Bishop School, also known as the Bishop Union School and Old Bishop School, was a public school in Detroit. Students included African Americans and members of

The Purple Gang The Purple Gang, also known as the Sugar House Gang, was a criminal mob of bootleggers and hijackers comprised predominantly of Jewish gangsters. They operated in Detroit, Michigan, during the 1920s of the Prohibition era and came to be Detr ...

, a predominantly Russian Jewish criminal gang.

History

Levi Bishop, the president of the Detroit Board of Education, saw a need to create a new union school as opposed to a high school. Though there was disagreement within the Board of Education, Bishop Union School was established in July 1858 and named after Levi Bishop. It was the third union school built by the Detroit Board of Education, and it served kindergarten to 8th grade and had a pool, baths, a clinic, a dental clinic, and a "Foreign Room". In 1894 the school was described as having a great variety of nationalities. A 1914 report described the school as serving mostly Jewish students and stated that much of their education was done at the library with students "completing their education in a year and a half." Other Detroit schools served mostly Italian or Polish students. The school was one of those selected for a program to "Americanize" Jewish community members and teach them English as well as assist them with naturalization papers.

Notable people

M. M. Rose was appointed to teach at the school in 1860, before becoming principal of Everett, making Rose Detroit Public Schools' first female principal (for whom M. M. Rose School is named). Templeton P. Twiggs served as principal at the school. Charles F. Daniels was also noted as a principal of the school. Frances Womer was an assistant principal at the school.

Cora Brown Cora Mae Brown (born April 19, 1914 – December 17, 1972), was the first African-American woman elected (rather than appointed) to a state senate in the United States. She won her seat in the Michigan State Senate in 1952. Brown was a Democrat w ...

, the first African American woman elected state senator in the United States, attended Bishop School. The Kaufmanns, businessmen in Detroit, attended the school. Robert Dewite Crosby, a "Colored"

undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...

went to the school.

In popular culture

Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments ...

recorded the song Bishop School on his 1969 Atlantic Records album Yusef Lateef's Detroit.

References

External links

* * {{coord missing, Michigan Schools in Detroit Buildings and structures completed in 1858 Former school buildings in the United States