1894

Alabama

Freedmen built this school to educate the children of exslaves.

Besides being taught regular public school subjects, females were instructed in sewing and cooking, while male students were given manual training in connection with the upkeep of buildings and helping in the gardens. Emphasis was also placed on Christian ideals, thrift, and industry.

Teachers were paid small salaries and were required to purchase their own supplies. Parents had to purchase schoolbooks for the children. In the 1950s the school did receive some money from the county.

The interior is quite intact and consists of a large, central auditorium that runs the length of the main block and is flanked by two narrow classrooms on each side. Photographs of graduating classes adorn the walls in the

auditorium.

Each classroom was divided into a few more classrooms with the use of folding divider screens. And yet, at the time this school was one of the finest, if not the finest in the area.