Douglass High School (Kingsport, Tennessee)
| Douglass High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
|
Kingsport, Tennessee, Sullivan County United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | All-black public school |
| Motto | V-I-C-T-O-R-Y |
| Opened | 1913 |
| Status | Closed |
| Closed | 8 June 1966 |
| School district | Sullivan County Schools |
| Grades | 1-12 |
| Campus type | Urban |
| School color(s) | Blue |
| Song | We are the Sons and Daughters of Douglass |
| Sports | Basketball |
| Team name | Tigers |
| Accreditation | Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges |
Douglass High School was an African-American high school in Kingsport, Tennessee that closed in 1966. At the time, it was the largest African-American school in Upper East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and Southeast Kentucky, and the largest between Knoxville, Tennessee and Roanoke, Virginia. It was named for the great African-American statesman Frederick Douglass.
Douglass High School, which included the elementary and junior high schools as well, was originally called the Oklahoma Grove School, which began in 1913 when the all-white Kingsport Public School moved to a new building and location, and its old building became the school for black children.
The first principal was Professor H. L. Moss, and he found the Oklahoma Grove School in bad shape. Parents requested the city build their children a new school. The Oklahoma Grove School later moved to Walnut and Myrtle Streets in Kingsport. It was in 1924, Albert Howell and his wife Ellen arrived from Tennessee A&I State College in Nashville to lead the school.
The rapid growth of the student body quickly outgrew the building and in 1924 another school building was built in the 700-block of Sullivan Street at Center Street. A contract was awarded in 1928 for a new school for African-American children. The school was to be named after Frederick Douglass, the great orator, journalist and abolishionist during the anti-slavery movement of the 19th century and was built at the corner of Center Street and East Sevier Avenue.
The school built in 1928 was an historic Rosenwald School, funded partially by the Rosenwald Foundation. Julius Rosenwald was an industrialist from Chicago, the first CEO of Sears, Roebuck and Company. He established a foundation to fund the construction of hundreds of school buildings for African-American children in the early 20th century, and residents in the local African-American communities also put money, along with the Rosenwald Foundation and the local white school boards, to build the schools. In the case of the new Douglass School costing $54,325. public funds from the Kingsport School Board totaled $48,775... the local African-American community in the Riverview Subdivision put up $400, and the Rosenwald Foundation contributed $3,150. The school that was constructed, was built to Rosenwald School standards.
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