Saint Emma Military Academy (also known as St. Emma Industrial and Agricultural Institute), was a school for African and Native American boys, constructed in 1895. Its sister school was St. Francis de Sales High School, for African and Native American girls, constructed in 1899. These were two Roman Catholic institutions built on the historic Belmead plantation. Also known as Belmead-on-the-James, it was located near Powhatan County Virginia, designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis for Philip St. George Cocke and constructed about 1845. (Location: NW of JCT of Rtes. 663 & 600 near Powhatan,Va. Coordinates: 37 ° 37" 24" N 77 ° 57' 45"W).
These schools were started and sustained by the generous spirit of three Philadelphia philanthropist; Louise Drexeel Morrell (with her husband Edward V. Morrell) and sister, Saint Katharine Drexel. Louise and Katharine were the daughters of Francis Anthony Drexel, a very wealthy banker and the namesake of Drexel University. Upon his death, the daughters used their inheritance to help the disadvantaged and the disenfranchised youth of this country. Katharine Drexel opened over sixty schools and convents all over the United States. Her crowning achievement was the founding of Xavier University in New Orleans in 1925, the only historically Black and Catholic university in the U.S. She was canonized a saint by Pope John 11, in a ceremony at Vatican City on Oct 1, 2000, (She is one of only two American born saints).
The St. Emma campus consisted of over forty buildings and in its heyday was like a little town needing nothing from the outside but salt and sugar. During the slavery days the property could support almost two hundred people, so the founders reasoned that it could easily supply the needs of the cadet corps and St. Francis, and still have enough produce to sell to the community. Although the first construction was done by enslaved people, many other buildings such as the chapel and the main dormitory were built by cadets with directions from their shop instructors. The building materials, the clay, the stone and lumber all came from the property itself. St. Emma Military Academy was the Nation's only Black military academy in continuous operation from 1895 to 1972. It existed for over seventy-seven years.
Unfortunately, both schools were closed by 1972 due to declining enrollment and the advancement of integration among other things. During its time over 15,000 students graduated from these schools, and their stories and that of their founders are very important and intriguing parts of American history which should never be forgotten.