Celebrating Episcopal Schools Week: Honoring our History

This past weekend, Chatham Hall students ventured to Emmanuel Episcopal Church to kick off our celebration of  Episcopal Schools Week, an annual weeklong event nationally observed from October 4-10, 2026.  “We wanted our celebration to begin early this year,” said Chaplain Beth Barksdale, “so that our observance could begin as a shared worship experience with the congregation that helped support the creation of our school.” 

Chatham Hall students had the option of walking or riding to Emmanuel for the 11:00 a.m. service, much like the generations of students who came before them. This year’s theme, “Be still and know that I am God,” was woven into all aspects of the liturgy, reminding our community that faith guides, deepens, and nurtures our common life. 

While the Chatham Hall community will celebrate our Episcopal identity and heritage over the next two weeks, this week we want to honor our history and our deep and longstanding connection with Emmanuel Episcopal Church.

In the late 1880s, the Rev. Pruden and Emmanuel member Chiswell Dabney traveled throughout Pittsylvania County, meeting with people who did not have a church home. As they listened to the needs of the community, they also recognized an opportunity to provide educational opportunities for young people in the area.

“Here was a great opportunity for the Church to serve its children,” they noted. That vision became the beginning of what would eventually become Chatham Hall. The congregation at Emmanuel supported the effort to establish an all-girls school, providing encouragement and support as the School took shape. Emmanuel’s connection to the young school extended beyond its founding. Students attended services at Emmanuel for many years, and the relationship remained part of the rhythm of school life until St. Mary’s Chapel opened on the Chatham Hall campus in 1938.

After the sudden death of John Gilmer, a lawyer and dairy farmer and member of Emmanuel, his widow, Eliza Patton Gilmer, gave her land and home to house the new school. Eliza and her daughter continued to live in the home, with her daughter eventually becoming a teacher.

Chatham Hall was chartered by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1894 and opened that fall with the Rev. Pruden serving as president and Chiswell Dabney, an Emmanuel member, serving as secretary and treasurer.

At the time, Mr. Dabney captured the spirit of the young school beautifully: “The school had not one cent to start with; its only asset was faith in the goodness of God.” That faith became part of Chatham Hall’s foundation, and it continues to shape the School today.

The relationship between Emmanuel and Chatham Hall is also reflected in the people who have been part of both communities. Maud Carter Clement, local historian and an Emmanuel member, was among Chatham Hall’s first graduates. Another Emmanuel member, Samuel Sours, holds the unique distinction of being the only male graduate in Chatham Hall’s history, graduating with the Class of 1914.

Samuel originally began his education at Chatham Hall alongside other young men. When Hargrave Military Academy opened, the young men transferred there, but Samuel returned to Chatham Hall after a year and ultimately became its only male graduate.

These stories are reminders that Chatham Hall has always been connected to the people and places of this community.

The connection between Emmanuel and Chatham Hall has endured for more than 130 years. In honor of Chatham Hall’s 125th anniversary, the people of Emmanuel presented a resolution to the Annual Council in appreciation and thanksgiving for Chatham Hall. That gesture reflects something important about our shared history. Chatham Hall did not grow in isolation. It was nurtured by people who believed in the power of education, the importance of community, and the call to serve.

Today, our students gather for Chapel three times a week on campus, and our Episcopal identity extends beyond the walls of St. Mary’s. It is rooted in relationships, in service, in faith, and in a belief that we are called to see, hear, and value one another. As we celebrate Episcopal Schools Week, we are grateful for the people of Emmanuel Episcopal Church who helped make Chatham Hall possible and for the relationship that continues to connect our School to the wider Episcopal community.

May we continue to pause, remember where we come from, and give thanks for the people and faith that have helped shape Chatham Hall from the very beginning.