Community spirit restores historic school in Willard

WILLARD — In Pender County, just south of Wallace, a 1920s-era schoolhouse with a new blue roof can be seen from U.S. 117. Turning onto N.C. 11 takes you to Willard Outreach Community Center, housed in two historic African American school buildings.

Both of the buildings hold personal significance for me. From 1960 to 1967 I attended Willard Elementary, the brick building at the front of the site. Behind it, the 1920s-era one-room schoolhouse represents the sacrifice that African-American families made for education. During the segregation era African-American families paid their taxes, and then had to donate additional money to build schools for their children.

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(Star News Online, 9/4/2016)