Since Stafford County Public Schools began the historical mural program three years ago, 13 schools have been awarded $4,000 grants for students to paint murals on school walls,
A student at Colonial Forge High School works on their school’s historic mural.
(Courtesy Stafford Education Foundation)
Courtesy Stafford Education Foundation
Margaret Brent Elementary School mural in development with artist, Tanya Green, shown.
(Courtesy Stafford Education Foundation)
Courtesy Stafford Education Foundation
The Grafton Village Elementary School mural highlights President Lincoln’s connection to the Stafford community.
(Courtesy Stafford Education Foundation)
Courtesy Stafford Education Foundation
Edward E. Drew Middle School’s mural honors the pivotal history in Stafford County that took place at Stafford High Schools, which is the current Drew Middle School.
(Courtesy Stafford Education Foundation)
Courtesy Stafford Education Foundation
Completed Historic Mural at Rodney E. Thompson Middle School.
(Courtesy Stafford Education Foundation)
Courtesy Stafford Education Foundation
The historic mural at Anthony Burns Elementary School features QR codes with student videos on the individuals depicted on the mural.
(Courtesy Stafford Education Foundation)
Brenda Edwards loved the idea of telling lesser-known, but still important, stories about Stafford County history.
In particular, she wanted to let people know there was more to Stafford’s history than being George Washington’s boyhood home.
“All we hear about is Ferry Farm,” Edwards said.
A three-way partnership among the Stafford Museum and Cultural Center, Stafford County Public Schools and the Stafford Education Foundation allowed Edwards to highlight those stories at Rodney Thompson Middle School.
After receiving a grant through the education foundation, Edwards, Rodney Thompson’s art teacher at the time, spent a week and a half during the summer of 2021 painting a 17-by-7-foot mural that captures local history. She hoped it would compel students and parents to learn more about their surroundings.
Edwards talked to local historians and did research to make the mural as accurate as possible. The mural is on display in the school’s main hallway so people can see it as soon as they enter.
The result, titled “Unsung Songs of Stafford,” features a number of scenes, including enslaved African American ship captain Robinson Daggs, the desegregation of schools, the Patawomeck Indian tribe and the building of the Interstate 95 bridge over the Rappahannock River.
“Historically speaking, well-to-do people are represented in history,” said Edwards, who is doing a similar project now at Stafford High School, where she is an art and photo teacher. “Sometimes a lot more of the smaller stories need to be told.”
Educating others, especially the students, about their school or county is the impetus behind this project.
In the program’s first year, 11 schools applied for 10 grants, and extra money was provided so all the schools could be accommodated. Overall, 13 county public schools have participated in the program, now in its third year, which awards up to $4,000 grants each to paint similar types of murals.
“What I like about the project is that it empowers kids to investigate and think about school history, their community or Stafford history,” said Eric Powell, the K-12 history and social sciences coordinator for Stafford County Public Schools.
Powell said the project began after students at Anthony Burns Elementary wanted to paint a mural at the school to honor its namesake. Burns was born a slave in Stafford County who escaped to Boston.
Under the Fugitive Slave Act, Burns was ordered to return to Virginia. His story generated headlines, and Boston sympathizers ended up buying Burns’ freedom.
To pay for the grants, the education foundation stepped in since it is a nonprofit organization.
With everything in place, the school system then sent out emails to each school’s principal telling them about the program and how to apply for the grants.
Usually, the emails found their way to each school’s art teacher. The art teachers submit a proposal, including a sketch, that is reviewed by a six-person committee consisting of two people each from the three partners. If needed, committee members offer suggestions to make sure everything is historically accurate and is tied to Stafford.
Typically, students at the high schools paint the murals. At middle and elementary schools, either the art teacher or a contracted professional artist paints the mural.
Leslie Orton, an art teacher at Colonial Forge High School, said about 20 of her students from the National Art Honor Society helped create the mural on the school’s second-floor history wing.
There were other murals already at Colonial Forge, but the students wanted to do one themselves.
“I like opening their minds to what happened here before them and thinking about something broader than everyday life,” Orton said.
Aided by Colonial Forge history teachers Byron Spicer and Matt Skjoldal, Orton designed the mural. The students started painting it during the winter of 2022 and finished most of it by that spring. The mural has received touch-up work and additional words since.
Orton wanted the mural to emphasize who had been on the property before Colonial Forge was built.
Titled “Who Shaped the Land on Which We Stand,” the mural highlights Augustine Washington’s Iron Forge, including the enslaved people who worked there.
In addition, there is an image of a female Patawomeck Indian tending to a fire, as well as a man cutting wood, a reference to nearby Woodcutters Road. The mural also includes an Eagle, a tribute to Colonial Forge’s mascot.
In addition to murals, some schools, including Anthony Burns, provide interactive videos visitors can access through a QR code.
Burns’ mural is titled “Soaring to Success” and showcases people connected to Stafford, including Samuel Langley, who oversaw the first unmanned flight, educator H.H. Poole, artist Palmer Hayden, doctor and suffragist Kate Waller Barrett and American Red Cross founder Clara Barton.
Sue Henderson, director of the Stafford Museum and Cultural Center, is thrilled by the program’s benefits.
“It’s a way to look for educational value by creating an appreciation for Stafford history,” Henderson said. “This is a win-win. We’re delighted to engage people more in history.”
