The News & Advance 27 Jul 1911, Lynchburg, VA
Electricity
A newspaper article written in June 1922 talked about the plumbing and electric improvements made to Boydton Institute. I was impressed, like the editor, because this is before the 1935 Roosevelt executive order creating the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), the 1938 Mecklenburg Co-op, and the 1952 Bugg’s Island hydro electric power. I called a friend and he told me the house he grew up in, near Boydton, had power in 1922, as well as some homes and businesses in La Crosse. The Lithia Springs bottling company had power about the same time, but that’s all I’ve heard about.
Do you know about a home or business that had electricity before 1938?
The Richmond Planet, June 1922, Richmond, VA
Boydton Institute: Known all over North America
I’ve been researching Randolph Macon (pre-Ashland days) and Boydton Institute for several months. Originally, I was going to have a one page write up for both schools, since it was the same building. There will now be two separate pages, one while the building was Randolph Macon, the other when it was called Boydton Institute.
I read about old laws in Virginia that prohibited African Americans from gathering for education and religion. My first research question was, if this was a school to train African American teachers and ministers, when was that made legal? Or was it even legal? Many of the laws made in retaliation to Nat’s Rebellion were still in effect until the civil rights act of 1964. I studied newspapers and went to the Library of Virginia to learn more about these legalities.
A man from the Maasai tribe in Kenya attended Boydton Institute in 1909. Newspaper articles from all over the United States and Canada reported on Boydton Institute. The school and it’s students and teachers were an important part of the community. I’ve added people in my write up to the Mecklenburg community tree. To see what I learned about Boydton Institute, click here.
Mecklenburg, Virginia Community History 
What do you think?