Jackson P. Burley High School served as the high school for Black students in Albemarle County and Charlottesville from 1951 to 1967. It was founded when “separate but equal” was the law of the land and continued to serve mostly Black students as many white Virginia politicians and parents tried to prevent court-mandated desegregation after the Brown v Board ruling in 1954. The city and county worked together with support from parents, teachers, and the NAACP to build and operate Burley. It replaced the three existing facilities for Black students: Albemarle Training School, Esmont High School and Jefferson High School.
Jackson P. Burley High School was built on a 17.6 acre tract of land located on Rose Hill Drive. A large portion of the land for the high school, which was owned by Jackson P. Burley was eventually secured by the City of Charlottesville on September 25, 1948, using the Right of Eminent Domain. The school was named for Jackson Price Burley, an outstanding educator and businessman who established himself as a distinguished leader within the community.
The high school opened on September 4, 1951 with a capacity to serve 600 students, grades 8 through 12. Students attended from Charlottesville and Albemarle, but also from neighboring Greene and Nelson Counties. Previously schools for African American students only provided an education through 11th grade, making it difficult to apply to college.
Both students and teachers took pride in Burley’s academic classes and college preparatory program, but also in the extensive extracurricular and athletic programs. In addition to the Industrial and Vocational Arts Program, marching band, choir, majorette corp and cheerleading squad. Burley had some of the most successful coaches in Central Virginia on staff. When it opened in 1951, Robert “Bob” Smith became the Athletic Director, head football, basketball and baseball coach. From 1952-1958, under Smith’s leadership the Burley Bears won four State Football Championships.
In 1956 Coach Smith led the Bears to a perfect season (Undefeated, Untied and Unscored on). During his tenure, the Bears won 5 District Championships and between 1955 and 1958 the team won 28 consecutive games. The impact of the Burley Bears’ success was noted in a local newspaper article with the headline: “Football Smashed Barriers: Blacks, Whites All Backed Burley”. A former team member Norman Terrell noted, “If not for football in this area, segregation wouldn’t have changed as quickly.”
In response to a critical nursing shortage after World War II, the University of Virginia started a segregated nursing program. Black students weren’t allowed to take classes on UVA Grounds at the time, so Jackson P. Burley High School was chosen as the location for the LPN training program. A total of 139 African American students completed the program between 1952 and 1966; many went on to become the first Black nurses at area hospitals. In 2019, UVA finally apologized to the students who graduated from the program and recognized them as full alumni.
