George Washington Carver High School was a public

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

Brownsville, Tennessee Brownsville is a city in and the county seat of Haywood County, Tennessee, Haywood County, Tennessee, United States, located in the western Its population as of the 2010 census was 10,292, with a decrease to 9,788 at the 2020 census. The city is n ...

. It served as the high school for black students until the public schools were integrated.

History

Freedman's School For Blacks, later known as Dunbar School was built in Brownsville in the 1860s with money raised from local black residents as the first public school for African-Americans. The principal was John Gloster, and the assistant principal was George Currie. It served children in grades 1 through 8 before the building was destroyed in a fire sometime between 1910 and 1920. Education continued for several years, housed in three local churches, Farmer Chapel C.M.E., First Baptist, and Holiness (Brick Sanctified). In 1922, the school was rebuilt, with financial assistance from the

Rosenwald fund The Rosenwald Fund (also known as the Rosenwald Foundation, the Julius Rosenwald Fund, and the Julius Rosenwald Foundation) was established in 1917 by Julius Rosenwald and his family for "the well-being of mankind." Rosenwald became part-owner of S ...

, and was renamed the Haywood County Training School. In addition to accommodating children, the school also helped returning war veterans complete their education. From 1916 to 1963, Professor Jeffries served as principal. Reflecting the agricultural focus of the school, he was known as "the agriculture man", and in 1936 became Haywood County's first Negro Agricultural Extension Agent. In 1950, a new high school was built, and named George Washington Carver High School, with principal Roy Bond, who served as principal until the last class graduated in 1970. When the schools were integrated, the high school students moved to

Haywood High School Haywood High School is a public high school located in Brownsville, Tennessee, originally built for the purpose of educating white students only. It is now the sole public high school in Haywood County. History From the start, two separate sch ...

, while the younger children were transferred to the newly built Eastside Elementary School. Carver's peak enrollment was over 1,600 students, accompanied by a staff of over 50. The buildings were located within the

Dunbar-Carver Historic District The Dunbar-Carver Historic District in Brownsville, Tennessee is a historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's off ...

Includes 19 photos (see photo captions page 27). and the former high school is now the site of the Dunbar Carver Museum of African-American history.

Notable people

Alline Bullock Alline Bullock (December 1, 1936 – September 4, 2010) was an American songwriter and the older sister of singer Tina Turner. Bullock was the one-time manager of the girl group the Ikettes. She wrote songs for Ike & Tina Turner as well as thei ...

, songwriter * Anna Mae Bullock, later known as

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

, attended school, played basketball and cheered at Carver. * Clay Evans, founding national board chairman of Operation PUSH

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carver, George Washington High School Historically segregated African-American schools in Tennessee Schools in Haywood County, Tennessee Public high schools in Tennessee 1860s establishments in Tennessee