Trinity School (Athens, Alabama) Explained

Trinity School was a school for African Americans in Limestone County, Alabama and was in Athens, Alabama. It was founded by Mary Fletcher Wells. It was the only high school for black students in the county and the first school in the northern half of the state offering kindergarten for black children.^[1] It was relocated to Fort Henderson where a new school building was built in 1907 on the ruins of Fort Henderson and succeeded a wooden school building on the site.^[2]

The school was sponsored by the Western Freedmen’s Aid Commission and then the American Missionary Association.^[3] In 1865 it was in a Baptist church.^[4] Wells initially taught under the protection of armed guards.^[5] The school had an integrated faculty by 1892.^[6] Wells would teach, can fruits and vegetables for the winter, and return north to raise funds for the school in the summers. She remained at the school for twenty-seven years.^[7]

The school was transferred from the AMA to the state of Alabama in 1950. Additional school property followed six years later. Trinity was closed after court-ordered desegregation in 1970.

Legacy

A historical marker by the cistern that served the 1865-1907 school building commemorates the school's history.^[8] A historical marker is also located at the Fort Henderson site.^[9] There have been efforts to preserve and restore what remains of the school sites and buildings.^{[10] [11]}

Alumni

• Patti Malone^[12]
• C. Eric Lincoln^[12]
• George Ruffin Bridgeforth, Tuskegee Institute professor and agriculture department head^[9]
• B.F. Foster, pastor at First Congregational Church in Little Rock, Arkansas^[9]
• Ross Baity, painter whose work includes a mural of Athens^[12]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Athens Alabama February news . Visit Athens Alabama . January 6, 2020.
2. Web site: Trinity School. Encyclopedia of Alabama.
3. Web site: Trinity School (Athens, Ala.) | Amistad Research Center. amistadresearchcenter.tulane.edu.
4. Web site: Trinity School, Athens, Alabama: Dare To Make a Difference . Library and Instruction Services . August 26, 2011 . January 6, 2020.
5. Web site: Trinity-Fort Henderson . Athens Alabama business and news directory . January 6, 2020.
6. Web site: UAH spotlight event with author Charlotte S. Fulton . The University of Alabama in Huntsville . January 31, 2017 . January 6, 2020.
7. Web site: Willard . Frances Elizabeth . October 23, 2016 . A woman of the century; fourteen hundred-seventy biographical sketches accompanied by portraits of leading American women in all walks of life . January 6, 2020 . Internet Archive.
8. Web site: Trinity School Cistern Historical Marker. www.hmdb.org.
9. Web site: Trinity School Historical Marker. www.hmdb.org.
10. Web site: Fort Henderson Site and Trinity School, Athens, Limestone County (Places in Peril 2012). ALABAMA HERITAGE.
11. Web site: Postcard resurrects memories of early Trinity School building. Enewscourier.com. April 11, 2010 .
12. Web site: Trinity High School had many distinguished graduates. Lt Col James L. WalkerGuest. Writer. Enewscourier.com. September 3, 2010 .