The Jordan School has long since closed.

Thousands of young black Nansemond County students started their educations in the former schoolhouse that still stands at the corner of Johnson and Tynes Street. The school, operated by the Boston-based Unitarian Universalist Association for nearly 90 years, closed in the mid-1980s.

The Jordan Foundation was established in 1985 to deal with proceeds from the sale of the property, said Ruby Walden, who serves on its board of directors. Through the years, the foundation has made contributions to two historically black colleges, Norfolk State University and Virginia State University.

On Monday, the foundation itself disbanded.

Walden and fellow

board members, the Rev. Isaac Williams and Robert “Dick” Kelly, stroked the foundation’s final check: a contribution for Virginia Union University. They presented the check to DeShonna S. Holland, a Suffolk native who graduated from VUU and now works for the Richmond-based college.

The group members declined to say how large their contribution was, only that it officially “wiped out” the foundation’s bank account.

“This is the official end of the Jordan era,” Kelly said. “This is all the money we had left in our account.”

The contributions were given to all three schools, with no strings attached, so long as they are somehow used to benefit the educational opportunities for students, he added.

Madelaine Majette Wilson, 80, of Suffolk, still has rich memories of her years attending the Jordan School. In addition to placing an emphasis on academics and Sunday school lessons, music was an important part of the daily training, she said.

“We were taught many songs and an appreciation of music to be sung and enjoyed,” Wilson recalled.

The Jordan School enriched the lives of many students through the years, she added.

“Many persons in Suffolk owe their beginning to Jordan School and Jordan kindergarten,,” said Wilson. “It (the building) will always be a monument to remember the persons who dedicated their lives to raise the bar for folks who had no alternative.”