Alumni Survey Response From James A. Fields

College and universities often conduct surveys of their graduates in order to determine what their alumni are doing and how effective their programs have been on the careers of their former students. General Samuel Chapman Armstrong (1839-1893) and the faculty of Hampton Normal and Agriculture Institute (now Hampton University) surveyed their students who attended their school during the first 22 years of its existence which began in 1868.

The survey was conducted between 1889 and 1890 and was compiled in a book called “Twenty-two years work of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute at Hampton, Virginia.” Below is the response of Mr. James A. Fields who was part of Hampton Normal and Agriculture Institute’s first graduating class in 1871.

This book was found in the Peabody Special Collection of the William R. and Norma B. Harvey Library located on the campus of Hampton University in Hampton, VA.

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James A. Fields, born in Hanover County, VA, 1844, taught 14 years in Williamsburg and Elizabeth County, VA. Has taught about 1500 pupils, over 100 of whom have become teachers. Has been engaged in Sunday School more than 20 years and is now Superintendent of 3rd Baptist Sunday School of Hampton, VA. He attended Howard University Law Department, and is now practicing law and farming in Hampton. In the Spring of 1887, he was elected Commonwealth Attorney for Warwick County, VA. In November of 1889, he was Republican Representative to the Virginia Legislature. He says “all things considered, the condition of the colored people is good; they are rapidly improving in intelligence, religion, and morals.” My property consists of mostly lots and houses which exceeds and values $6,000. I have only one child, the finest boy in Christendom.

Source: Armstrong, S. C. (Samuel Chapman), 1839-1893., Twenty-two years work of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute at Hampton, Virginia : records of Negro and Indian graduates and ex-students ; with historical and personal sketches and testimony on important race questions from within and without, to which are added, by courtesy of Messrs Putnam's Sons, N. Y., some of the songs of the races gathered in the school, page 25.

Welcome to the James A. Fields House Blog!

The Fields House is a historic landmark and museum located in Newport News, Virginia and is named in honor of Mr. James ApostlesFields (1844-1903), who owned the house from 1897 to 1903. Mr. Fields was born into slavery in Hanover County, Virginia in 1844. During the Civil War in 1862, he and his brother, George Washington Fields, escaped slavery and found refuge at Fort Monroe, thereby becoming “contraband of war” by the Union Army.

After the Civil War, James A. Fields enrolled at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (now Hampton University) in 1868, and became a part of the school’s first graduating class in 1871. After graduating, Mr. Fields taught in Elizabeth City County and in Williamsburg, VA. Years later, he furthered his education at the School of Law of Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated in 1881.

Other accomplishments of James A. Fields included becoming the first black Commonwealth Attorney for Warwick County, VA (now Newport News) in 1887 and serving in the Virginia Legislature from 1889 to 1890.

James A. Fields used his property at 617-27th Street as his law office and primary residence until his death in 1903. This address was just one of the fifteen properties that he owned in the city of Newport News.

The Fields House is also associated with a significant event that occurred in 1908, when the top floor of the Fields house became the location of the first African American hospital in Newport News. This hospital was started by a team of four doctors: Drs. W. T. Forman, W. P. Dickerson, W. W. Whittaker, and W. T. Jones, who pooled their savings together to establish a hospital for local African Americans. Prior to the opening of the hospital, the city jail's infirmary was the only place in Newport News that provided medical care for African American residents.

In the year 2000, Mr. Gregory Cherry (1955-2007), a native of Newport News and a history enthusiast, purchased the dilapidated Fields house for $1 and then began restoring the house. The house was scheduled to be torn down by the city, but Mr. Cherry patiently petitioned the City of Newport News for three years to purchase the historic James Apostles Fields House. Because of the efforts of Mr. Cherry, the James A. Fields House is now listed on the Virginia Landmark Register, the National Register of Historic Places, and the Virginia Civil War Trails. Today, the Fields House gives visitors a glimpse into the lives of African Americans living in Newport News during the turn of the century