Trinity School was a school for African Americans in Limestone County, Alabama and was in

Athens, Alabama Athens is a city in and the county seat of Limestone County, Alabama, Limestone County, in the U.S. state of Alabama; it is included in the Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 c ...

. It was founded by

Mary Fletcher Wells Mary Fletcher Wells (died September 14, 1893) was a philanthropist, educator, and founder of the Trinity School. Wells was unable to formally matriculate at Michigan University and instead studied there under private tutelage. She taught in high ...

. 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. 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. The school was sponsored by the Western Freedmen’s Aid Commission and then the

American Missionary Association The American Missionary Association (AMA) was a Protestant-based abolitionist group founded on in Albany, New York. The main purpose of the organization was abolition of slavery, education of African Americans, promotion of racial equality, and ...

. In 1865 it was in a Baptist church. Wells initially taught under the protection of armed guards. The school had an integrated faculty by 1892. 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. 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. A historical marker is also located at the Fort Henderson site. There have been efforts to preserve and restore what remains of the school sites and buildings.

Alumni

Patti Malone Patti J. Malone (born 1858, at Cedars Plantation in Athens, Alabama), was best known as a mezzo-soprano vocalist. Biography Childhood Malone was born into slavery in antebellum Alabama and was sold to the Clack Plantation in Texas. Her ho ...

C. Eric Lincoln Charles Eric Lincoln (June 23, 1924 – May 14, 2000) was an American scholar.Eric V. Copage in ''The New York Times'', May 17, 2000.Penne J. Laubenthal"C. Eric Lincoln" Encyclopedia of Alabama, June 14, 2011. He was the author of several books, i ...

George Ruffin Bridgeforth George Ruffin Bridgeforth (October 5, 1873 – January 30, 1955) was an American farmer and educator. He was the first African American to attend the University of Massachusetts Amherst (then Massachusetts Agricultural College), graduating in 190 ...

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

professor and agriculture department head * B.F. Foster, pastor at First Congregational Church in Little Rock, Arkansas *

Ross Baity Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sout ...

, painter whose work includes a mural of Athens

References

{{coord missing, Alabama High schools in Alabama Historically segregated African-American schools in Alabama Limestone County, Alabama