance at Botetourt County School Board meetings to convince board members to make the change, Brown said.
The Botetourt County Wide League was founded in the mid-1930s with the explicit goal of improving education for Black students in Botetourt. According to the Fincastle Herald, in the summer of 1934 the league began meeting with the Botetourt County School Board to address the needs of educating “colored children.”
The Botetourt County Wide League awards two scholarships yearly to college-bound seniors at Lord Botetourt and James River High Schools regardless of race. The organization also makes donations annually to elementary and middle schools in Botetourt on a rotational basis to assist with field trips and school supplies for underprivileged students.
