Fishburne Military School is located in Waynesboro, Virginia. Founded by James A. Fishburne in 1879, it is one of the oldest military schools in the country. Fishburne still thrives today with a current (2015â€"16) corps of approximately 165 cadets.
Military activities
Fishburne is a leading Army JROTC boarding school, having continuously held the title of Honor Unit with Distinction for over 90 years, the highest ranking by the United States Army- granting the school the authority to nominate cadets to service academies. The JROTC staff supports rappelling, Raider Team (military skills other than close order drill), two drill teams: Regulation (Precision) and the Hudgins Rifles Exhibition Drill Team ("trick"), Military & Social Courtesies and the marksmanship team. In addition there are normally annual trips to Virginia Military Institute and Fort Pickett or Fort A.P. Hill to utilize their obstacle courses and other training facilities.
History
James A. Fishburne, a student and protégé of Robert E. Lee, opened the coed Waynesboro High School in 1879. The school became male only in 1881 and a series of name changes followed: Fishburne Home School in 1882, Fishburne School in 1883, and finally Fishburne Military School in 1886, two years after the school adopted a military program. The school is listed on the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps charter and has continuously been rated an Army JROTC Honor Unit since 1924. In 1951, the Fishburne-Hudgins Educational Foundation, Inc. was formed as a Virginia non-profit and since that time has owned and operated the school.
Campus
The 1916 Gothic Revival barracks designed by Staunton architect T.J. Collins was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 4, 1984 (Ref. # #84000058). It is the center of the Fishburne campus and dominates downtown Waynesboro as it sits on a hill overlooking the school's parade and athletic field. The barracks building is constructed in the form of an open three floor rectangle with cadet rooms, some offices, and most classrooms facing the open Quadrangle. Attached to the barracks themselves is a wing containing the chapel above the mess hall which is above the recently modernized swimming pool.
Attached to the barracks by a breezeway is the administrative/gym building. The most recent occupied campus building, sitting on the southeast corner is Hobby-Hudgins Hall, combining a modern computer center and library with physical education facilities including locker rooms and weight room.
Notable alumni
- Gerald L. Baliles, 1959, Governor of Virginia 1986-90
- Reno Collier, stand up comedian
- Otto Felix, 1962, actor, writer
- Vince McMahon, 1964, World Wrestling Entertainment chairman
- John O. Noonan, 1999, Conservative policy advisor and writer for The Weekly Standard
- W. Richard Stevens, technical author
- John Campbell, Bassist of heavy metal band Lamb of God (band)
References
External links
- Fishburne Military School
- Fishburne-Hudgins Educational Foundation
