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Rock Castle Group St.Emma - St.Francis Alumni
Historical Black Schools on the James River
St. Emma Military Academy
St. Francis de Sales High School
Rock Castle Powhatan, VA
1895-1972
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The History of St. Emma Military Academy and our sister school, St. Francis de Sales High School, began with the pioneering spirit of two Philadelphia philanthropists: Louise Drexel Morrell (with her husband Edward V. Morrell) and her sister, Saint Katherine Drexel. Mrs.Morrell and St. Katherine were from a Roman Catholic family. Their father, Francis Anthony Drexel, a wealthy Philadelphia banker, and their mother, Emma Bovier, a great-grandaunt of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, were deeply loved and enshrined by having these institutions named in their honor.
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These schools were built on the property of a Confederate General, Philip St. George Cocke. Located in Powhatan, Virginia, both parties had a commanding view of the James River below, with streams and deep woods surrounding them. The first construction was done by enslaved people, but the remaining buildings were built by cadets. The Castle, as the main building at St Francis was built of clay from neighboring Rock Castle, VA.
Its stone and lumber also came from the property. Mother Katherine Drexel became St. Katherine in the year 2000 and is one of only three American-born Saints.
St Emma Military Academy was the longest active Black Military Academy in our nation's history.
