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AFRICAN AMERICAN SCHOOL BUILDING REVIVAL

A Resource for Reclaiming Black History and Providing for Community Futures by Rehabilitating African American School Buildings of the Mid-Twentieth Century

The intent of this project is to be a clearinghouse for information on all details of preserving and reviving the campuses of mid-century African American schools so that they can once again be the hearts and prides of their communities, serving 21st-century needs. In addition to providing one-stop public access to this information, it is hoped that this website will also be a conduit for networking among all those alumni hoping to preserve their alma maters and other supporters of this work across the South.

 

Across the state of Louisiana – as in other Southern states – sit many long-vacant school plants that tell the story of African American education before 1970. These once thriving educational facilities are embodied energy waiting for a twenty-first century life.

  • 1867-01-students-in-gym-grassy-courtyard.jpg

    Students outside of Sabine High School gymnasium, Many, LA, c. 1965.

    Courtesy of Connie Levo Howard

  • 1867-2-sabine-high-school-gymjpg.jpg

    Sabine High School gymnasium, Many, Louisiana, 2019.

    Photo by Laura Ewen Blokker.

  • Sabine High School gymnasium interior, 2019.

    Sabine High School gymnasium interior, 2019. P

    Photo by Laura Ewen Blokker.

  • 1867-4-sabine-gym-interior.png

    Vision of restored Sabine High School gymnasium interior.

    Rendering by Beard + Riser Architects through a preservation grant of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior administeredby the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation.

  • 1867-5-lawest-feliciana-parishjohn-s-dawson-high-school0003jpg.jpg

    John S. Dawson High School, Bains, Louisiana, 2014.

    Photo by Laura Ewen Blokker.

  • 1867-6-enscape-peopleexterior-1.png

    Vision of restored John S. Dawson High School, Bains, Louisiana.

    Rendering by Yazmine Parker.

  • 1867-7-interior-view-of-dawsonjpg.jpg

    Interior of John S. Dawson High School, Bains, Louisiana, 2021.

    Photo by Laura Ewen Blokker.

  • 1867-8-cookout.png

    Vision of cookout at restored John S. Dawson High School, Bains, Louisiana.

    Rendering by Yazmine Parker.

  • 1867-9-dawson-interiorjpg.jpg

    Interior of John S. Dawson High School, Bains, Louisiana, 2021.

    Photo by Laura Ewen Blokker.

  • 1867-10-exhibit.png

    Vision of exhibit in restored John S. Dawson High School, Bains, Louisiana.

    Rendering by Yazmine Parker.

  • 1867-11-night-timeno-fireflies-16666256831531.png

    Vision of restored John S. Dawson High School, Bains, Louisiana.

    Rendering by Yazmine Parker.

IN THE WORDS OF ALUMNI FROM ACROSS THE SOUTH

  • Charles Grogan, alumnus of Alpharetta Colored High School

    "The best thing they did was build the school, but they built it for the wrong reason: to keep us separate.  When they closed it, was kind of heartfelt because a lot of people put their faith in this school. It was our school."

     

    - Charles Grogan, alumnus of Alpharetta Colored/ Bailey-Johnson High School, Alpharetta, Georgia as quoted in “Developer Plans to Restore Bailey-Johnson to honor History of Education for Black Students” by Steve Gehlbach, WSB-TV, February 14, 2022
  • Syporia Garner-Turner, alumnae of Sabine High School

    “Every time I see the building, my heart bleeds.  It once was a stately building that was the pride of the community, is now a blighted, worn, broken structure. . . “

     

    - Syporia Garner-Turner, alumnae of Sabine High School, Many, Louisiana as quoted in “Remnant Schools” by Anna Marcum, The Architect’s Newspaper, September 17, 2020
  • Sandra Garner-Coleman, alumnae of Sabine High School

    “I don’t think society knows the impact it made on African American students. Was it an attempt to wipe out the identity of African American students? Our school’s name and mascot were dissolved— it was like an attempt had been made to stamp us out like we did not exist.”

     

    - Sandra Garner-Coleman, alumnae of Sabine High School, Many, Louisiana as quoted in “Remnant Schools” by Anna Marcum, The Architect’s Newspaper, September 17, 2020
  • Vivian Monroe-Hester, alumna of Booker T. Washington High School

    "We need something to say we are here, and we’re not going away. We refuse to let people forget."

     

    - Vivian Monroe-Hester, alumna of Booker T. Washington High School, Norfolk, Virgina as quoted in “Historically Black High Schools in Virginia Confront Possible Extinction” by Hannah Natanson, The Washington Post, January 3, 2020
  • Virginia Clark, alumna of Tipton Street School, Mississippi

    “I would like it to be a place where if you come into Kosciusko, you want to visit the Tipton Street High School. . . A historical place where people can come, the doors will be open . . .”

     

    - Virginia Clark, alumna of Tipton Street School, Kosciusko, Mississippi as quoted in “Making Peace with the Past” by Jason Dustin, The Star-Herald, Kosciusko, Mississippi, August 6, 2018.