Virginia Episcopal School

Virginia Episcopal School's early benefactor, Viscountess Astor, the first female member of British Parliament, donated much of the school's initial endowment while visiting her family home, Mirador, in Albemarle County. Lady Astor maintained a keen interest in the school for the rest of her life and was instrumental in having her father Chiswell Langhorne donate the school chapel in memory of his wife Nancy Witcher Keene (parents of Lady Astor).{{cite web|url=https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/118-0224_Virginia_Episcopal_School_1992_Final_Nomination.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Virginia Episcopal School |author=Calder Loth |date=March 1992|publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources}} and [http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Lynchburg/VAEpiscopalSchool_photo.htm Accompanying photo]

Virginia Episcopal School opened its doors to students in September 1916. Jett Hall was completed the same year under the direction of Frederick H. Brooke, a prominent Washington architect. Pendleton Hall was completed in 1918, enabling enrollment to be increased from sixty-three to one-hundred eleven boys. In 1919, Langhorne Memorial Chapel was consecrated. This was followed by the opening of Barksdale Gymnasium in 1920. As bishop of the newly created Diocese of Southwest Virginia, Bishop Jett would serve ex officio as chairman of the school's board of trustees until his retirement in 1938.

Originally all-white, the school was racially integrated in 1967, when the first two black students entered the school in a successful initiative organized by the Stouffer Foundation, which also arranged the integration of other elite prep schools in the South, including Saint Andrew's School in Florida, the Asheville School in North Carolina, and the Westminster School in Georgia.Mosi Secret, [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/magazine/the-way-to-survive-it-was-to-make-as.html 'The Way to Survive It Was to Make A's'], New York Times Magazine (September 7, 2017).

• Dr. Henry C. Bourne Jr.: President, administrator, and faculty member at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
• Erskine Bowles: White House Chief of Staff under President Bill Clinton,Todd S. Purdum, [https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/09/us/a-southern-point-man-erskine-boyce-bowles.html A Southern Point Man: Erskine Boyce Bowles], New York Times (November 9, 1996). co-chair of the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform under President Obama, and tenth Chancellor of the University of North Carolina public university system.
• Steve Cowper: Sixth governor of Alaska.[http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/100years/bio.php?id=1027 Steve Cowper], 100 Years of Alaska's Legislature, From Territorial Days to Today, Alaska Legislature.
• Hardy Cross Dillard: United States judge of the International Court of Justice,William Bland Whitley, [http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.asp?b=Dillard_Hardy_Cross Hardy Cross Dillard], Dictionary of Virginia Biography. former Dean of the University of Virginia School of Law.
• Thomas N. Frost (died 1969), member of the Virginia House of Delegates{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-advance-delegate-frost-dies-w/156170625/ |title=Delegate Frost Dies |date=1969-09-19 |newspaper=The Daily Advance |page=19 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2024-09-28}}{{Open access}}
• Paul Fulton Jr.: Former Dean of the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School; founder, former chairman of Bassett Furniture Industries, and former President of Sara Lee Corporation.
• William B. Harrison Jr.: Former CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2002-04-21/resume-william-b-dot-harrison-jr-dot Resume: William B. Harrison Jr]: Bloomberg BusinessWeek (April 21, 2002).
• Phil Haynes: Professional football player for the Seattle Seahawks.
• Vivian Howard: Chef, restaurateur, television personality; star of PBS series “A Chef’s Life,” for which she has earned a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Culinary Program.
• Jerrauld Jones: Former member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
• Sacha Killeya-Jones (born 1998): American-British basketball player for Hapoel Gilboa Galil of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.
• D. Holmes Morton: Physician, founder of the Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania; 2006 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship “Genius Grant” recipient; recipient of the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism; and one of Time magazine's “Heroes of Medicine” for his work in genetic illnesses (dropped out, later received honorary degree).Melissa Hendricks, [http://pages.jh.edu/jhumag/1194web/barndoc.html A Doctor Who Makes Barn Calls], Johns Hopkins Magazine (November 1994).
• Paul Taylor: Modern dance choreographer, received National Merit of Arts from President Clinton, MacArthur Foundation Fellowship “genius award.”Sarah Kaufman, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/16/AR2010071603883.html A singular vision: Nearing 80, Paul Taylor is as moving a dance figure as ever], Washington Post (July 18, 2010).
• Loretta Pieper: Youngest judge in German history at age 26; founded Webmiles AG internet company and Fine Arts Partners.
• Lee M. Thomas: Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Ronald Reagan.

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• [http://www.ves.org Virginia Episcopal School]

{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia}}

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Category:School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia

Category:Private high schools in Virginia

Category:Boarding schools in Virginia

Category:Episcopal schools in Virginia

Category:Educational institutions established in 1916

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Lynchburg, Virginia

Category:Colonial Revival architecture in Virginia

Category:Schools in Lynchburg, Virginia

Category:1916 establishments in Virginia

Category:Brick buildings and structures in Virginia