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Virginia Tech

Historical Study of Burke's Garden High School: 1915 to 1960

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Burke's Garden High School was a small school established in 1915 that was located in a fertile farming community in the Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia. The uniqueness of the geography of the area promoted a communal-based society whose citizens worked together for educational prosperity. This historical study documents the establishment of public education in Virginia, the demand for a public school in Burke's Garden, the establishment, operation, and closing of the school, as well as identifies the two career and technical education programs offered at the school, agricultural and home economics education. The remoteness of the community presented challenges to operating a school. Issues such as maintaining student enrollment numbers as well as qualified teachers required the school system and the community to work with neighboring communities for the benefit of the school and community. The practice of boarding students and teachers was employed to increase the number of students as well as to provide additional support for teachers. Eventually, due to improved transportation methods, construction of a new high school in the neighboring community of Tazewell, Virginia, and the modernization of the farming industry, there were fewer children in Burke's Garden, which led to the closing of the high school in 1960. Burke's Garden High School was one of five high schools operated in Tazewell County Public Schools from 1915 to 1960. Tazewell County, Virginia, has two distinct areas of economic dominance, the mining of coal and the production of agricultural products. Two historical studies of public schools in Tazewell County outline the relationship between specific communities and their schools: <i>A Historic Coal Mining Community and Its School: A Study of Pocahontas High School 1908-1991,</i> by Thomas Brewster (2000) and <i>A Coal Camp and Its Classroom: A Historical Study of a Virginia Coal Camp and Its School 1888-1987,</i> by Terry Mullins (1996). The two schools in these studies were both located in coal mining communities compared to Burke's Garden High School that was located in the agricultural section of Tazewell County.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Doctor of Education
Level thesis:degree_level
doctoral
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Career and Technical Education
Department dc:contributor.department
Career and Technical Education
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2012

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Workman, Eric R. Sr.
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Stewart, Daisy L.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Brewster, Thomas M.
  • Hillison, John H.
  • Tripp, Norman Wayne

Subjects

dc:subject × 4

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-08012012-091718
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/28484

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Workman, Eric R. Sr.. Historical Study of Burke's Garden High School: 1915 to 1960. doctoral thesis, Virginia Tech, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/28484