Percy Anderson with his children Craig, Vicki, and Vance
Courtesy: The Anderson Family
Embedded Files
Percy Anderson
Courtesy: The Anderson Family
Percy Anderson
Percy Anderson
In 2023, Percy Anderson generously provided an oral history to The Village Initiative, offering rich details of Black life in Williamsburg during the years of segregation.
In his oral history, Mr. Anderson describes his parents, Fred Anderson Sr. and Adelaide Martin Anderson, and family life with his three siblings, Fred, Phillip, and Hattie. He recalls the tight-knit community on Nicholson Street where he and his family lived before the expansion of Colonial Williamsburg displaced the neighborhood.
Fred Anderson Sr.
Courtesy: The Anderson Family
Adelaide Martin Anderson
Courtesy: The Anderson Family
Hattie Anderson Graham
Phillip Anderson
Percy Anderson
Fred Anderson
As a student, Percy Anderson attended the all-Black Bruton Heights School during the years of segregation, graduating in 1955. He fondly remembers the strong community fostered in this school and considers his time there as some of the best years of his life.
Bruton Heights School, Graduating Class of 1955
Percy Anderson in top right hand corner
Courtesy: The Anderson Family
Ann Clark, Percy Anderson, and Delores Ashby, attending Bruton Heights School
Courtesy: The Anderson Family
Percy Anderson on a Bruton Heights School field trip
Courtesy: The Anderson Family
The Three Brothers' Prom Photos, Bruton Heights School, 1950s, clockwise, Fred, Percy, Phillip
Courtesy: The Anderson Family
Mr. Anderson offers vibrant descriptions of the Black community in Williamsburg, from working in Charles Gary's West End Valet Shop to courting his wife, Antoinette Buie Anderson, at Log Cabin Beach.
Percy and Antoinette on Easter Sunday, circa 1954
Courtesy: The Anderson Family
Percy and Antoinette Anderson at St. John Baptist Church
Courtesy: The Anderson Family
Percy and Antoinette Anderson moved to Jersey City, NJ circa 1957 as part of the Great Migration. They built a strong family, raising three children, Craig, Vicki, and Percy "Vance." Percy and Antoinette returned to Williamsburg circa 1998.
Percy Anderson with his children, Craig, Vicki, and Percy "Vance" in Maryland circa early 2000s
Courtesy: The Anderson Family
Thanksgiving in Williamsburg, circa 2017: Vance Anderson, Roosevelt Taylor, Vicki Anderson Simons, Percy Anderson, Antoinette Anderson, Rovie Simons (son-in-law), Eric Glover (grandson)
Courtesy: The Anderson Family
Learn more about life in Williamsburg during and after segregation by listening to Mr. Anderson's complete oral history. Additional voices in the recording belong to his wife Antoinette Anderson, daughter Vicki Anderson Simons, eldest son Percy “Vance” Anderson, foster brother and Bruton Heights graduate Roosevelt Taylor, and family friend and Bruton Heights graduate Deloris Crump.
Interview with Percy Anderson | Conducted by Amy Quark | March 21, 2023 | The Village Initiative Collection
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