Education; Lee County, AL; J.F. Drake High School; Auburn, AL; Drake, Joseph Fanning; African American Schools; Desegregation; Johnson, Judge Frank; Brown v. Board of Education; Civil Rights Movement
Auburn’s last exclusively African-American public high school was founded in 1957. J.F. Drake High School was named after Dr. Joseph Fanning Drake, and Auburn native who went on to become the president of Alabama A&M College in Huntsville. In 1968, U.S. District Court Judge Frank Johnson compelled the Lee County school system to adhere to Brown v. Board of Education. Although students were given a choice of Auburn or Drake High School in 1969, Drake’s African-American student body moved to Auburn High School en masse during the 1970-1 school year. Drake has functioned as a sixth- through eighth-grade middle school since desegregation.
Image Sources: https://www.auburnschools2.org/course/view.php?id=627 http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMKYXZ_J_F_Drake_High_School_Alma_Mater_Auburn_AL Text Source: The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 71. Committee for the Preservation of Auburn’s African American History, Lest We Forget: A History of African Americans of Auburn, Alabama (Auburn, AL: Committee for the Preservation of Auburn’s African American History, 2011, 119-120.
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn, AL; Auburn High School; Desegregation; Civil Rights Movement; Samford Middle School; Lee County High School; Parrish, J.A.; Green v. New Kent County, VA; J.F. Drake High School
In 1931, the institution that would come to be known as Auburn High School opened on Samford Avenue at the site of present-day Samford Middle School. From 1931 to 1959, the institution was known as Lee County High School. Until 1966, the entire public facility served Auburn’s white students from the first to the twelfth grades. The school’s first administrator was the much-beloved Professor J.A. Parrish. In 1959, Auburn City Council voted to break from the Lee County School System, and Lee County High School was thus renamed Auburn High School despite serving all the white public schoolchildren in Auburn for the next seven years. A new high school to serve ninth through twelfth graders was built at 405 South Dean Road for $1.25 million in 1966 as a “Freedom of Choice” school, meaning that any student could opt to attend Auburn High School regardless of race. The persistence of de facto segregation in “Freedom of Choice” institutions led to a legal challenge in the form of Green v. New Kent County, VA. In the 1968 Green ruling, the US Supreme Court declared that school boards must take “affirmative measures” to achieve integration and ordered New Kent to convert to a school system without “white” or “negro” schools, but merely “schools.” In the wake of the Green decision, Auburn High School’s black enrollment increased significantly in 1970 as the school absorbed all of the African-American students from J.F. Drake High School. The enrollment spike forced Auburn High School to temporarily scale back the scope of its operations to the tenth through the twelfth grades, as Samford Middle School temporarily took on the city’s ninth grade students. Upon the completion of the 500 Building Extension in 1973, AHS reabsorbed the ninth grade students. Auburn High added a new high-tech classroom extension and a media center in 1995, and a $14 million performing arts center in 2010.
Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auburn_High_School_(Alabama) Text Sources: Auburn High School Band, http://www.auburnschools.org/ahs_band/ahs_history.html. Joseph M. Bagley, A Meaningful Reality: The Integration of the Opelika, Alabama City School System, 1965-1972 (MA Thesis, Auburn University, 2007), 36-37. The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 71.
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn Junior High School; Auburn, AL; Samford Middle School; Desegregation; Civil Rights Era
From 1931 to 1966, Auburn’s white middle (and elementary) school students operated under the aegis of Auburn High School at 332 East Samford Avenue. During this period, the sub-institution was known as Auburn Grammar School. When Auburn High School opened in 1966, the school on East Samford was renamed Samford Middle School. In 1969, the city school board again renamed the middle school, this time as Auburn Junior High School, the institution’s current title. After the 1970 influx of black high school students to Auburn High School, the newly integrated Samford Middle School took on ninth grade students for three years, and then reverted to serving the fifth through the eighth grades.
Image Source: http://www.realestateinauburn.com/auburn-info/auburn-city-schools-3/ Text Sources: Auburn Junior High School, http://www.auburnschools.org/ajhs/Faculty.html. The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 71.
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn, AL; Boykin Street Elementary School; African American Schools; Civil Rights Era; Desegregation
Auburn's first public elementary school that serviced only African-American students was founded in 1951, when it also briefly functioned as a junior high school. Boykin Street Elementary remained the institution for Auburn’s African-American grammar schoolchildren until integration in 1970. Boykin Street functioned as a middle school until the facility closed in 1983. The City of Auburn now uses the building, located at 400 Boykin Street, as a community center.
Image Source: http://www.alabamaasla.com/2011/05/boykin-community-center-auburn-al/ Text Sources: City of Auburn: Parks and Recreation, http://www.auburnalabama.org/parks/Default.aspx?PageID=659 The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 71.
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn University; Luther N. Duncan Hall; Duncan, Luther N.; Alabama Polytechnic Institute; Agricultural Extension Program; Alabama A&M; Auburn, AL
The three-story Georgian-style building located at 322 Mell Street was erected in 1928 for the sole purpose of housing Alabama Polytechnic Institute’s Agricultural Extension Program, the capacity in which in still serves today. Named after Luther N. Duncan, the influential director of the extension program and future API President, the building provided a setting for Alabama’s extension agents to prepare to disseminate cutting-edge scientific techniques to farmers statewide. In 1995, Auburn’s Agricultural Extension merged with the Alabama A&M’s Agricultural Extension Program, to form the consolidated Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Luther N. Duncan Hall also houses the administrative office of Alabama Cooperative Extension System.
Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Duncan Text Sources: The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 72, 158. Alabama Cooperative Extension System, http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/E/EX-0038/EX-0038.pdf.
Education; Lee County, AL; The Old Rotation; Auburn University; Duggar, J.F.; National Register of Historic Places; Cotton; Legumes; Scientific Experimentation; Auburn, AL
Located on Lem Morrison Drive directly across the street from the Auburn University Parking Services Building, The Old Rotation exemplifies Auburn’s tradition as a bastion of agricultural education. Professor J.F. Duggar established the acre in 1896 as an experiment to determine the benefits of planting winter legumes such as beans or peas as a winter crop cover when cultivating cotton or corn. Duggar successfully demonstrated that winter legumes could offset some of the nitrate depletion inflicted on soil when planting cotton or corn in the same field yearly. The plots planted with winter legumes in the acre consistently yielded more cotton lint than those that lay fallow during those months. The Old Rotation is the third-longest running agricultural experiment and the oldest continuous cotton experiment in the world. In 1988, the National Register of Historic Places added The Old Rotation to its list.
Image Sources: http://www.aaes.auburn.edu/comm/pubs/old%20rotation/plotsoneandtwo.html http://www.kennysmith.org/wordpress/markers/2014/11/13/the-old-rotation/ Text Sources: Auburn University, http://www.ag.auburn.edu/agrn/cotton.htm. Auburn University, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, http://www.aaes.auburn.edu/comm/pubs/old%20rotation/photos.php.
Education; Lee County, AL; Lee-Scott Academy; Lee Academy; Scott Preparatory; Auburn, AL; Private School; Civil Rights Era; Desegregation; White Flight; Presbyterian Day School; Scott, I.J.; Opelika-Auburn News; Nixon, Richard; Reconstruction
Presbyterian Day School, a private academy, was founded in Auburn in 1965 and was renamed Lee Academy several years later. In 1970, a contingent of white Opelikans, displeased with pending implementation of the court-mandated integration of the city school system, founded the private school Scott Preparatory. In a September 3, 1970 Opelika-Auburn News article, Scott Preparatory co-founder I. J. Scott referred to federal desegregation as a “conspiracy” between federal agencies and President Richard Nixon (to whom he referred in the article as “Tricky Dick”) aimed at completing the objectives of the nineteenth-century Reconstruction regimes. The enrollment at both private schools increased as the unconstitutionality of “Freedom of Choice” schools left little doubt that Lee County’s public schools would soon be integrated. From 1967 to 1971 (the period when court orders forced Lee County schools to fully integrate), Lee Academy’s enrollment climbed from 47 to 208. Scott Preparatory’s opening-day enrollment in August 1971 totaled 350 students. The two county private schools merged in 1981 to form Lee-Scott Academy on the site of the old Lee Academy. For many years, neither Lee Academy, Scott Preparatory, nor the combined Lee-Scott Academy enrolled or received applications from black students. However, Lee-Scott Academy is now desegregated; during the 2006-2007 school year, 5 of the 549 students enrolled were African American. Growing enrollment allowed the Board of Trustees to build a new facility, and in 1996 the assimilated private school relocated to its current home at 1601 Academy Drive in Auburn. The academy’s resource base grew during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1984, donations allowed the school to open its first computer lab. Other endowments allowed for the foundation of two others during the 1990s.
Image Source: http://www.aais-schools.org/page.cfm?p=373 Text Sources: Joseph M. Bagley, A Meaningful Reality: The Integration of the Opelika, Alabama City School System, 1965-1972 (MA Thesis, Auburn University, 2007), 67-74, 83. The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 78. Lee-Scott Academy: http://www.lee-scott.org/page.cfm?p=505.
Education; Lee County, AL; Opelika, AL; Opelika Public School; Private House Schools; Ware, Mrs. O.W.; Mrs. Gorman; African American Schools; Giddens, Columbus; Hawthorne, L.; Smallwood, R.W.; Opelika Baptist Female College
On November 23, 1869, Opelika citizens petitioned the City Council to create a public high school. A Board of Trustees formed, and in 1873 the Alabama State Legislature empowered the city government to collect taxes to subsidize public education. The Opelika Public School System took almost seven years to initiate operations, primarily attributable to the success of local private schools. By 1880, four public schools opened in the homes of some of Opelika’s citizens. White schools operated in the homes of Mrs. Gorman near Young Lake and Mrs. O.W Ware on Chambers Street. African-American public schools were operated in the homes of Columbus Giddens and L. Hawthorne. When Professor R.W. Smallwood was designated superintendent of Opelika schools in 1887, he reorganized the school system and oversaw the purchase of the facility that previously housed the Opelika Baptist Female College, on the corner of North Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue. His twelve-year superintendancy witnessed an exponential growth in the student body, as enrollment increased from 25 students in 1887 to 200 in 1899. The municipal government originally divided the system into three subdivisions – elementary, grammar, and high schools. In 1902, the city erected Opelika Public School, a three story brick building on the corner of Avenue A and South Seventh Street to house all three programs. The citizenry wanted to build separate facilities to house the high school and the elementary-grammar schools, but a lack of funding inhibited the plan. After the 1911 creation of Opelika High School, Opelika Public School continued to house the elementary and grammar schools. From 1916 to 1918, the building at Avenue A and Seventh Street briefly subsumed the student body from Opelika High School due to a fire that destroyed OHS’s building. After the completion of Henry G. Clift High School, the city’s high school students left Opelika Public School again. Opelika Public School continued to serve elementary and grammar school pupils until 1929, when the student body divided into two new institutions, Northside Elementary School and Southside Elementary School. The structure that housed Opelika Public School no longer exists, and the corner of Avenue A and South Seventh Street is now home to Opelika’s City Hall.
Text Sources: Alexander Nunn, Lee County and Her Forebears (Montgomery, AL: Herff Jones, 1983), 36-37. The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 78.
Education; Lee County, AL; Opelika High School 1911-1918; Opelika, AL; Henry G. Clift High School; Lee County High School
In 1911, the Alabama State Legislature allocated a disbursement to fund a public high school in every county in the state. Opelika solicited private funds to meet the state in the middle, and Lee County’s first stand-alone high school, Opelika High School, opened on the corner of North Eighth Street and Seventh Avenue. Elementary and grammar school students remained in the old Opelika Public School building on Avenue A and Seventh Street. In 1914, Auburn High School successfully petitioned the state high school commission to take the county flagship status as the “Lee County’s Public High School” away from Opelika, a decision that resulted in a funding shakeup and some related resentment. In 1916, Opelika Public High School burned down and its students were forced to re-consolidate with the elementary and grammar schools in the building on the corner of Avenue A and Seventh Street. During the 1916-1917 and 1917-1918 school years, due to the amount of students and size of the older building, Opelika High School and Opelika Public School educators were forced to offer classes during extended hours. Opelika High School’s student body transferred to the new Henry G. Clift High School in 1918 upon its completion.
Text Source: The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 78.
Education; Lee County, AL; Opelika, AL; Henry G. Clift High School; Opelika High School 1911-1918; Padgett, W.J.; Opelika Daily News
In 1918, Henry G. Clift High School opened on the site of the old Opelika High School on the corner of North Eighth Street and Seventh Avenue. Opelika’s city council moved to name the new high school after the town’s mayor. Contractor W.J. Padgett built the facility for $33,000. An Opelika Daily News columnist described the edifice of the structure as “constructed throughout of dark red brick with sandstone, of severe and simple lines,” and marveled at “a grandeur and magnificence that is almost indescribable.” The anonymous columnist also commented on the building’s modern amenities, such as drinking fountains, heating equipment, and overhead lighting in every room. Decades later, the deterioration of Henry G. Clift High School led to plans to erect a new high school building on Denson Drive. In 1959, the board of education began using the building that housed Henry G. Clift High School for forty-one years as Clift Junior High. A stone monument in the front yard of the private residence located at 663 North Eighth Street now marks the site where Opelika High School 1911-1918 and Henry G. Clift High School stood.
Image Source: http://ohsclassof52.bizland.com/id342.html Text Sources: Clift High School, http://ohsclassof52.bizland.com/id342.html. The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 78.
Education; Lee County, AL; Opelika, AL; Opelika Middle School; Henry G. Clift High School; Johnson, Judge Frank; J.W. Darden High School; Carver Elementary School; Jeter Elementary School; Desegregation; Civil Rights Era; Green v. New Kent County, VA;
In 1959, Henry G. Clift High School relocated to a new facility at 1206 Denson Drive and rechristened itself Opelika High School, the institutional name it bore from 1911 to 1918. U.S. District Court Judge Frank M. Johnson gave the Opelika city school system an ultimatum in August, 1969 to desegregate and redistribute the black student body of J.W. Darden High School, Carver Elementary School, and Jeter Elementary School. Opelika High School integrated minimally in 1967 as it converted to a “Freedom of Choice” school, thus allowing black or white students to attend voluntarily. After the 1968 US Supreme Court decision in Green v. New Kent County., VA rendered “Freedom of Choice” schools unconstitutional and ordered the dismantling of dual school systems and the creation of systems “without a ‘white’ school and a ‘negro’ school, but just schools.” Because the Denson Drive building was too small to accommodate the influx of black students from Darden (Opelika’s black high school) and the white high school students who opted to stay in public school, the city hastily erected a new high school on Lafayette Parkway in 1972. Since 1972, the Denson Drive building has functioned as Opelika Middle School. The Denson Drive facility housed a segregated high school and a desegregated middle school and today remains a tangible vestige of Jim Crow’s demise in the city.
Image Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Opelika_Middle_School.JPG Text Sources: Joseph M. Bagley, A Meaningful Reality: The Integration of the Opelika, Alabama City School System, 1965-1972 (MA Thesis, Auburn University, 2007), 40-42. The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 78.
Education; Lee County, AL; Opelika, AL; Opelika High School, 1972-Present; Desegregation; Civil Rights Era; Johnson, Judge Frank M.; J.W. Darden High School; Opelika High - Southside Campus
In 1969, U.S. District Court Judge Frank M. Johnson ordered the Opelika to desegregate its school system. Observing that African Americans comprised 30 percent of the students enrolled in Opelika city schools, Johnson demanded that all of Opelika’s public schools contain a comparable percentage of African American students by the 1970-1971 school year. In the fall of 1970, Opelika High School (then located on the site of modern-day Opelika Middle School on Denson Drive) reported 37 percent African American enrollment. However, Opelika’s school board denoted J.W. Darden High School (Opelika’s black high school) a vocational adjunct campus of Opelika High School in November 1969 and renamed the school Opelika High – Southside Campus. Coincidentally, every student who chose a vocational curriculum in fall 1970 was African American, and Opelika’s high schools consequently remained segregated. The 37 percent enrollment figure included the raw total of the two separate campuses. Noting Johnson’s irritation over the violation of the spirit of his order and fearful of being censured by either him or the Department of Justice, in 1971 Opelika’s school board purchased property and quickly began erecting a new high school. They recognized that the Denson Drive campus was too small to accommodate the newly-integrated student body. Completed in less than 10 months by a Texas-based architectural firm, the new Opelika High School opened in fall 1972. No massive white flight or significant violent episodes occurred upon the school’s full integration. In the years since its opening, Opelika High School constructed an on-campus football stadium, a performing arts center, a new band room, and a video production studio. The school stands to this day at 1700 Lafayette Parkway, Opelika.
Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opelika_High_School Text Sources: Joseph M. Bagley, A Meaningful Reality: The Integration of the Opelika, Alabama City School System, 1965-1972 (MA Thesis, Auburn University, 2007), 5, 42-48. Opelika High School, http://www.opelikaschools.org/ohs/. The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 78.
Education; Lee County, AL; Opelika, AL; J.W. Darden High School; Desegregation; Civil Rights Era; Darden, Dr. J.W.; Head Start; Opelika High School; Opelika High - Southside Campus; Johnson, Judge Frank M.; Brown v. Board of Education; Department of Justice; African American Schools; Peterson, Birdie; East Street High School
Founded in 1951, J.W. Darden High School took on the ninth and tenth grade students of East Street High School and added eleventh and twelfth grade curricula. Darden was Opelika’s African-American high school until the city’s high schools integrated in 1972. The school board chose to name the black high school after J.W. Darden, Lee County’s first African-American doctor. From its inception, Darden High served as a focal point of local African-American community life in Opelika. Interviews of former students relay the sense of pride that Darden High instilled in Opelika’s black residents, despite fighting a losing battle with the school board for adequate funding. Birdie Peterson, a 1965 Darden graduate, remembered Darden as a “premier school” and imparted the respect that its students had for their educational environment, claiming that they “kept that building up as if it were (their) our own home.” In May 1968, the Department of Justice forced the city school board to end construction on a $350,000 remodeling project at Darden High School. The DOJ saw the expansion of Darden as a measure taken to appease local African-Americans and maintain Opelika’s segregated school system in defiance of Brown v. Board of Education. In the fall of 1970, in an attempt to delay conformity to Federal Judge Frank M. Johnson’s order to fully integrate, Opelika’s school board refashioned Darden High School as a vocational school. They renamed Darden Opelika High – Southside Campus and included the school’s student body in its enrollment figure despite the separate locations of the schools so as to make Opelika High School appear integrated when it in fact had done no such thing. The black student body remained at Darden for the next two years as Opelika’s school board scrambled to build a new high school and comply with the court integration order. Upon the opening of Opelika’s integrated high school, the school board decided to close Darden despite its relative newness in comparison to the rest of the city’s school buildings. Many in Opelika’s black community mourned the school’s closing. When Darden closed, the Opelika’s African-American population lost their high school football team, cheerleading squad, color schema, and to some degree a sense of local autonomy. The school board then sold the Darden High School building to Head Start, who still uses the facility, located at 600 South Fourth Street, Opelika, today. A strip of grass in front of the facility frames a stone marker commemorating Dr. J.W. Darden and the efforts of the many teachers who molded the minds of Opelika’s black high school students.
Image Source: http://www.classmates.com/places/school/Darden-High-School/28068?hitwiseSegment=free&checkCookie=1417644400216 Text Sources: Joseph M. Bagley, A Meaningful Reality: The Integration of the Opelika, Alabama City School System, 1965-1972 (MA Thesis, Auburn University, 2007), 46, 35, 51-53. The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 79.
Education; Lee County, AL; East Street High School; African American Schools; Carver Elementary School; J.W. Darden High School; Opelika Colored School; Opelika, AL
Between 1910 and 1912, the city of Opelika erected the Opelika Colored School, the town’s first black public school. The school was located on East Street and housed ten classrooms. The school catered to students from the first to the tenth grade, and was soon renamed East Street High School due to its location. In 1951, J.W. Darden High School opened and took on East Street’s ninth and tenth grade enrollment. In the aftermath of this realignment, East Street High School became Carver Elementary School.
Image Source: http://ohsclassof52.bizland.com/id195.html Text Source: The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 79.
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn Public School; Auburn Rosenwald Public School; Auburn, AL; Ebenezer Baptist Church; African American Schools; Hutchinson, Rev. J.T.; Rosenwald, Julius; Moton, Dr. Robert; Washington, Booker T.; Tuskegee Institute; Lee County Training School
In March 1915, a group of concerned Auburn citizens held a fund-raising rally at Ebenezer Baptist Church aimed at financing a school for the town’s African-American children. In attendance were over three hundred African Americans and about a hundred whites. The campaign was led by the white Presbyterian minister, the Reverend J.T. Hutchinson. The city’s white and black population collectively raised $1,550 for the building fund. In 1916, Sears CEO and noted philanthropist Julius Rosenwald contributed $300 to the proposed school’s foundation, and construction of the facility commenced. The school building was completed in 1917, and consisted of five rooms that offered seven grades. Dr. Robert Moton, Booker T. Washington’s successor as principal of the Tuskegee Institute, delivered the keynote address at the building’s dedication ceremony and lauded Rosenwald’s contribution to African-American betterment. Auburn Public School became the town’s first African-American grammar and intermediate school. The school would serve as Auburn’s African-American school until 1929, when a second Rosenwald school, Lee County Training School, opened its doors. Lee County Training School offered a high school diploma as well as secondary education, and the students of Auburn Public School all enrolled in the new Rosenwald institution. Auburn Public School’s building occupied the corner of Bragg Avenue and Frazier Street, Auburn.
Text Sources: “Auburn School (C.T.S.),” Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Card Database, http://rosenwald.fisk.edu/index.php?module=search.details&set_v=aWQ9MzEx&school_county=Lee&school_state=AL&button=Search&o=0 Ralph Draughon, Jr., Delos Hughes, and Ann Pearson, Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2012), 54-55.
Education; Lee County, AL; Rosenwald Schools; Loachapoka, AL; African American Schools; Rosenwald, Julius; Pearson, Dr. Ann, Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church; Lee County Historical Commission; Randolph, O.L.; Crittenden, Emogene Willis; Lee Crossroads School
In the spring of 1913, Loachapoka became the site of the first of over 5,300 rural black schools in the United States subsidized by Sears CEO Julius Rosenwald. Rosenwald, who grew up destitute, wanted to provide African Americans living in the South with the opportunity to acquire an education in the years before desegregation. He contributed $300 to the school’s building fund and the white and black citizens of Loachapoka raised the remaining $493. The two-room building contained a fireplace to accommodate its heating needs and glass-paned windows. The building initially lacked both electrical wiring and indoor plumbing. The elementary school serviced grades one, two, five, and six, while grades three and four were taught nearby at the Lee Crossroads School on Lee County Highway 188. Eventually, Loachapoka Rosenwald School closed as the town’s African-American children enrolled in other elementary schools, but the town continued to use the building as a community center. In 1960, a fire consumed the wooden structure. Now only a scant few bricks and a portion of the broken concrete foundation remain of the school, which is located on the property of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church at 2 Day Lily Street, Loachapoka. Dr. Ann Pearson, a former Auburn English professor, researched the Loachapoka Rosenwald School, determined that it was Rosenwald’s first rural school, and spearheaded an initiative to erect a historical marker at the former site. On November 11, 2011, the Lee County Historical Society hosted an event to commemorate the Loachapoka Rosenwald School at which several former students and teachers spoke. Emogene Willis Crittenden, a former student, remembered her principal, O.L. Randolph, as a mild-mannered father figure. Due to a lack of public visibility at the actual site of the school (which is located behind Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church), the Lee County Historical Commission decided to place the marker across Day Lily Street from the church.
Image Source: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMHPR8_First_Rosenwald_School_Loachapoka_AL “Loachapoka School,” Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Card Database, http://rosenwald.fisk.edu/?module=search.details&set_v=aWQ9MzE3&school_county=lee&school_state=AL&button=Search&o=0 Text Sources: Bradley Roberts, “Rosenwald Schools,” Chattahoochee Heritage Project, http://www.chattahoocheeheritage.org/2011/12/rosenwald-schools/ “Loachapoka School,” Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Card Database, http://rosenwald.fisk.edu/?module=search.details&set_v=aWQ9MzE3&school_county=lee&school_state=AL&button=Search&o=0 Natalie Wade, “Nation’s First Rosenwald School to be Recognized in Loachapoka; School Memorabilia Sought,” AL.com, http://blog.al.com/montgomery/2011/10/nations_first_rosenwald_school.html
Union Grove Cemetery is located in Opelika south of Creekstone Drive and west of South Uniroyal Road. Coordinates: 32.6287456, -85.3374448
Historic Homes; Birmingham, AL; Jefferson County, AL; Greek Revival Style; National Register of Historic Places; Hall, Stephen; Mudd, William S.; Mudd, Florence Earle; Wilson, Gen. James H.; Debardeleben, Henry F.; Munger, Robert S.; Montgomery, Ruby; Montgomery, Alex; Lee, Gen. Robert E.; Moore, Gov. Andrew Barry; Bibb, Gov. Thomas; Belle Mina
Image Sources: Satterfield, Carolyn Green, "Arlington Antebellum Home and Gardens," Encyclopedia of Alabama, http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/m-6678 Satterfield, Carolyn Green, "Arlington Antebellum Home and Gardens," Encyclopedia of Alabama, http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/m-6682 Text Sources: Satterfield, Carolyn Green, "Arlington Antebellum Home and Gardens," Encyclopedia of Alabama, http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2417 Satterfield, Carolyn Green. Historic Sites of Jefferson County, Alabama (Birmingham, Ala.: Jefferson County Historical Commission, 1976). 46-49.
Religion; Episcopal Church; Birmingham AL; Jefferson County, AL
Image Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_Church_of_the_Advent_(Birmingham,_Alabama) http://archive.adventbirmingham.org/articles.asp?ID=4163 Text Source: Cathedral Church of the Advent - History, http://adventbirmingham.org/about/our-parish/history/
Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn University; East Alabama Male College; Button, Stephen Decatur; Civil War; General Lovell Rousseau; Morrill Act; Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College; Old Main Hall; William J. Samford Hall
After the state awarded East Alabama Male College its charter on February 7, 1856, the Board of Trustees set about securing funds to build an administrative and educational building. The trustees initially allocated $25,000 for the facility, but the building that came to be known as Old Main Hall required an expenditure of approximately $60,000 to complete. Stephen Decatur Button, a nationally prominent architect, designed and built the four-story Italianate-style academic building. Old Main Hall was the primary building of the East Alabama Male College from 1856 until 1887. During the Civil War, EAMC suspended operations like so many of the country’s other academic institutions. As faculty, staff, and students left school to join the Confederate war effort, the EAMC shuttered its doors from 1861 to 1864 when Old Main Hall, Langdon Hall, and the Chapel were converted into makeshift hospitals for wounded soldiers arriving from Atlanta. In 1864, Texas’s state legislature paid to convert Old Main Hall into a convalescent hospital that they dubbed Texas Hospital. The ramshackle hospital housed over four hundred Confederate soldiers, many of whom never saw their homes again and were buried in nearby Pine Hill Cemetery. Old Main also acted as a parade ground where soldiers from nearby Camp Beauregard and Camp Johnson marched and drilled during the war. In July 1864, Major General Lovell H. Rousseau and his force of approximately 2,500 Union cavalrymen raided the cities of Auburn and Opelika where they destroyed thirty-five miles of railroad tracks, the local post office, and Pebble Hill. In an effort to defend the city, sixteen-year old John Hodges Drake and approximately thirty or forty convalescents from the Texas Hospital offered some token resistance to Rousseau's raid, to little avail. The Federal cavalrymen left the bedridden and newly minted prisoners alone and did little damage to civilian property. In fall 1866, students returned to attend classes in a building ravaged by the elements and war. In the early morning of June 24, 1887, a fire broke out in Old Main Hall’s lower basement chemistry lab. The ensuing conflagration consumed the entire building. In the immediate aftermath of the fire, the students met for classes in the Chapel. In 1888, the school erected a new administration building, William J. Samford Hall, on Old Main Hall’s original foundation. Old Main Hall’s cornerstone is still visible at the base of the northeast corner of Samford Hall. Old Main Hall’s building originally occupied the space that is now 182 South College Street, Auburn University.
Image Source: http://www.auburn.edu/communications_marketing/150/lecture.html Text Source: Ralph Draughon, Jr., Delos Hughes, and Ann Pearson, Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs (Montgomery: NewSouth Books, 2012), 9-11.
Honoring of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC)
Black greek life organizations (under the NPHC) honored through the creation of the Legacy Plaza
An unidentified man sits behind the wheel of a 1952 MG automobile, the pace car for that year's Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo Championship Stock Car Race. The photo was taken August 4 at the United Fruit Company's waterfront warehouse. The vessel Inigma Fela rests in the water.
University of South Alabama, McCall Library
The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of South Alabama
U.S. and international copyright laws may apply to this digital image. Use of this image without the prior permission of The McCall Library is prohibited. Please contact The McCall Library for permission to use this image.
http://digital.archives.alabama.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/usa01/id/112/rec/3
2005.36.270: Thomas F. Jones to Kate, 1858 July 27
Transcription; 1858; Kingston; Carolina; Kate; Thomas F. Jones, Jr.; Cartersville; Emma; Travel; Departure; Miss Ginna
A short letter to Kate that included an inquiry about when she was leaving for Carolina. Tom said that Emma wanted to travel with her, if her father would wait. One handwritten page.
P.M.B. Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
2005.36.294: Thomas F. Jones Jr. to Kate, 1857
1857; Monticello FL; Love; Admiration; Separation; Worry; Health
A love letter from Thomas to Kate expressing his concern about the long delay in receiving a letter from her and his high anxiety and worry about her health. He expressed how much he missed her and longed to hear from her. He asked Kate to write him back to share her love for him. 3 handwritten pages.
2005.36.277: Thomas F. Jones Jr. to "My Beloved Kate," 1858 April 19
1858; Kingston; Georgia; Kate; Thomas F. Jones Jr; Columbia; Living Conditions; Love; Emotion; Planter's life; Agricultural conditions; Frank; Social Relations; Florida; Mill Creek
Jones is writing Kate to question why she does not write him more often. He admits to being busy, and also writing several letters that were not mailed. However, he still questions why she does not write more. He describes the dull conditions of Kingston as being a problem when trying to write to her. He spends a lot of time confirming his love to her.
2005.36.268: Thomas F. Jones Jr. to Kate, unknown
Thomas F. Jones Jr.; Kate; Religion; Health; Family
A letter from Thomas Jones Jr. to Kate. Thomas updates Kate about family matters, discusses recent purchases, asks about her health. 6 handwritten pages
2005.36.280: Letter from Thomas F. Jones Jr. to Kate, 1858 January 9
1858; Kingston; Georgia; Kate; Thomas F. Jones Jr.; Letter writing; Homesickness; Emotion; landscape
Thomas expresses his wish to Kate that she would write more often, and that he spends energy and emotion waiting on her letters every day. He tells her that he must hear from her to be happy.
P.M.B Young Collection, Bartow History Museum
2005.36.293: A letter from Thomas F. Jones to Kate, 1858 May 18
1858; Kate; Kingston; Georgia; Thomas F. Jones Jr.; Love; Emotion; Social relation; Social atmosphere; Social conditions; Mill Creek
This is an apology letter from Thomas to Kate for a lapse in writing. He expresses his satisfaction in knowing that the feelings she possesses for him are stronger than anyone else in his life. He confirms his affection for her, despite enjoying being popular "with the ladies." This includes being flirtatious. He stresses how much he wants to take care of her.
2005.36.267: Thomas F. Jones Jr. to Kate, 1858 January 03
1858; Kingston; Georgia; Mill Creek; Thomas F. Jones, Jr.; Kate; Cartersville; South Carolina; Paris; France; Asthma; Courtship; Marriage; New Year's Eve; Church; Religion; Bible; Transcription
Jones writes of his travels, his fear of Kate’s parents rejecting his marriage proposal, and his joining of a local church. 3 handwritten pages.
2005.36.272: Thomas F. Jones Jr. to Kate, 1858 January 16
1858; Thomas F. Jones, Jr; Kate; Kingston; Georgia; Mill Creek; Marriage; Courtship; Fear; Proposal; Parents; Transcription
Tom tells Kate that he has written to her parents concerning the marriage proposal and his fear of rejection. 1 handwritten page.
2005.36.289: Thomas F. Jones Jr. to Kate, 1858 May 22
1858; Thomas F. Jones, Jr.; Kate; Dr. Mayson; Aunt Mary; Kingston; Georgia; Mill Creek; Occupation; Physician; Love; Letters; Religion; Bible; Choir; Money; Transcription
Tom tells Kate that he has to cancel their upcoming visit due to a rise in patient visits. He also writes about his unsuccessful quest to find two letters she had previously written to Jones. He finishes the letter by telling her of the church choir and Bible school. 3 handwritten pages.
2005.36.279: Thomas F. Jones Jr. to Kate, 1858 February 26
1858; Carolina; Dr. Dozier; Mill Creek; Love; Affection; Kingston; GA Presbyterian Church; Communion Meeting
A love letter from Dr. Thomas F. Jones, Jr. to Kate expressing concern about her recent illness, his joy and delight in her, and his love and longing to see her again. He mentioned a communion meeting at the church and an adversarial situation involving a Dr. Dozier. He expressed his determination to not make himself liable to censure by Dr. Dozier or anyone else. 3 handwritten pages.
2005.36.269: Thomas F. Jones, Jr. to Kate, 1857 August 29
Transcription; 1857; Kate; Monticello; Florida; Carolina; Mrs. S; Affection; Honesty; Engagement; Marriage; Illness; Daguerrotype; Thomas F. Jones, Jr.
Thomas begins the letter by denying that he has laid eyes on other ladies, apparently in response to accusatory letter from Kate. He mentions that he has been sick with a fever for a long time. He asks if she will marry him in November or December and is concerned about the consent of her parents. He says that he will get a picture to send to her. Three handwritten pages.
2005.36.288: Thomas F. Jones, Jr. to Kate, 1858 April 24
Transcription; 1858; Columbia; Mill Creek; Travel; Cassville; Presbyterian Church; Conversation Party; Miss Melissa Johnson; Mr. Everett; singing school; Rome; Frank; Mrs. R; Kate; Thos. F. Jones, Jr.;
In a letter to his wife, who is somewhere else, Tom asks when she is going to Columbia. He is happy she is going to Mill Creek but also misses her. He attended a conversation party as a fundraiser for church, where woman fell down the stairs. He mentions meeting a man who wants to start a singing school and a steamboat picnic in Rome. Four handwritten pages.
P.M.B. Young collections, Bartow History Museum
2005.36.285: Thomas F. Jones, Jr. to Kate, 1857 January 21
1857; Kingston; Cass County, GA; Thomas F. Jones, Jr.; Kate; Love Letter
2005.36.292: Thomas F. Jones, Jr. to Kate, 1857 March 29
1857; Transcription; Thomas F. Jones, Jr.; Kate; Love Letter; Travel
In this three-page handwritten love letter, Thomas F. Jones, Jr. bestows his adoration upon the recipient. He comments how he loved another before, but the woman did not reciprocate his affections. He mentions that he traveled 500 miles by horse for eight days and requests that she write back to him at Monticello, Middle Florida.
2005.36.266: Thomas F. Jones, Jr. to Kate, 1857 April 18
1857; Transcription; Thomas F. Jones, Jr.; Kate; Love Letter; Travel; Alcohol; Religion; Weapons; Mental Health; Mental Illness; Dr. Bythewood
Thomas F. Jones, Jr. authored this seven-page handwritten letter describing an ordeal with an unidentified drunken friend. He was so drunk that Jones likened him to a "Patagonian" who likened him to "the Evil Spirit." He also reassures Kate the he is faithful only to her, undoubtedly because he is on a long journey.
2005.36.273: Thomas F. Jones, Jr. to Kate, 1857 November 13
1857; Transcription; Cartersville; Thomas F. Jones, Jr.; Kate; Love Letter; Kingston; Ambrotype; Frank; Family; Health
In this two-page handwritten love letter to Kate, Thomas F. Jones, Jr. comments on visiting her bother, Frank, in Georgia. He explains how he desires to live in that part of the country. He indicates that he is "almost well again," but did not identify his affliction.
2005.36.83: Thomas F. Jones, Sr. to Thomas Jones, Jr., 15 January 1856
2005.36.281: Thomas H. Jones to Kate, 1858 March 29
1858; Thomas Jones; Kate; Love Letter; Affection,; Checking-In; Reuniting; Communication; Celebration; Leisure; Marching; Nature; Barnsley; Food; Drink; Transcription
Thomas writes Kate to express his love to her and his desire to be reunited with her, although he is thankful they are able to communicate through letter. He recently had a nice stay at Barnsley's, where he celebrated with music, food, and drink, and met many other ladies who can not possibly be up to Kate's standards in his opinion. In addition he also marched his troops through a wilderness, and is concerned that Kate's mom is reading their letters. 3 handwritten pages.
2326 Taylor Street (Commercial Building); AHC Survey #06
Commercial Building; Guntersville, Alabama; 1920s
One story masonry one-part commercial block form building with a modern side gable industrial metal roof addition (ca. 2000); faces south, abuts an adjacent building to the west and an open yard to the east; entrance at the west bay of the facade flanked to the east by a double 4/4 replacement window; modern aluminum-framed storefront system; painted brick veneer at the facade with applied vinyl siding at the east elevation (ca. 2000); continuous brick foundation. Historical Data: Construction and design details suggest that this building was built circa 1920 and that it was remodeled circa 2000. A building of this size is shown on a 1930 Sanborn map and its 1948 update as a store.
Thomas Hale, The University of North Alabama
Alabama Historical Commission; Historic Building Form, Survey #06
2326 Taylor Street (Commercial Building); AHC Survey #07
Commercial Building; Guntersville, Alabama; 1975
Modern one story frame commercial building with a front-facing gable composition shingle roof, faces south. Historical Data: Construction and design details suggest that this building was built circa 1975. A 2-story building is shown at this site on a 1930 Sanborn map and its 1948 update.
Alabama Historical Commission; Historic Building Form, Survey #07
2326 Taylor Street-REAR (Commercial Building); AHC Survey #08
Commercial Building; Guntersville, Alabama; 1925; Remodel circa 2000
One story brick veneer former garage with a replacement industrial metal mansard roof and modern applied plywood siding at its facade, faces east. Historical Data: Construction and design details suggest that this building was built circa 1925 and that it was remodeled circa 2000. This building is shown as a garage on a 1930 Sanborn map and its 1948 update.
Alabama Historical Commission; Historic Building Form, Survey #08
346 Blount Avenue (Apartment Building); AHC Survey #09
Apartment Building; Guntersville, Alabama; 1950; Different version previously on location/address
Two story brick veneer Colonial Revival style apartment building with a hipped patterned asbestos shingle roof; faces east, H shaped plan, 1-story attached rear garage extension with a hipped roof; 2 recessed bays at center of facade with an entrance at the north end of the 1st floor level flanked to the south by a small 6/6 window, suspended porch/balcony at 2nd level with wood posts, entrance at N end of the 2nd floor recessed area flanked to the south by a small octagonal window; single 8/8 windows at the 1st floor of the outer bays flanking the recessed bays with single 6/6 windows at the 2nd level; similar windows at the side and rear elevations; exposed brick veneer exterior walls; continuous brick foundation. Historical Data: Construction and design details suggest that this building was built circa 1950. A different dwelling/apartment building is shown at this location on a 1930 Sanborn map and its 1948 update.
Alabama Historical Commission; Historic Building Form, Survey #09
320 Blount Avenue (House); AHC Survey #10
House; Guntersville, Alabama; 1915; Different version previously on location/address (Duplex)
One story frame Craftsman style dwelling with a hipped composition shingle roof with exposed rafter ends and a small side gable ridge monitor, 2 interior brick chimneys, modern gable dormer at its front slope (ca. 1990) with historic dormers at the side slopes; faces east, irregular shaped plan, 7-bay wide facade; recessed porches at the 4 southern bays and the 2 northern bay of the facade with wood posts; entrances at the 2nd and 6th bays of the facade (from the S), single, triple, single, double, and single Craftsman geometric windows in the remaining bays, similar windows at the side elevations; wood novelty siding; continuous brick foundation. Historical Data: Construction and design details suggest that this house was built circa 1915. It is shown on a 1930 Sanborn map as a single dwelling and on its 1948 update as a duplex.
Alabama Historical Commission; Historic Building Form, Survey #10
LaGrange College; LaGrange, Alabama; Leighton, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; School; Education; Historical
LaGrange College was located on LaGrange Mountain. In 1830 it became the first State chartered college in Alabama. Within two months of its opening, there were seventy students enrolled at LaGrange College. The school year lasted for ten months. Tuition was $20 and board was $80, which covered students’ food, lodging, washing, and firewood for the ten months. At the peak of enrollment, LaGrange College had 230 students. Dr. Richard H. Rivers became president of the college in 1854, when the college was facing financial problems. Dr. River’s solution, in response to an offer of better support, moved the college to Florence, Alabama in 1855. The Florence institution was denied permission to use the name of LaGrange College, thus being chartered as Florence Wesleyan University on February 14, 1856; today the college is the University of North Alabama.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama Autumn Owens, University of North Alabama
“LaGrange College 1830-1855”, Accessed on November 18, 2015, colbertcountytourism.org/index.php/lagrange-college Bishop, Allison. “War doomed first state college, LaGrange.” University of North Alabama Archives. University History: LaGrange College (UH:LG2). Potter, Nancy. “Remembering the Mountain.” University of North Alabama Archives. University History: LaGrange College (UH:LG2). “LaGrange College.” The Florence Informer: Volume 1 Number 23 March 27 – April 2, 1989. University of North Alabama Archives. University History: LaGrange College (UH:LG2). http://www.lagrangehistoricsite.com/
LaGrange Military Academy; LaGrange, Alabama; Leighton, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; School; Education; Historical
After LaGrange College moved to Florence in January 1856, a group of LaGrange citizens organized a college in the vacant buildings under the old name, LaGrange. To increase patronage, a military feature was introduced in 1857. The college reopened in February 1858. as LaGrange College and Military Academy. The Academy soon flourished and became known as the “West Point of the South”. In 1860, the name was changed to LaGrange Military Academy. During its existence, 259 cadets from 9 states attended the Academy. The Academy was forced to suspend classes on March 1, 1862, due to cadets leaving to join the Confederate Army. Major J.W. Robertson was authorized to organize the 35th Alabama Infantry Regiment, C.S.A.. Robertson was elected Colonel of the regiment and the remaining cadets of the Academy formed part of one company. On April 28, 1863, the 10th Missouri Calvary of the Union Army burned the Military Academy. The village of LaGrange dwindled away after this.
Thomas Hale, University of North Alabama
“LaGrange Military Academy 1857-1862”, Accessed on November 18, 2015, colbertcountytourism.org/index.php/lagrange-college http://www.lagrangehistoricsite.com/
Recall LaGrange; Festival; LaGrange Military Academy; LaGrange, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; Civil War; Living History; Annual
Recall LaGrange is an annual living history festival at the LaGrange College and Military Academy site. The living history recalls the days and life around LaGrange College and Military Academy, from the cadets of the academy and organization of local regiments, to life of citizens in and around LaGrange.
“LaGrange College & Military Academy” Pamphlet; “Recall LaGrange”. Digital version, Accessed on November 18, 2015, www.colbertcountytourism.org/images/Downloads/LaGrange College Brochure.pdf http://www.lagrangehistoricsite.com/
Tuscumbia Female Academy; Tuscumbia, Alabama; Colbert County, Alabama; School; Education; Historical
The Tuscumbia Female Academy was also known as the Tuscumbia Female Seminary. It was established around 1825-26, as a means of education for women. The Academy was destroyed by arson between 2 and 3 a.m. on the morning of September 13, 1868. It was burned due to civil turmoil during Reconstruction by members of the Loyal League of Tuscumbia, after being aroused by an agitator from Memphis.
Richard C. Sheridan, Deshler Female Institute: An Example of Female Education In Alabama 1874-1918 (Birmingham: Birmingham Printing and Publishing Co., 1986), 7. Nina Leftwich, Two Hundred Years at Muscle Shoals (Tuscumbia, 1935), 118-123.