Douglass School

Named for statesman and former slave Frederick Douglass, this school opened in 1920. That year the Kokomo School Board recommended that all African-American students in first through seventh grades enroll only there. With no school transportation available, many elementary students walked two miles or more, often past all-white elementary schools, to receive their education. One of the school's highlights came when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt made a surprise visit, and Principal Henry Perry led her to classrooms where she spoke with teachers and students before posing for a photograph on the front steps surrounded by students. Reverend Henry Perry served as principal from 1927 to 1949. In April 1940, he led an organizational meeting in the school's basement gymnasium, where a board of directors was elected and $500 pledged for the future establishment of the Carver Community Center; the school's teachers pledged $115. In 1949 the Indiana legislature required school districts to end racial segregation in public schools by 1954. In 1954 the school board merged the all-black school with nearby Willard School, with students in first through third grades attending Willard and students in fourth through sixth attending Douglass. In a 1967 racial discrimination case, a U.S. District Court ordered the school closed, citing its inferior educational resources, and it ceased operations the following year.

Kokomo, Indiana · United States