When I moved from New York to Virginia to start the 7th grade year, this was where the first school I went to. I found out my future wife's Uncle was a PE teacher there. I made friends to this day, I am still friends with there. Sure, we may not see each other often, and may not have seen each other in a long time, but when we do, it is like we never skipped a beat.
After this school closed and got tore down, I went and got some scrap wood from the wreckage. I made several pens and sold them to a few people around Suffolk. One person had informed me that the reason she was getting as many as she was, one of her relatives went there. When he first went to this school, he was one of the first African Americans in Suffolk to attend an integrated school, and at the time South Western was the first that was integrated in Suffolk. He was there the first year it was integrated. I am sorry I do not remember the persons name, but this hide is in honor of him.