Carver 4-County Museum

Dear Friends:

    Welcome to The Carver Center campus in Rapidan where the Carver 4-County Museum is housed in the original library of the historic George Washington Carver Regional High School (GWCRHS).    

     We are excited to participate for the FIFTH time in GiveLocal Piedmont, and this time, we are a new IRS 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation.  Previously, we were a program of the alumni association for the GWCRHS. 

     Since last year's participation, we earned the honor of the Preservation Virginia Outstanding Research Award, expanded our outreach by presenting our traveling exhibits in Prince William, Albemarle and Spotsylvania counties, and learned video production - using it to improve our marketing.  Two sports videos debuted at Culpeper County High School; one about Virginia State University-educated Carver teachers will debut on May 4th; and our full-length documentary is near completion.  

     Before we tell you about the other exciting things happening with us, let us first remind you of our mission and values.

     Our mission is to document, celebrate and share the educational, social, cultural and military history and accomplishments of students, faculty and administrators of George Washington Carver Regional High School, the only institution of secondary education that served minority children in the four-county region of Culpeper, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties from 1948-1968.

     Our core values are citizenship, stewardship and partnership.

NEW AND EXCITING - Two Exhibits (Now Showing) and a Choir

New Exhibit: Detail from Liberty, Labor and Langston
The exhibit is based on the Hughes poem, Let America Be America Again

In the school's 20-year history, the Homemaking Department was led by Stella Hairston Fleshmon.  The exhibit examines the department's purpose, accomplishments, and the additional 9 women who taught both girls and boys the qualities of a strong, stable home

Something GRAND has been planned.   Benefitting the Carver 4-County Museum, the VSU Concert Choir will perform at the historic Culpeper Baptist Church.  

OUR SUMMARY

     We began 2025 as a new, independent IRS 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation registered in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  We opened in February, 2019, as a program of the George Washington Carver Regional High School Alumni Association (GWCHRSAA) and since then, we have had more than 45 in-museum, virtual, and traveling exhibits.  Our most popular traveling exhibit is "U. S. Colored Troops" in which we research and present African American men born in specific Virginia counties who joined and fought on the side of the Union in the Civil War -- even before most of them could vote.  We are forever grateful to the GWCRHSAA for incubating our efforts.

        Our museum is located in the original library of the school, now called The Carver Center.  We are administered by a 10-member Board of Directors.  Since 2016, they have contracted with a curator who helps to execute our mission through exhibit preparation and marketing.

OUR ADMINISTRATION   

     The members of the museum's governing board are:  Dr. Hortense Hinton-Jackson (President);  Jane C. Pollard (Secretary); Charlotte B. Carpenter (Treasurer); Marlene G. Ware; Charles C. Jameson; William H. Lewis; Brenda Price; Ruth Irving Carroll; Bettie Turner; and Denise Turner. 

     Our curator is Ms. Terry Miller.  

     We invite you to visit us on our website at http://www.carver4cm.org, email us at carver4cm@gmail.com, and like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Carver4cm.