Donations Surge to Historic African American School Following Racist Graffiti Vandalism

ASHBURN, VA — Donations have surged to a GoFund Me page dedicated to the restoration of a historic African American school that was vandalized this past weekend with racist graffiti. As of this posting date, more than $60K has been donated to the GoFundMe page.

"Our GoFundMe campaign had raised about $6,500 before the vandalism and now we are at more than $60,000.* Our total raised before the vandalism (through yard and bake sales and individual donations, and the GoFundMe of $6,500) was almost $20,000 over the last 18 months," said Sharon Smith Knipmeyer, who created the page.

SEE ALSO: Historic Ashburn Schoolhouse Vandalized With Racist Messages

The one-room schoolhouse operated as a public school for African Americans from 1892 until the 1950's. Currently under renovation, the building was found vandalized early Saturday, Oct. 1. Images of the vandalism shows swastikas, genitals and other vulgar images and comments.

According to the Go Fund Me page, Loudoun County’s first public schools opened in 1870 with the stipulation that white and African American students had to attend separate schools. The Ashburn Old School was one of nine schools in Loudoun County for African American students. It operated until the late 1950's when Virginia schools were fully integrated.

Called the “Ashburn Colored School” while it was in operation, the school had one teacher and students who ranged in age from 6 to 17 years old.

A group of middle and high school students at Loudoun School for the Gifted are hoping to raise funds through the GoFundMe page to restore the school. According to loudounschool.org/oldschool, the students are considering creating a museum focused on African American history in Ashburn or Loudoun County, or on a national level.

SEE ALSO: Student Fundraiser to Restore Historical African American School

For more information on the project or to support the restoration efforts, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/ashburnoldschool.

A community rally will be held on Sunday, Oct. 9 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to paint the building and remove swastikas and “white power” slurs from this important civil rights landmark, located at 20579 Ashburn Road, Ashburn. To find out about the rally, SEE ALSO: Rally to Repair Historic Ashburn Colored School Racist Vandalism Set for Oct. 9

Photo shared by Ashburn Old School Rehabilitation on Facebook

*as of posting time of this article