1938
The Robert L. Vann’s school was built in Ahoskie, Hertford County, N.C. in 1938.
Robert Lee Vann whom the school was named after was born in Ahoskie on Aug 27, 1879. He
attended Waters Training School in Winton, graduating as valedictorian. In 1903, he received a
scholarship to Western University of Pennsylvania where he completed college and law school,
he would go onto become a prominent civil rights advocate, newspaper publisher and editor of
the Pittsburgh Courier, the nation’s largest Negro weekly newspaper with a circulation of
250,000. In 1933 Franklin Roosevelt appointed him Assistant to the Attorney General, a position
he held until January 1936. He died of cancer at his home in Pittsburgh on Oct. 24, 1940.
His race was listed as Indian (Native American) in the 1920 US Census for Pennsylvania. Many
local children including those of the Meherrin have attended the school named after him.
1938
Pleasant Plains Indian School
Class Photo 1938-1939
