Mayers' Industrial School (1904–c. 1930) was a private boarding and day school for African American students in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, U.S. The school was in part funded by the

Presbyterian Board of Missions Presbyterian Mission Agency is the ministry and mission agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Founded as the Western Foreign Missionary Society by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1837, it was involved in sending w ...

. It was also known as People's Industrial School, Mayers’ Industrial High School, and Myers' Industrial School.

History

The school was founded as the People's Industrial School in 1904, by the principal Flora E. Mayers (?–1930), and was owned the

. Mayers had studied at a "

colored school Colored school is a term that has been historically used in the United States during the Jim Crow-era to refer to a segregated African American school or black school (which could be at any school type or level). It has also been used as a term us ...

" in Maryville, and at

Swift Memorial College Swift Memorial College was a private Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black college established by the Presbyterian church that operated from 1883 to 1952, in Rogersville, Tennessee, United States. It was established aft ...

in Rogersville. She was married to Rev. Richard Mayers. The early classes for Mayers' Industrial School were held at a building at 923 Vine Avenue at Lynch Street in

East Knoxville East Knoxville is the section of Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, that lies east of the city's downtown area. It is concentrated along Magnolia Avenue ( US-70/ US-11), Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard, Dandridge Avenue, and adjacent streets, and inc ...

, and school events were held at Market Hall. It offered programs in bible study, sewing, woodworking, and cooking. In 1908, the school name changed to Mayers' Industrial School by the women at the Union Presbyterian Society. Their student work was displayed in the "Negro Building" at the Appalachian Exposition in 1911. In August 1911, the school secured a building at 606 Payne Street in Knoxville, which had formerly housed the Slater Training School. The school was able to raise the funds to purchase the building by fundraising and with help from the Presbyterian Freemen's Board, and Knoxville-local Charles Cramer. The campus contained dorms for boarding, as well as operated as a day school. When the Shiloh Presbyterian Church suffered from a fire in 1912, the African American church temporarily used the chapel at Mayers' Industrial School for worship.

Legacy

Multiple photographs of the school are included a collection at the Knox County Public Library.

References

{{Authority control 1904 establishments in Tennessee 1930s disestablishments in Tennessee Defunct schools in Tennessee Historically segregated African-American schools in Tennessee Presbyterian schools in the United States Schools in Knoxville, Tennessee

History

Legacy

See also

References