Douglass School (Lexington, Kentucky) Explained

Douglass School
Streetaddress:	465 Price Road
City:	Lexington
State:	Kentucky
Postcode:	40508-1057
Grades:	1–12
Opened:	1929
Closed:	1971

Douglass School in Lexington, Kentucky, US, was both a primary and secondary Fayette County Public Schools from 1929 to 1971. Douglass School operated solely for African American students. The building that once housed Douglass School, located at 465 Price Road, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Fayette County in 1998.

Origins

Douglass School, named for the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, opened in 1929.^[1] Built with funds from the Rosenwald Fund, the original eight room building cost $30,000 to build^[2] and was located at the corner of Chiles Avenue and Price Road.^[3]

From 1929 to 1936, the school housed grades 1–12. In 1931, Douglass School was the first all black county school in Kentucky to receive a Class A Rating.^[4] From 1936 to 1948, the school held grades 1–10. In 1951, the elementary school was moved to 465 Price Road to house grades 1–6^[5] behind the high school building, designed by the architect John T. Gillig and built in 1947. By the time of the completion of this new high school, there were only 62 public high schools for black students in Kentucky, and only thirteen of these were, like the Douglass School, county facilities.^[6] In 1953, four new rooms were added, along with a new lunchroom, auditorium, library, band room and agricultural room.^[7]

An overheated furnace led to the destruction of one of the elementary school buildings in January 1955.^[8] Damages were estimated at $130,000 to $150,000. In 1963, grades 10–12 were transferred to Lafayette High School and Bryan Station High School. At the time of its closure in 1971,^[9] there were approximately 435 students in grades 1–6.

Douglass student breaks school color barrier in Lexington

Inspired by the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling, Helen Cary Caise age 16, between her sophomore and junior years of high school in 1955, enrolled in a summer course in U.S. History at Lafayette High School.^[10] She was the first black student at a white school in the county.^[11] The enrollment was approved by the superintendent at the time, N.C. Turpen.^[12] Wade later remembered, "I had no clue I was making history. I just thought I was doing what I had a right to do."^[10] She faced no direct attacks (her white classmates, she said, generally "just ignored me" and she befriended one girl, Barbara Levy), but she was escorted to class by uncles and her grandfather who feared for her safety. Meanwhile, her family received threatening phone calls and her father's concrete business was essentially lost due to the repercussions from white supremacists.^[13] She graduated from Douglass High school and went on to earn a teaching degree at Kentucky State University.

Athletics

In February 1957, the Douglass Deamons competed in the first integrated basketball tournament in Lexington, Kentucky. It was the 43rd Fayette County Tournament. They were the first all black team to play, under the coaching of Charles Livisay.^[14]

Notable alumni/ae and staff

• F.D. Talbert graduated from Douglass High School and was later a teacher and principal there.
• Frances A. Smallwood was the second African American nurse in the public health service. She was a school nurse at several schools in Fayette County, including Douglass High School.
• Loretta J. Clark graduated from Douglass High School and attended the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Clark was a teacher for thirty years, and worked as the Director of Minority Recruitment at the University of Kentucky.
• Virginia S. McDonald was the librarian at Douglass School for twenty-seven years.
• Viola J. Greene was a teacher in Lexington and Fayette County for forty-two years. She taught at Douglass School from 1952 to 1963.
• Lantis W. Stewart was a teacher in Lexington and Fayette County for twenty-one years. He taught at Douglass High School before he became the principal of Russell Cave Elementary School.
• Ronald Griffin graduated from Douglass High School and was in the United States Air Force for four years. He was active in the NAACP at Eastern Kentucky University, and was involved in many community outreach programs in Kentucky.
• Lillian Gillespie Delaney taught at Douglass School from 1947 to 1963, and was the first African American instructor at Tates Creek High School.
• Robert R. Jefferson graduated from Douglass High School and was Chairman of the Board of the Lexington Urban League.

See also

• Cadentown School
• Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Lexington, Kentucky)
• Russell School (Lexington, Kentucky)
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Fayette County, Kentucky

Further reading

• Book: Anderson, James D. . . University of North Carolina Press . Chapel Hill and London . 1988 . 978-0-8078-4221-8.
• Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=98000933|photos=y}} Douglass School (Images) ]. National Park Service . 14 August 1998 . 17 March 2013.
• Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=98000933}} Douglass School (National Register of Historic Places Registration Form) ]. National Park Service . 14 August 1998 . 17 March 2013.
• Book: Meece, Leonard Ephraim . "Negro Education in Kentucky," Bulletin of the Bureau of School Service, Vol. X, no. 3 . Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives . Frankfort, KY . March 1938.
• Taylor . L.N. . Negro Education in Kentucky . Commonwealth of Kentucky Educational Bulletin . May 1943 . Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives . Frankfort, KY.
• Venable . Thomas Calvin . A History of Negro Education in Kentucky . 1952 . Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Education, George Peabody College for Teachers . Nashville, TN.

38.07°N -84.5061°W

Notes and References

1. Book: Wright, Jr., John D. . Lexington: Heart of the Bluegrass . Lexington-Fayette County Historic Commission . Lexington, KY . 1982 . 978-0-912839-06-6 .
2. Book: Turley-Adams, Alicestyne . Rosenwald Schools in Kentucky, 1917-1932 . Kentucky Heritage Council and African American Heritage Commission Commission . Frankfort, KY . 1997 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090625103942/http://heritage.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/ACF24D83-59B1-4C83-AC25-80173291C4B8/0/RosenwaldSchoolsinKY.pdf. 2009-06-25. dead.
3. Book: Martin, Joe David . Fayette County Elementary Schools: 1969-1970 School Year . Fayette County Board of Education . Lexington, KY . 1970 . 978-0-912839-06-6 .
4. News: Colored Notes . Lexington Leader . Lexington, KY . 17 May 1931 .
5. News: School Moving . Herald-Leader . Lexington, KY . 7 October 1951 .
6. Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=98000933}} Douglass School (National Register of Historic Places Registration Form) ]. National Park Service . 14 August 1998 . 2013-03-17.
7. News: The Old and Where the New Will Be . Lexington Leader . Lexington, KY . 3 June 1953 .
8. News: Overheated Furnace Probably Fire Cause . Lexington Leader . Lexington, KY . 5 January 1955 .
9. News: Douglass Alumni, Teachers Reunite . Herald-Leader . Lexington, KY . 6 July 1986 .
10. News: Lane . Tammy L. . Woman who broke color barrier visits Rosa Parks . Fayette County Public Schools News and Features . Lexington, KY . 16 March 2013 . 22 June 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170622035008/http://www.fcps.net/news/features/2009-10/helen-wade . dead .
11. Web site: Warren . Jim . 55 years after breaking color barrier, woman shares story with students . 27 February 2010 . 16 March 2013.
12. News: Enrollment . Lexington Herald . Lexington, KY . 7 June 1955 .
13. News: Davis . Merlene . Summer Classes in '55 Cost More than Tuition . Herald-Leader . Lexington, KY . 1 March 1992 .
14. News: Thompson . B. . 43rd Tourney . Lexington Herald . Lexington, KY . 28 February 1957 .