The Jeanes Arts + Education (JAE) Initiative is a commemorative project that integrates performing and visual arts with popular education approaches to honor the legacies of the Jeanes Teachers of North Carolina.
Based on the unparalleled body of historical research by renowned education attorney Ann McColl, the goal of this project is to produce accessible curricular content that teaches place-based histories about North Carolina’s Jeanes Teachers and inspires better practices among contemporary educators throughout the state.
Through the application of interactive digital content, learning modules, historical exhibitions, physical art, performances, and more, CREED will translate the unique stories of these educational heroines for practitioners and the general public.
In 1907, wealthy Pennsylvania Quaker Anna T. Jeanes bequeathed $1 million to support Black education in the South through the Negro Rural School Fund (commonly referred to as the Jeanes Fund). The money was used as supplementary funds to hire Black “industrial supervisors” who worked in Black schools under the direction of white local county superintendents and the state’s Division of Negro Education (DNE). They became affectionately known as the “Jeanes Teachers.”
Background of the Jeanes Teachers
There were thirty-six exemplary Black women educators supported by the Anna T. Jeanes Fund in North Carolina – more than any other state – who served the rural African American communities from 1907-1968. The Jeanes Teachers could be thought of as “community organizers” who oversaw instruction, raised funds for education, rallied parents, and provided crucial social services. In 1868, the North Carolina State Constitution established universal public education for all students as a right. However, deliberate underfunding of Black schools and racial disenfranchisement made it nearly impossible for African Americans to take hold of it. Without the crucial interventions of these luminary educators, in the face of state-sanctioned segregation, the promise of Black education in rural North Carolina would not have been possible.
Annie Wealthy Holland Historical Marker
On September 6, 2025, CREED joined the Gates County Historical Society, the Gates County Community Partnership, and historians in Sunbury, NC, to unveil a historic highway marker honoring renowned Gates County educator Annie Wealthy Holland.
Annie Wealthy Holland (1871-1934). Born in Isle of Wight County, Va., Holland served brief stints as a nurse and dressmaker before she started her education career including teaching for nine years before becoming a school principal. Around 1911, Holland became a teaching supervisor in North Carolina for the Jeanes Fund, a private trust founded to promote rural Black education. She served first in Gates County, NC, then in Chesapeake and Reynoldson counties, VA.
In 1915, Holland became the Jeanes Fund's state demonstration agent for North Carolina, which effectively made her the state supervisor of Black elementary schools. This position was funded by the Jeanes Fund and the North Carolina Colored Teachers Association until it was incorporated into the state educational organization in 1921. Holland's post was not administrative, but rather involved constant travel to all North Carolina counties to conduct meetings, organize fund drives, and teach demonstration classes in every subject from reading to nutrition and sewing. Her itinerary for the month of April 1917, documented in a letter from State Supervisor N.C. Newbold, required her to visit 21 counties in 35 days, with 10 of those days in the vicinity of her home in Franklin, VA. During her tenure, she supervised 44 Jeanes supervising teachers in North Carolina
Holland is best known as the founder of the first Black parent-teacher association in North Carolina, which held its first meeting at Shaw University on Apr 14,1928. She died in 1934 during an address to Black teachers in Louisburg, NC. Newbold in describing Holland remarked: “a woman of subtle strength and quiet courage, she moved mountains an inch at a time.”
Photo by SayDrewitt|Media
Photos by SayDrewitt|Media
Project Outcomes
A. Increase awareness about key figures and contributions of Jeanes Teachers in North Carolina
Produce documents and reports providing historic information
Generate monologues, dramatic performances and visuals that interpret history artistically
Secure historical markers that signify places of significance to the Jeanes Teachers throughout the state
Curate a pop-up/traveling exhibit that provides statewide and place-based history of Jeanes Teachers in North Carolina
Produce a short film that explores particular dimensions of the Jeanes Teachers’ stories
Dedicate an episode or series of the On the Margins Podcast to Jeanes Teachers
Deploy social media campaign and explanatory videos to increase knowledge-base
B. Update modern educational practices to reflect historical praxis of Jeanes Teachers in North Carolina
Structure professional learning modules and lessons within CREED Academy (a continuing education platform) to teach specific dimensions of Jeanes Teacher approaches for practical application in present-day North Carolina public schools.
Write K-12 curriculum based on Jeanes Teachers in North Carolina for middle and high school students
