George Washington Carver High School was a public

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

Brownsville, Tennessee Brownsville is a city in and the county seat of Haywood County, Tennessee, United States. Its population as of the 2020 census was 9,788. The city is named after General Jacob Jennings Brown, an American officer of the War of 1812. History Brow ...

. 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 in 1919. 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 ...

, 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 state school, public Secondary education in the United States, 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 H ...

, 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 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 Ruby Alline Bullock Selico (December 1, 1936 – September 4, 2010) was an American songwriter. She was the older full sister of singer Tina Turner. Bullock once served as the manager of the girl group the Ikettes. She wrote songs for Ike & Tina ...

, songwriter * Anna Mae Bullock, later known as

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

, attended school, played basketball and cheered at Carver. * Clay Evans, founding national board chairman of Operation PUSH * Dwight Waller, professional basketball player for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

and the

Denver Rockets Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of ...

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