"What Happened To Our School?"

In September 1950, black school children in Old Fort marched on Main Street to protest the closure of their beloved Catawba View Grammar School, which they called the Step School. Local black families had collectively purchased the land and materials for the school, and after local officials forcibly closed it, parents retained attorney George Sandlin to help reopen it. During that time, black children had to ride 30 miles each day by bus to a school in Marion, North Carolina, and despite parents' and students' demands, the school was demolished in 1952. In September 1955, Albert Joyner, Sr., accompanied black school children as they requested admission to the all-white school and protected them from a hostile crowd of more than 300 white protesters. Although the previous year's Brown v. Board of Education decision had made segregation illegal, the McDowell County schools superintendent denied their request, and despite continued petitions from parents, integration did not come for another 10 years.

Old Fort, North Carolina · United States