Posted on Apr 2, 2023
Missouri’s oldest surviving Black school, 'an extraordinary act of defiance,' comes back to life
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St. Louis County restored the only known remaining African American school in the county. During the 1900s, African Schoolhouse #4 held about 20 Black children each school year before it closed in 1950.
About 80 years ago, Curtis Johnson would walk 3 miles to a log schoolhouse in Chesterfield to learn math and how to read and write. On his way to class, he used to pass another school building that he could not attend because he's Black.
“It was all brick, [with] heat, bathrooms on the inside during that time,” said Johnson, 85.
Johnson’s one-room school was not like that. It had a tiny gold stove to help heat the structure, and children would have to step outside to use the restroom. Still, Johnson has fond memories of African Schoolhouse #4, where he attended first and second grades.
About 80 years ago, Curtis Johnson would walk 3 miles to a log schoolhouse in Chesterfield to learn math and how to read and write. On his way to class, he used to pass another school building that he could not attend because he's Black.
“It was all brick, [with] heat, bathrooms on the inside during that time,” said Johnson, 85.
Johnson’s one-room school was not like that. It had a tiny gold stove to help heat the structure, and children would have to step outside to use the restroom. Still, Johnson has fond memories of African Schoolhouse #4, where he attended first and second grades.
Missouri’s oldest surviving Black school, 'an extraordinary act of defiance,' comes back to life
Posted from kcur.org
St. Louis
American History
Children
Schools
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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My father and aunt grew up in Nebraska in the early 1900’s. My aunts best friend was the only white girl in a school. There were a lot of black homesteaders there, freed slaves from the south. If you wanted to survive you got along with your neighbors.
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