The Bermuda Draft Tribunal is to meet next week to decide the fate of Lane School, one of the first educational facilities for emancipated children on the Island.

However the question raised by the Anglican Church, one of the organisations in support of saving the building from demolition, is why attention was never drawn to its historical significance.

Located on the waterfront along East Broadway, the small green building which is today known as Moonray Manor has sat derelict for years.

LeYoni Junos was one of the first to notice that Moonray Trust made an application to the tribunal requesting that the property be rezoned from open space to commercial use.

If allowed, this would mean a new building could be built on the land looking out on the harbour although Moonray Trust has not made an application to develop the property.

Ms Junos lodged the first objection to the rezoning, followed by the Bermuda National Trust and anti-racism group CURB.

In her objection she shared more than a year's worth of research into the importance of the school.

It was one of the first of seven schools erected immediately following emancipation in 1834 and was built by the Anglican Church.

Its foundation stone was laid on January 1, 1836. Ms Junos located the prayer given by Anglican Archdeacon Spencer at the time.

"Grant that the humble building of which we have thus laid the foundation, in faith and confidence in they benignant promise, may be a school of godliness and a seminary of true religion and virtue," he said.

"Grant that all they who shall hear the words of eternal life, within the walls which we now propose to raise and dedicate to thy glory, may copiously bring forth the fruit of the holy spirit, in every good word and work. May thy grace be with all who lean to this thy sanctuary..."

Earlier this week Dr. Arnold Hollis, Archdeacon Emeritus of Bermuda, said that prior to recent articles in this paper, he was unaware that the Anglican Church had built schools for freed slaves here.

He added that it was something that had confounded him for years, as the church had done so in other islands.

"Your article has given us Anglicans a focal point for pride and joy with the knowledge that the church was cognisant of the care, education and responsibility of black children who had been freed from the ravages of slavery," he said. "It would be a criminal act for this building to be destroyed and the significance of the location be lost to posterity. I support every effort that is being made to preserve this building.

"It should be restored and used as a space of pilgrimage and meditation for us descendants of those who were educated there."

Meanwhile The Royal Gazette's Facebook account now has more than 50 responses calling for the former school to be saved, with many of our readers saying preserving history for future generations is vitally important.

Letters from across the Island have also been sent including one from several residents of Westmeath Residential & Nursing Care Home denouncing the submission to rezone it.

The letter added: "The Lane School is of historic importance and more than 600 children of freed black slaves have been educated there.

"The original school remains largely intact and is worthy of being preserved. Please do not destroy part of our heritage."

Ms Junos shared some of the documents she uncovered while researching the school with The Royal Gazette as well as the tribunal. She has learnt that the school's first teacher, Augustus Swan, was seen to be a strong individual and was praised by the governor of the day.

Mr. Swan was a member of the Pembroke Young Men's Friendly Institute, believed to be one of the first friendly societies on the Island.

The friendly institute was instrumental in freeing slaves aboard the US brigantine Enterprise who were bound for the US where slavery still existed, after the ship was forced into Bermuda's harbour by a storm.

Historical records found by Ms Junos show the Pembroke group met at the Lane School.

The friendly institutes were also instrumental in raising funds and donating labour to help build and run schools for emancipated slaves as well as taking care of sick elderly members of the black community and providing socioeconomic direction for the community.

Ms Junos is currently researching the membership of the institutes and believes a members list still exists of those who made donations to the school.

The second teacher at the school, Joseph Henry Thomas, was described as establishing an "enviable record for competence and effectiveness" with the schools committee, asserting in 1846: "Mr. Thomas is a young man and gives promise of becoming a valuable teacher... the pupils of the school are all coloured. The religious and moral training... are strictly attended to."

Ms Junos said she was pleased many in the community are learning about the school for the first time and said she was pleased people shared her view that preserving the building was important but added: "We should also be thankful that it is still standing after so many years. It is fate and providence that the original building is still there."

Q&A: The Lane School

Across the Island members of the community are questioning why they didn't know about the existence of the Lane School, the first educational facility for black children after emancipation.

Moreover, many are asking the Draft Bermuda Development Plan Tribunal not to allow the property on East Broadway to be rezoned for commercial use. Such an act would pave the way for the school, built in 1836, to be demolished. Anti-racism group CURB was one of the groups to object to such rezoning. Its chairwoman, Lynn Winfield, explained why the group thinks preserving the building is important for Bermudians.

Q: Why is it important for CURB that this building be protected?

A: The Lane School represents so many things. For our ancestors, when it was built in 1836 the hopes, dreams, prayers and aspirations of generations of slaves for over 200 years went into the building of its walls.

Once built, it continued to offer not only an education for ex-slaves, but also spiritual guidance in its role as a chapel at weekends, a place of socialisation and community, and a meeting place for the Young Men's Friendly Society (famous for their role in saving the slaves on the brigantine Enterprise).

It was a place where black Bermudians could finally have the freedom to meet, talk, socialise and discuss their future, to make a better life for themselves.

The role of the friendly societies in sharing, educating, supporting and offering comfort to the black community was extraordinary. Most importantly they provided socioeconomic direction to the black community, and their story deserves to be shared in greater depth with the Bermudian public.

For the Anglican Church, who (being persuaded by the Young Men's Friendly Society) raised funds together with the black community to build Lane School and later six other chapels/schools, it was their first step on the road to redemption and reparation for their part in condoning slavery.

For black Bermudians, the building is a visual memory of what the heart of a people can achieve despite adversity. Their many descendants walk our streets today and this beautiful location would provide a place where they could go to learn about the myriad achievements of black Bermudians, as well as provide a place to reconnect to their past and honour their ancestors.

For white Bermudians it will become a place where they will begin to discover the other side of our history. In the past Bermuda's history was written by whites and naturally reflects their interests, concerns and philosophy. Historically black society and achievements were considered irrelevant and of no importance.

Very little attention was paid to their lives and experiences, nor the many contributions made by enslaved and free blacks.

Seminal works written and researched by black Bermudians Dr. Cyril Packwood's 'Chained on the Rock', Dr. Kenneth E. Robinson's 'Heritage', Dr. Eva Hodgson's 'Second Class Citizens: First Class Men', Mrs. Nellie Musson's 'Mind the Onion Seed', and white Bermudian Mr. James Smith's 'Slavery in Bermuda' were published and largely ignored, and subsequently failed to be incorporated into our education system.

Today that historic neglect is being reversed and a renaissance of our history is in the making. Many Bermudians are involved in new empirical research to shed more light on the history and huge contributions of black Bermudians… who have for too long been our invisible ancestors.

With regard to CURB's counter objection to the rezoning, the heroine of the hour should be Ms LeYoni Junos who spent huge amounts of her free time doing research at the Bermuda Archives verifying the incredible history of Lane School, taking the time to submit a detailed counter objection to the rezoning, and whose research in turn alerted CURB to the application to rezone the building for commercial development.

Lane School offers our community an extraordinary opportunity to work together to purchase and restore the building and also to discover a common interest in our history.

It will allow us, together, to find a more truthful, inclusive and enlightened view of our past, which in turn will help us work towards a true reconciliation as a people.

Q: What kind of feedback has CURB had from others?

A: Before CURB put in its formal counter objection to the rezoning, we wrote to the relevant Government departments, as well as historic, environmental and faith-based organisations and other interested parties, appealing to them to send in counter objections to the rezoning before the deadline 30th October.

We have heard that to date the Bermuda Historical Society and BEST have both put in counter objections, and we are extremely hopeful that other organisations will respond to the appeal so that an overwhelming outcry against this development is on file for when the tribunal meets. General public feedback to date has been extremely positive and people are excited by the news. Noticeably the most common comment is amazement i.e. "I didn't know anything about it."

Q: What does CURB hope comes from the meeting with the Draft Bermuda Tribunal on October 30?

A: We have every faith that the tribunal will come to the right decision in the best interests of the people of Bermuda.