Despite being born into slavery in 1848 and without the benefit of a formal education, Jane "Jennie" Serepta Dean's vision changed the lives of countless area African Americans. While working as a domestic servant in Washington, she travelled home by train on weekends to train "her people" in life skills, establish Sunday Schools, and finally, to establish the Manassas Industrial School in 1893, mostly with funds she raised from prominent East Coast philanthropists. The school provided both academic and vocational training within a Christian setting on its 100-acre campus. The school allowed students to earn their tuition and board through its industries, and products they sold also supported the school. After Dean's death in 1913, the campus became a regional high school for African Americans in 1938, and was later home to an integrated high school, middle school, and elementary school.
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