A training school, or county training school, was a type of segregated school for African American students found in the United States and Canada. In the Southern United States they were established to educate African Americans at elementary and secondary levels, especially as teachers; and in the Northern United States they existed as educational reformatory schools. A few training schools still exist, however they exist in a different context.

History

Map of the American Civil War divisions between northern states and southern states (blue is north, and red is south)
Map showing the divide between northern states and southern states after the American Civil War (blue is north, red is south)

The training school movement began in 1911. The southern training schools were supported by northern philanthropists, roughly from 1910 to 1930.[1][2] The Slater Fund supported many of the schools.[3][4] Philanthropic organizations had their own criteria for funding support.[5]

In the segregated Jim Crow South (roughly until the 1950s), schools for African Americans could not be high schools so they were called training schools and “emphasized vocational training and domestic science over academic subjects”.[6] In the south they often served African American students from a large area and were often named county training schools. County training schools were established in Alabama starting in 1915.[7] Training schools addressed the need for larger and better schools to supplement elementary education in small rural schools and helped meet the demand for teachers. They had an agricultural and industrial training ethos and required support and cooperation from local officials. Many schools were eventually renamed, and became high schools until desegregation when many were closed.

Training schools were also established in northern states and in Canada for as educational reformatory schools.

List of U.S. training schools

Listed by southern or northern status, by state, and in alphabetical order by name

Northern states

Connecticut

Iowa

Ohio

Massachusetts

Michigan

New Jersey

North Dakota

Southern states

Alabama

Arkansas

Florida

Georgia

Louisiana

  • DeSoto Parish Training School in Mansfield, Louisiana; succeeded by DeSoto High School
  • East Carroll Parish Training School in Lake Providence, Louisiana
  • Iberia Parish Training School in New Iberia, Louisiana[8]
  • Lafayette Parish Training School in Lafayette, Louisiana[8]
  • Natchitoches Parish Training School in Natchitoches, Louisiana
  • Tangipegoa Parish Training School in Kentwood, Louisiana[8]
  • Tenses Parish Training School in St. Joseph, Louisiana[8]
  • Webster Parish Training School in Minden, Louisiana; succeeded by Webster High School

Mississippi

North Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

Canada

See also

References

  1. ↑ Carey, Thomas John (July 11, 2017). "Training Schools". Mississippi Encyclopedia.
  2. ↑ Link, William A. (May 2000). "Jackson Davis and the Lost World of Jim Crow Education | Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library". Albert and Shirley Small Special Collection Library, University of Virginia Library, University of Virginia. Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library and The Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies at the University of Virginia.
  3. ↑ Redcay, Edward E. (1935). County Training Schools and Public Secondary Education for Negroes in the South (PDF). Washington, D.C.: John F. Slater Fund and Monumental Printing Co.
  4. ↑ A Suggested Course of Study for County Training Schools for Negroes in the South. J. P. Bell Company, Inc. July 24, 1917. LCCN 17030810 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ↑ Rowe, Linda H. (1997). "A History of Black Education and Bruton Heights School, Williamsburg, Virginia". Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library.
  6. ↑ Goldberg, Barry; Shubinski, Barbara (2020). "Black Education and Rockefeller Philanthropy from the Jim Crow South to the Civil Rights Era". RE:source, Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC).
  7. ↑ Jackson, Reid E. (1939). "County Training Schools in Alabama". The School Review. 47 (9): 683–694. doi:10.1086/440436. JSTOR 1082040. S2CID 143716326 – via JSTOR.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Coxen, James Reason (1940). Directory of Federally Aided All-day Trade and Industrial Education Programs. United States Office of Education. U.S. Office of Education, Federal Security Agency. p. 21.
  9. 1 2 Directory of Trade and Industrial Schools. United States Federal Board for Vocational Education. Federal Board for Vocational Education. 1930. pp. 284, 286.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Statistics of Land-grant Colleges and Universities. United States Office of Education. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1928. pp. 37–38.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
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