Overview

Petersburg, VA was once home to the largest free Black community in America, and fell into financial ruin a century later, after a major corporation pulled up stakes. For more than a decade following, schools in Petersburg struggled, failed, and even lacked basic accreditation. Students dropped out in large numbers and faced tough times at home in one of the state's most impoverished communities. It looked to be all too common American story of economic boom-to-bust, until an extraordinary group of leaders entered the picture to turn the tide by investing in children and their education. Petersburg, Virginia was to be a new model for the state, and perhaps the nation.