THE Boggs Academy
John Lawrence Phelps, Founder of Boggs Academy
In 1906, Reverend Dr. John Lawrence Phelps became aware of the lack of educational opportunities in a struggling Black community in Burke County, Georgia. Believing in the power of education to uplift the burdened and broken, Phelps felt called by God to start a school. Boggs Academy began beneath a brush arbor with less than ten pupils, a mix of boys and girls. What began as one man’s determined vision became an institution whose legacy lives on today.
Boggs Academy grew from a Sunday school to a prestigious private, Presbyterian boarding school for Blacks. Students came from across the United States and around the world to attend Boggs. Martin Luther King, Jr. sent his niece to get her out of Birmingham. Hosea Williams’s daughters attended, as did the grandsons of U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond.
In the beginning, Boggs Academy served primarily as an elementary school and offered grades first through six to give, “the boys and girls of the community an opportunity to improve themselves mentally and morally and to make of themselves useful and substantial citizens” (Francis, 1967, p. 59.)
Over time, the institution’s focus shifted from elementary to high school with more and more students choosing to board on campus.
In 1940 the boarding school population began to increase and in 1955 the school developed three tracks: general, commercial, and vocational education. Extracurricular activities included athletics, the a capella choir, newspaper, photography, science club, and Boy Scouts. The ‘Boggs Program’ consisted of four parts: study, worship, work, and play. The Boggs student body originally came from the rural sections of Georgia and were both ‘unchurched and unschooled’, but in time, students came from other parts of the state and other states also. Ninety-five percent of the graduates went on to colleges, which ranged from Ivy League schools such as Dartmouth College to Morehouse in Atlanta and Howard University in Washington, D. C. (Durham, 2003, p. 11)
The work of Phelps and others produced numerous private schools for African Americans across the South. Most of the schools were created and sustained by religious organizations. In the case of Boggs Academy, Virginia P. Boggs, the corresponding secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen, saw to the establishment of the school on a two-acre plot donated by a local church elder, Morgan Walker, who, according to his family, was known as the “first Black Walker,” generously gave over half of his land inheritance for the building of the school.
Beside Every Great Man!
Mary Rice Phelps, wife of the Boggs Academy Founder.
Mary Rice was born on May 1, 1867, in Union County, South Carolina, to Adeline and Hilliard Rice. A gifted learner from the start, she could read by the age of four and began formal schooling at just five years old.
By the time she was thirteen, her talents as an educator were already apparent. With her parents’ blessing, Mary took the teachers’ examination, earned her certificate, and was placed in charge of a large school in Spartanburg County. After a year of leading that school, her parents insisted she continue her own education—a decision that would shape the rest of her life.
Mary studied first at Benedict Institute in Columbia, South Carolina, then entered Scotia Seminary (now Barbara Scotia College) in Concord, North Carolina, in 1881, graduating in 1885. Her career advanced quickly. She served as principal of the public schools in Glenn Springs, South Carolina, for three years before being elected assistant principal of the Eddy School in Milledgeville, Georgia, in 1890.
On October 25, 1891, she married John L. Phelps in Helena, South Carolina. Two years later, she was elected assistant principal of Cleveland Academy, but soon left to join the Haines Industrial School in Augusta, Georgia—a pioneering institution dedicated to educating African American youth. Even during her school-year responsibilities, Mary spent her vacations teaching rural children, determined to reach those with the fewest opportunities.
Mary Rice Phelps was not only a teacher but also a writer and thought leader. Her essay, The Responsibility of Women as Teachers, was featured in James T. Haley’s Afro-American Encyclopedia (1895). In it, she urged mothers to embrace their role as their children’s first teachers, instilling moral character and values from the earliest years.
Her life’s work was rooted in the belief that education was both a right and a responsibility—one that could transform lives and communities.
Mary Rice Phelps passed away on October 9, 1931, in Keysville, Burke County, Georgia, at the age of 64. Her influence, however, lives on in the generations of students and educators she inspired.
Lela Stone, founding president Boggs Community Development Cooperation
Emma Gresham, former Keysville’s Mayor
Boggs Rural Life Center, Inc
The story of the Boggs Rural Life Center is one of determination, community action, and a refusal to let legacy die. In the late 1980s, when Boggs Academy closed its doors, there was a real risk that its vast land and powerful legacy would be lost or sold off. But the surrounding community refused to let that happen.
It was through the leadership of the Boggs Community Development Corporation (BCDC), in partnership with Keysville Concerned Citizens (KCC) and the Burke County Improvement Association (BCIA), that the vision for Boggs Rural Life Center, Inc. (BRLC) took shape. Together, these grassroots organizations represented decades of civil rights advocacy, civic leadership, and educational progress in Burke County and beyond. And at the center of their efforts were two women and a brother who embodied the spirit of transformation.
Mrs. Lela Stone, a lifelong educator and founding president of BCDC, had served as a teacher, administrator, and school board member in Burke County. She understood that land, education, and opportunity were inseparable—and that Boggs was worth fighting for.
Mrs. Emma Gresham, a retired teacher and community advocate, returned to Keysville to find basic public services denied to Black residents. Her fight for water and sewer access led to the discovery that the town had quietly been disenfranchised for more than 30 years. Through relentless organizing and legal action, she revived Keysville’s city government and was elected its mayor in 1989, along with five Black city council members.
Mr. Herman Lodge, the founding president of BCIA, made national history. In 1967, he filed suit against the Burke County Commission to challenge its at-large voting system, which had systematically prevented African Americans from being elected to public office. The case, Lodge v. Rogers, ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1982—and the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. That decision became a landmark victory for voting rights and is widely considered one of the most significant political civil rights cases of the 20th century. It helped reform district voting practices across the country.
Boggs Community Development Corporation led the initial efforts by Boggs Academy Alumnus to-reopen Boggs shortly after the closure in 1884. After several years of fruitless work, BCDC in 1989 south to employ a new strategy to save Boggs. Under the auspices of there John L. Phelps Parish, BCDC organized a collaborative effort to preserve Boggs involving the National Boggs Alumni Association, the National Black Presbyterian Caucus, Keysville Concerned Citizens (KCC), and the Burke County Improvement Association (BCIA).
With support from Rev. John L. Phelps Parish, BCDC brought together a powerful coalition—including the National Boggs Alumni Association, the National Black Presbyterian Caucus, KCC, and BCIA. Their shared goal: to keep Boggs alive as a “beacon of hope to the disenfranchised and underdeveloped African American communities of the Central Savannah River District.”
What followed was a hard-fought, 8-year campaign to stop the sale of the land. The coalition filed legal action, petitioned the Presbyterian Church, and held prayer vigils on church steps to demand the transfer of the property to local control. During this time, the 24 buildings on the 1,232-acre campus—dormitories, faculty housing, classrooms, cafeteria, library, gym, and pool—sat unused, waiting for revival.
Then, a breakthrough. In 1990, the Sapelo Island Research Foundation provided critical support with over $160,000 in grants. That funding helped pave the way for negotiations, and in June 1991, the Presbyterian Church formally conveyed the property in full ownership to the newly formed Boggs Rural Life Center, Inc.
Since that moment, Boggs Rural Life Center has grown into more than a place—it has become a platform. A platform for land & agricultural stewardship, rural education, leadership development, and cultural restoration. It continues to honor its original mission by creating opportunities for the underserved and underrepresented people of the region.
The BRLC story is not just about preservation. It's about power—community power. It's about what can happen when citizens fight for their place, their land, and their future.