East End High School

U-43

East End High School opened near this location in Sept. 1953 to serve African American students during the segregation era. Mecklenburg County built the school with a grant from the Battle Fund, established under Gov. John S. Battle as Virginia’s first program for providing direct aid to localities for school construction. Students came from Mecklenburg County Training School, the Thyne Institute, and other schools in the eastern portion of the county. E. N. Taliaferro was East End’s only principal. The last class graduated on 5 June 1969. Mecklenburg County schools were fully desegregated that fall under a federal court order, and the building became a junior high.

Department of Historic Resources, 2021

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

School Board of Mecklenburg County minutes, 6 Jan. 1947, 25 July 1951, 9 Feb. 1953. Mecklenburg County Board of Supervisors minutes, 6 Oct. 1952. Norfolk Journal and Guide, 21 Nov. 1953, 24 April 1954, 6 Sept. 1968, 15, 16 April, 15 Oct. 1969. South Hill Enterprise, 3 Feb. 2015, 2 Sept. 2020, 1 Feb. 2021. Susan L. Bracey, Life by the Roaring Roanoke: A History of Mecklenburg County, Virginia (The Mecklenburg County Bicentennial Commission, 1977). Historically Black Schools of Mecklenburg County, Virginia: https://www.hbsmeckco.org/schools James Sweeney, “Battle, John Stewart (1890–1972)” Encyclopedia Virginia (Virginia Humanities, 12 Feb. 2021): https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/battle-john-stewart-1890-1972/