America's "Other" Private Schools

If you mention the names of New England's private schools most Americans will recognize them. Both John F. Kennedy, Jr. and former president George W. Bush attended Phillips Academy in Massachusetts. Schools such as Phillips and Exeter have educated the children of generations of America's first families. Less well known, however, are Black private schools, whose existence has been virtually ignored.

Over 200 Black academies operated in the South prior to 1920. Secondary schools in the South during this time were few and far between, and the few that existed were in the major cities. In 1916 four southern states did not have a single public high school for Blacks, and half of all Black students at the secondary level were enrolled in private academies. Georgia had one public Black high school but closed it to redirect funds to the education of White children.

The lack of public secondary education provided for Black students reflected the philosophy in the South, which did not make education a high political or social item for Black Americans. So Blacks found ways to establish their own schools. They were aided by religious groups and by philanthropists such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Julius Rosenwald, who gave generous amounts of money to build schools in Black communities. These philanthropists often directed that their aid should fund "industrial education" favored by Booker T. Washington, who had counseled Blacks against pressing for social equality and urged them to train themselves as useful workers for the southern economy. No wonder “good old boy” Booker T was one of the few Black folks in history books.

The Washington concept of industrial education, however, was not embraced by all Blacks. Dr. William Edward Burghardt DuBois, the first Black American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard, actively opposed Washington's ideas. Dr. DuBois urged Blacks to pursue collegiate courses and a classical education. And the DuBois philosophy echoed well with Black academies. The competing Washington-DuBois concepts ultimately led to two types of schools for Blacks: County training schools largely emphasized industrial education and some teacher training, while academies largely emphasized college preparatory subjects and some teacher training.

Religious denominations also founded Black academies in the South, especially the Presbyterian Church, which established over 75 private schools in the South. In South Carolina alone, Presbyterians established 25 schools. Boggs Academy in Keysville, Georgia was the first boarding school established by the Presbyterians. Shortly before it closed in 1986, Boggs was the only predominantly Black accredited boarding school in the U.S. Today, the former academy continues as the Boggs Rural Life Center.

The Baptists founded Fredericksburg Normal and Industrial Academy in Virginia in 1905 and Bettis Academy in Trenton, South Carolina, in 1881. The Methodist Episcopal Church founded Mather Academy in Camden, S.C., in 1887. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church established Clinton Normal and Industrial Institute in Rock Hill, S.C., in 1896. The American Missionary Association established academies as well as some private Black colleges. Avery Institute in Charleston, S.C., was established by the AMA in 1865. Avery was a grade and high school with a small department for training elementary teachers and was known for its high academic and moral standards. It closed in 1954, and its successor is known as the Avery Museum and Research Center of African American Culture.

Black academies provided a high quality of education for Black youth in an inhospitable time, when the typical southern view of prejudice and a low view of Black intelligence denied educational opportunity to Blacks. Because large numbers of academies were affiliated with church denominations, a religious orientation and attendance at weekly chapel and Sunday services was obligatory. Social activities among students and between men and women were strictly monitored. Boggs Academy, for example, required its students to be in their dormitories by 9:30 p.m. and in bed by 10 p.m. Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia, North Carolina required the students to dress up for the evening meal and the rules of manners and table etiquette were strictly observed.

The instruction in academies was highly structured and heavily inclined towards college preparation. In fact, one of the touted values was that this type of schooling led easily to college admission. While the typical academy did not emphasize industrial education, its students were taught to respect the dignity of labor. Students frequently were assigned chores at their schools, such as trimming shrubs or cleaning floors. Courses focused on clerical, business subjects and home economics. Boggs Academy defined its program as having four parts: study, workshop, work, and play. The play aspect centered on athletics and the arts. Boggs had outstanding football and basketball teams. Its choir frequently toured the country giving concerts to raise funds for the school, as well as to provide experiences for the students to visit famous historical and cultural sites.

Perhaps the best testimonials to the excellence of the Black academies were supplied by their graduates, who distinguished themselves in many fields of endeavor. The long list of accomplished graduates includes:

Famed jazz musician Dizzy Gilespie, a graduate of Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina; Judge H. Carl Moultrie, a graduate of Avery Institute in Charleston, S.C., who presided over the trial of the eleven Hanafi gunmen who seized 134 hostages in Washington, D.C., in 1977; Dr. Frank DeCosta, former dean of the Graduate School, Morgan State University, was a 1927 graduate of Avery Institute; Ms. businesswoman and owner of TVOne and RadioOne, graduate of Piney Woods Country Life School in Piney Woods, Mississippi; and Alice B. Bullock, dean of the Howard University Law School, a graduate of Boggs Academy.

The “golden era” in education of Blacks in the U.S., which was established just after the Civil War, ended as church groups cut back on their support and as public school education, though segregated, became more available. The accomplishments of these schools provide eloquent documentation that blacks have had a long and historic interest in intellectual development, and they did what they could, in spite of severe hardships, to achieve their educational goals. There are today a half dozen private schools predominately for Blacks still in operation, which comprise the Association of African American Boarding Schools. The schools are: Laurinburg Institute, Laurinburg, N.C.; Piney Woods Country Life School, Piney Woods, Miss.; Southern Normal School, Brewton, Alabama; Pine Forge Academy, Pine Forge, Pennsylvania; and Redemption Christian Academy, Troy, New York.