The Union Station School is a historic building and former segregated public school for African-American students from 1928 until 1966, located in

Paducah Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern United States at the confluence ...

, Kentucky. It has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

since August 19, 2011 for ethnic heritage.

History

The Union Station School is a one-story wood-frame

craftsman style American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. Its i ...

building, built in 1928 and served as a

Rosenwald School The Rosenwald School project built more than 5,000 schools, shops, and teacher homes in the United States primarily for the education of African-American children in the South during the early 20th century. The project was the product of the partn ...

. From 1928 until 1966, the building was a school house for African American children, grades 1–8. The total cost for the construction of Union Station School was US$4,145 (per Rosenwald files at

Fisk University Fisk University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus i ...

). 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 ...

contributed US$200; the Black community contributed US$1,200; the White school system contributed US$1,200; and the general fund gave the remaining US$1,545. The building was called a "one teacher school" floor plan and was a single classroom (22’x30) with a chalk board and wood burning stove, a "community room, and two small cloakrooms. After 1966, the Union Station School students were transferred to the Lone Oak schools (Lone Oak Elementary, and Lone Oak Middle School) in McCracken County during integration, and the building was abandoned. As of 2020, the former school building is still standing but is in disrepair, with roof holes and broken windows.

African American education in Kentucky

Between 1917 and 1920, thirty-three schools were built in the state of Kentucky under the supervision of Rosenwald and

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...

, using Rosenwald funding; the following Rosenwald Schools were built in McCracken County: Woodland School (c. 1929), Union Station School (1928), Sanders School (c. 1926), and Grahamville School (c. 1925). Other African-American public schools in the city of Paducah during this time period were Lincoln School at 1715 South Eighth Street; Lincoln Elementary at 8th Street; Rowlandtown School at 1400 Thompson Avenue; Dunbar School at 2510 Yeiser Street; Garfield Elementary at Harris Street; and Sanders Elementary at Levin Avenue.

References

* {{Authority control Historically segregated African-American schools in Kentucky School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky National Register of Historic Places in McCracken County, Kentucky Schools in McCracken County, Kentucky Educational institutions established in 1928 Educational institutions disestablished in 1966 Rosenwald schools in Kentucky

History

African American education in Kentucky

See also

References