The Hargrave Century

J. Hunt Hargrave

During 2009-2010, Hargrave will celebrate the 100th year anniversary of its founding. The school, which had been preceded by the Warren Training School located at the Sims-Mitchell House, was founded in 1909 as the Chatham Training School by Rev. T. Ryland Sanford, Jesse H. Hargrave and his son, J. Hunt Hargrave (see photo). It opened with 35 students.

The school was renamed in 1925 in honor of J. Hunt Hargrave, a wealthy industrialist and philanthropist from Chatham, VA. By then, it was clear that the primary identity of the school would be that of a military academy, rather than a general training school for boys.

J. Hunt Hargrave died on April 2, 1935 following an automobile accident on February 26. His estate was valued at $260,000. His adopted daughter, Gladys Hargrave Nenon, was left as the chief beneficiary.

As Hargrave nears its century mark, it would be great if alumni could begin to coordinate plans for coming together at HMA for alumni weekend in three years. Please use the newly-created Hargrave Alumni Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hargravealumni as a homebase online to start the process. To subscribe, just send a blank e-mail message to: hargravealumni-subscribe@yahoogroups.com