VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

• Code of Virginia
• Virginia Administrative Code
• Constitution of Virginia
• Charters
• Authorities
• Compacts
• Uncodified Acts
• RIS Users (account required)

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

• Bills & Resolutions
  session legislation
• Bill Summaries
  session summaries
• Reports to the General Assembly
  House and Senate documents
• Legislative Liaisons
  State agency contacts

ACROSS SESSIONS

• Subject Index: Since 1995
• Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
• Summaries: Since 1994

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

1996 SESSION

• history | hilite | pdf | print version

961780127
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 295 Offered January 26, 1996 Commending Hampton High School. ----------
Patrons-- Behm, Christian, Crittenden and Hamilton; Senators: Maxwell and Williams
---------- Consent to introduce ----------

WHEREAS, in June of 1996, Hampton High School will hold its centennial graduation ceremonies; and

WHEREAS, Hampton High School can trace its roots back even further into Virginia's history, as a direct descendant of the Syms-Eaton School, 'the first free school ever established in the colonies of America"; and

WHEREAS, from 1634, when Benjamin Syms established a school "for the education and instruction of the children of the adjoining parishes of Elizabeth City and Kiquotan," through the American Revolution and the Civil War, when the school was burned to thwart the invading Union Army, Hampton High School's history is inextricably entwined with that of the Peninsula and the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, in 1896, two "young ladies," Miss Bessie Birdsall and Miss Blanche Bullifant, were the first graduates of Hampton High School, which was then called Hampton Academy; and

WHEREAS, at the turn of the century, the West End Academy served as home to Hampton High School, which finally won its own building in 1922 for its nearly 500 students; and

WHEREAS, in 1956, the chairman of the School Board of the City of Hampton broke ground for a new high school on West Queen Street, and in the fall of 1958, nearly 2,000 students entered the present Hampton High School for the first time; and

WHEREAS, about to graduate its 100th class, the modern Hampton High School can look back with pride at its long history as a vital part of the educational lives of generations of Hampton residents; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly commend Hampton High School on the centennial anniversary of its first graduating class; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Michael Canty, principal of Hampton High School, in honor of this milestone of one of the most historically significant schools in the Commonwealth.