Freedwomen
One of the first schools for African
Americans in Danville sat on “School
House Hill,” commonly known as
Dan’s Hill. According to the Freedman’s
Friend issue of November 1865, two
Quaker women, Eunice Congdon and
Eleanor Matlack, arrived in Danville
the first week of October 1865 to begin
a school.
Wi t h t h e h e l p o f s o m e l o c a l
African American Carpenters, they
commenced to convert a 100-foot-by-
150-foot dilapidated building that had
served during the war as a Confederate
war hospital into a school. Danville
served as headquarters for the Friends’
Freedmen’s Association’s relief activity.
Danville was chosen as headquarters
because there was a Freedman’s Bureau
and a Northern military. Garrison
established in this city.
One of the primary activities of the
association was the establishment of
schools for the freedman.
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