Flashlight to Streetlight
John Dawson High School, St. Francisville, LA.
Named after John S. Dawson (1871-1950), an African American educator who began his fifty-eight-year career teaching in the Laurel Hill community, the school was the first established institution to offer high school-level instruction to West Feliciana Parish’s black youth. Built on land once owned by Rosalee R. Noland, the school opened in 1951. In 1962, a thirty-classroom building for younger students was constructed nearby,
which consolidated the parish’s numerous elementary schools. Both schools were closed with the advent of school desegregation in 1969.
John Dawson High School, St. Francisville, LA.
Named after John S. Dawson (1871-1950), an African American educator who began his fifty-eight-year career teaching in the Laurel Hill community, the school was the first established institution to offer high school-level instruction to West Feliciana Parish’s black youth. Built on land once owned by Rosalee R. Noland, the school opened in 1951. In 1962, a thirty-classroom building for younger students was constructed nearby,
which consolidated the parish’s numerous elementary schools. Both schools were closed with the advent of school desegregation in 1969.