Bray School Terminology
Unlock a deeper understanding of the history and legacies of the Williamsburg Bray School with this comprehensive lexicon.
On this page, you'll find clear and concise definitions for various terms related to the Williamsburg Bray School and the W&M Bray School Lab, curated to enhance your knowledge and expertise. This lexicon is your one-stop resource for navigating the essential terminology and understanding our work at the W&M Bray School Lab.
- Associates of Dr. Bray: a philanthropic group founded in 1724 during a period of illness for Dr. Thomas Bray, the organization was charged with spreading literacy and Christianity throughout England and America. The primary organization was responsible for founding, funding, and running the Bray Schools, which operated broadly in colonial-era America and throughout the Caribbean.
- Bray-Digges House: a synonym for Williamsburg Bray School, this term refers to the physical structure of the building.
- Colonial Williamsburg Foundation: the organization that operates Colonial Williamsburg, the world's largest living history museum. Officially founded in 1926, Colonial Williamsburg provided guests with immersive, authentic 18th-century experiences and programming. The Williamsburg Bray School will be the 89th colonial-era interpreted building in the Historic Area. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is restoring the physical structures of the Williamsburg Bray School.
- Descendants / Descendant Community: description of the many communities affiliated with the Williamsburg Bray School, including both the enslaved and those who were enslaved. W&M Bray School Lab engages with the Descendant community through the rubric established at the 2018 National Summit on Teaching Slaver, entitled "Engaging Descendant Communities." You are encouraged to review these guidelines here. Suppose you think you may be descended from a Bray School student or have questions regarding descendant research. In that case, we welcome the opportunity to discuss how the Bray School Lab might assist you in exploring this connection and invite you to please email us.
- Genealogy: the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. W&M Bray School Lab is actively involved in research related to reconstructing the lost histories of the scholars of the Williamsburg Bray School and other historical individuals related thereto.
- Oral History: A field of study dedicated to gathering, preserving, and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, events, and everyday life using audio, video, and transcriptions of interviews. Oral history preserves an aural record for future generations, providing information from different perspectives that cannot be found in written sources. The W&M Bray School Lab captures oral histories of members of the Descendant Community and others associated with the history of the Williamsburg Bray School.
- Scholar: Correspondence between the Associates of Dr. Bray and their American counterparts consistently refer to the enslaved and free Black children enrolled at the Williamsburg Bray School as "scholars," a phrase we carry forward today to identify children who studied at the school.
- Student Thought Partner: a team of William & Mary students who volunteer time, effort, insight, and coordination to the ongoing research at the W&M Bray School Lab. Student Thought Partners present their research at symposia and help disseminate the story of the scholars who studied at the Williamsburg Bray School.
- William & Mary Bray School Lab: The research lab at William & Mary responsible for the historical discovery, dissemination, genealogy, oral history, and Descendant Community engagement relevant to the ongoing research of the scholars who studied at the Williamsburg Bray School during its operation, from 1760 to 1774. It is also written as W&M Bray School Lab.
- Williamsburg Bray School: Synonym for Bray-Digges House. Refers to the physical structure of the building found on the campus of William & Mary, which was subsequently relocated to the Historic Area of Colonial Williamsburg for physical restoration.
- Williamsburg Bray School Initiative refers to the partnerships between William & Mary and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation relevant to activities occurring at the Williamsburg Bray School.
