Georgia Washington Junior High School Mount Meigs Alabama

Pike Road High School is a public school in

Pike Road, Alabama Pike Road is a town in Montgomery County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,439, up from 5,406 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Montgomery metropolitan area. Pike Road was founded in 1815. Pike Road was in ...

, a part of Pike Road Schools. The school site was home to the People's Village School, later renamed Georgia Washington Middle School, until it was acquired by the school system of

Pike Road Pike Road is a town in Montgomery County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,439, up from 5,406 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Montgomery metropolitan area. Pike Road was founded in 1815. Pike Road was in ...

. The school was formerly in the

Mount Meigs Mount Meigs (also Evansville or Mount Pleasant) is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County in the state of Alabama. The Mount Meigs Campus, a juvenile correctional facility and the headquarters of the Alabama Department of Youth Servic ...

community.

History

Founding and early history

The school was founded in 1893 by Georgia Washington (1851-1952), a woman who was born a slave in Virginia; she was sold along with her mother, away from her father. After emancipation she graduated from

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

(1882), an

HBCU Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

in Virginia where she taught for a while before moving to

Mount Meigs, Alabama Mount Meigs (also Evansville or Mount Pleasant) is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County in the state of Alabama. The Mount Meigs Campus, a juvenile correctional facility and the headquarters of the Alabama Department of Youth Servic ...

, where she started a small school, called the People's Village School. At the time, Mount Meigs was a rural area with a significant African-American population, and the school's first building was a small cabin, 12 by 13 feet, where Washington had four boys as students. Washington is buried on the school grounds.

Subsequent history

By 1916 enrollment had reached 225. Washington retired in 1936, and after her death in 1952 the school was renamed for her. In 1943 the school was deeded to

Montgomery Public Schools Montgomery Public Schools is a school district headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. The current Superintendent of Montgomery Public Schools is Melvin Brown. The district serves the city of Montgomery and surrounding Montgomery C ...

, and after a fire destroyed the

Mount Meigs Colored Institute The Mount Meigs Colored Institute (also Montgomery County Training School) was a reform school founded by Cornelia Bowen for African-Americans in Mount Meigs, Alabama, an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Alabama. The school was fou ...

in 1948 (then known as Montgomery County Training School), that institute was incorporated into it. It became a junior high school in 1970, and a middle school in 2012. By 2017 enrollment was 600. In 2018, controversy arose because the Montgomery school system, headed by an interim superintendent while under state oversight, announced the sale of the school to the Pike Road Municipal school system; a lawsuit to stop the sale was filed by the

Alabama Education Association The Alabama Education Association (AEA) is a statewide professional organization that represents public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operate ...

on behalf of three teachers and parents. The sale would mandate that the school keep its name and that her grave be maintained. The

Alabama Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six-year terms. The Supreme Court is house ...

allowed the sale.

References

{{coord, 32.3553, N, 86.1016, W, display=title, type:edu Education in Montgomery, Alabama Educational institutions established in 1983 Public middle schools in Alabama 1893 establishments in Alabama