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The life and legacy of Boggs Academy
By Michael N. Searles
Where's the story?
In one of Burke County’s darkest
times, three men with a vision turned
on a light.
It went up board by board on the
countryside of Keysville.
1906-1986
11 Points Mentioned
They named it Boggs Academy, and for eight decades
it stood strong for African-American youth from all over
the world who wanted to learn.
Boggs Academy was established in 1906 by Presbyterian Minister the Rev. Dr. John
Lawrence Phelps during the days of the Atlanta Race Riots. When things seemed to be
falling apart for blacks across the South, Rev. Phelps envisioned a school for AfricanAmerican youth in Burke County. A trip to Burke County and the sharing of his dream with
brothers Rodney and Moses Walker prompted them to donate the two acres of land on which
Boggs Academy was established.
For 80 years, Boggs was a beacon of light and hope for thousands of students who crossed
its threshold. The memory of Boggs Academy continues to resonate in the hearts of those
who had contact with the institution. Dr. Ruby Saxon- Myles, District 1 School Board
representative and a Boggs graduate, tells the story of her mother as a young girl passing by
Boggs, stating that her children someday would attend Boggs Academy. That dream became
a reality when her six daughters and one son graduated from the institution. By the time
Boggs closed its doors in 1986, students from Bermuda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Gambia,
West Africa had enrolled with inquiries coming from as far away as China.
Each year, the Boggs Academy National Alumni Association sends out the call for former
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students, faculty, and staff to gather, reminisce, and sing the praises of
Dear Old BA (Boggs Academy). Responses come from alumni across the
nation who credit their success to the Boggs Experience. Many who
attended Boggs had a Presbyterian Church [USA] connection. In some
cases, they either attended Presbyterian churches in their communities or
had relatives who attended
Presbyterian affiliated schools and colleges. The
message was also carried by word of mouth. The
school’s reputation prompted prominent AfricanAmericans to send their children to Boggs. Alveda
King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the
daughter of Rev. A.D. King, attended Boggs in 1965.
Civil Rights leader Hosea Williams’ daughter,
Strom
Thurmond's
grandchildren
attended Boggs
Academy in the
mid 1960s. The
Elizabeth Williams, attended and graduated from
Boggs in 1969. Mrs. Essie Mae Washington-Williams, photos above
daughter of Senator Strom Thurmond, sent her sons
are from the
Ronald and Julius Williams to Boggs for the 1963-64 school year. Julius
Thomas Williams III died in 2012, and his brother Dr. Ronald Williams is
Boggs Academy
yearbook.
an emergency room physician in Centralia, Wash.
Boggs Rural Life Center, Inc. was organized to carry on a
tradition of community service and to honor the Boggs Academy
mission of “Christian Purpose, Preparation and Performance.”
The Boggs Rural Life Center continues the tradition of local and
community use of the property. Farm land is leased to local
famers, residences and buildings are made available for
community gatherings and to house the Boggs Intensive
Residential Adolescent Boys Treatment Program [West Care].
Various ideas and proposals that flowered in Burke County over
the years were planted in the soil of Boggs Academy.
Walter Dukes, Senior
Vice President of Metro
Atlanta Region for
Georgia Power, was a
While Boggs provided students with a quality education that
received high recognition and gained accreditation from the
student at Boggs. In
1976, he was the senior
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, it also rattled the superlative voted “most
doors of a segregated society. While the lines between black
ambitious” and “most
and white were strictly drawn, Boggs had an interracial faculty
likely to succeed.”
and, at times, an interracial student body. The Boggs faculty and
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administration inspired students to look segregation squarely in the face and not blink. Mr.
Ralph Luker, a chaplain-intern at the time, writes that Boggs students sent letters to
segregationist Georgia Senators Richard B. Russell and Herman Talmadge urging them to
support President Johnson’s civil rights legislation. Other students tested an Augusta movie
theater’s integration policy, and two Episcopalian students took communion at St. Michael’s
Episcopal Church when doing so could have produced a strong community reaction. With the
exception of getting Senators Russell and Talmadge to support civil rights legislation, most
actions occurred without incident. Mr. Luker, upon reflection, commented that his students
were remarkably courageous.
Boggs administrators held
interracial meetings on
campus, served on public
boards, and organized groups
that brought federal funding to
Burke County. On one
occasion, Boggs activities
prompted the Ku Klux Klan to
burn a cross on the corner of
the Boggs campus. Yet,
established in 1906 by
neither the Klan nor local
opposition could slow or stop
Presbyterian Minister the
Rev. Dr. John Lawrence
the school’s challenge to
segregation. Social Studies
Boggs Academy was
The first school building erected
on the campus of Boggs
Academy in 1910. It was
destroyed by fire in the 1920s.
Phelps during the days of teacher Richard Swanson
stated that one of his students
the Atlanta Race Riots.
sent a letter to Georgia Governor Lester Maddox. Mr. Swanson
had not paid that much attention to the letter until a G.B.I. agent visited him on campus. The
agent pointed out a phrase in the letter that stated if Governor Maddox didn’t start treating
black people better, “we’re going to get you.” It took a while for Mr. Swanson to allay the
concerns of the agent that the phrase did not constitute a threat.
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Director of the Early Head Start Program, Mrs. Allene
Bessent- Reed shared stories of riding the bus to
Boggs as a day student. Day students arrived at 8 a.m.
and left school at 3 p.m. While Mrs. Reed did not have
the advantage of boarding at Boggs, she found ways
not only to meet the requirements, but to exceed them.
While Boggs had encyclopedias on campus, as a day
Students haul bales of hay at the
horse stable on the campus of
Boggs Academy.
student she had limited time to use them. Mrs. Reed’s
mother was a friend with a local white teacher who
hand-copied a section of an encyclopedia at her
school in order for Allene to complete an English
assignment. While acts of kindness crossed racial
lines, many in the African-American community believed that personal initiative was key to
long-term success. Mrs. Allene Bessent-Reed, after completing 9th and 10th grades at
Boggs, received early admission to Paine College and credits her success in life to the
educational foundation she received at Boggs Academy.
When Mrs. Glenda Murray-Farrell, President of Boggs
Academy National Alumni Association, first visited
Boggs it was a culture shock. After an 18-hour bus ride
from Chester, Pa., she found herself riding a flatbed
truck deep into the Burke County woods. As a city girl,
she found the sound of croaking frogs strange and
disturbing, but the transition was eased by aunts and
cousins who taught and lived on campus. Mrs. Farrell
The Boggs Acapella Choir
came to love the campus as she met students with
similar life experiences who appreciated the academic performed both locally and
challenges and the promise of a more fulfilling life that nationally.
accompanied a Boggs education.
Boggs students were granted a higher status in the Burke County community, a recognition
that opened doors of opportunities. It was often commented in Waynesboro that “you knew
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Boggs students because of the way they comported themselves.” While high academic
achievement was its principal goal, another accomplishment put Boggs on the national stage.
The Boggs Academy Acapella Choir, under the direction of Mr. C. W. Francis, gained a
reputation not usually accorded a high school choir. The Boggs Acapella Choir performed
both locally and nationally and was given the distinct honor of performing before the General
Assembly of Presbyterian Church [USA]. Another opportunity provided Boggs students was
attending an interpretive dance class conducted by choreographer, dancer and actor
Geoffrey Holder.
Mr. George Roberson, while employed as Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, saw the
transition that took place for students entering Boggs. Mr. Roberson said it was the 24-hour/7
days a week attention the students received that had a major impact on their lives. It gave
students time to develop an academic, emotional and moral grounding. It was seeing the
impact that Boggs had on students that prompted him to send three of his daughters to
school there. When asked if he believed Boggs made a difference, he mused that two of his
daughters had earned Ph.D.s and the other one had two Master’s degrees and was only a
few hours shy of her Ph.D. After his comment, he smiled and laughed as if their achievements
proved the point.
The candle lit by Rev. Phelps has grown into a festival of lights that can be seen in the
activities of those who were touched by Boggs Academy. Even those who did not graduate
often instilled in their children a desire for a better life. Dr. Ruby Saxon-Myles when asked
which students stood out in her mind, said several students impressed her with their
intelligence, strength of character and determination. She noted that Mrs. Rosa Williams, the
mother of former Waynesboro Police Chief Alfonzo Williams, was one such student. Dr.
Saxon- Myles stated while Rosa Williams did not graduate from Boggs, she inspired her
children to reach higher, and her influence is reflected in the accomplishment of her entire
family. Dr. Saxon-Myles also mentioned a local pastor, the Rev. C.I. Benefield, who felt his
children were not receiving the kind of education they needed and sent his three daughters
and son to Boggs. All four graduated and one daughter, Mrs. Arrie Charlesetta BenefieldJackson, currently teaches First Grade in the Burke County School System.
From a brush harbor along a dirt road to a renowned educational institution, Boggs was a
stone hewed out of hope that laid the foundation for succeeding generations.
Passing along Quaker Road today, one can only imagine what Burke County was like during
the first half of the 20th century, and it’s even harder to imagine what Burke County and the
world would have been without Boggs Academy.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: author Michael Searles is a retired college professor and an expert on
African American history and the Black West. He was a teacher at Boggs Academy from
1977 to 1982.
Did you know?
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