Williamsburg Bray School
The Williamsburg Bray School was a school for free and enslaved Black children founded in 1760 in Williamsburg, Virginia. The cottage it occupied is believed to be the "oldest extant building in the United States dedicated to the education of Black children". Between 1760 and its closure in 1774, the school educated an estimated 400 students. History. The school was founded by an English organization called the Associates of the Late Dr. Bray, which was closely allied with the Church of England. Benjamin Franklin, a member of the Associates, had suggested that "New York, Williamsburgh and Newport