User:Warbert7+6/sandbox

St. Emma Military Academy

The History of St. Emma Military Academy and its sister school, St. Francis de Sales High School began with the pioneering spirit of two Philadelphia philanthropists; Louise Drexel Morrell (with her husband Edward V. Morrell) and her sister, Saint Katharine Drexel. Mrs. Morrell and her sister, St. Katharine were from a well-to-do Roman Catholic family. Edward Morrell was from a wealthy family also (1858-1917). St. Katharine was one of only two American-born Saints (1858-1955). Her ceremony on 10/1/00 was performed by Pope John 11, which gave her the title Saint.

These schools were built on the property of a Confederate General, Phillip St. George Cocke. Located in Powhatan, Virginia, this property was called Belmead, and it had a commanding view of the James River below, with streams and deep woods surrounding them. Cocke became distraught with how he was treated by General Beauregard, so he ended his misery by committing suicide in 1861. The property passed on through the hands of his descendants and others until the Drexel / Morrells purchased it in 1895.

The first construction was done by enslaved people, but the remaining buildings were built by cadets, and then by paid contractors, The Castle, as the main building at St. Francis was called, and St. Emma's main building was built of clay from neighboring Rock Castle, Va. Their stone and lumber also came from the property.

Unfortunately, both schools were closed by 1972 due to declining enrolment and the advancement of integration among other things.

St. Emma Military Academy was the Nation's only Black military Academy in continuous operation from 1895 to 1972. It existed for over 77 years.

The story of these two schools, their founders, and their students are a very important and intriguing part of America's history which should never be forgotten,