Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective

Transcription

1 Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Compiled by David C. Wilson CCHS Class of 1962 This presentation was made at CCHS Alumni Annual Banquet July 3, 2010 Rev. September 8, by Wilson Consulting Services, LLC All Rights Reserved

2 Administration School named in honor of: Mr. Jacob T. Chestnut Pioneer, Educator, and Farmer (b d. 1967) Principal Mr. E.M. Henry ( ) (b d Mr. William C. Richardson Assistant Principal High School( ) (b.1928 d.1990) WCS, LLC Principal Mr. J.R. Taylor ( ) (b d Mr. Henry Hank Moore Assistant Principal & Principal of Chestnut Elementary School ( ) (b d.2007) Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Mrs. Annie J. Henry Head Librarian ( ) (b d.2009) Page 2

3 Journey to Chestnut Consolidated High School Objec&ve q The audience will understand the timeline of events leading to the establishment of Chestnut Consolidated High School (CCHS). q The audience will understand the historic significance of CCHS based on events from 1857 to Important: This document was created with 2011 Office for MAC; therefore, you may need to highlight the entire link and right- click on the it and select open URL WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 3

4 Journey to CCHS cont d Major U.S. Supreme Court Decisions Affecting African Americans Dred Scott Mr. Brown & his family Dred Scott v. Sanford Decision validated slavery as constitutional. The Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 provided a definition of citizenship, thus overruling this decision WCS, LLC Plessy v. Ferguson Decision upheld segregation as constitutional Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspec@ve Brown v. Board of Education ~ Decision ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional. This decision reversed the 1896 court ruling. Page 4

5 Journey to CCHS cont d Flow Chart Starts 1857 Dred Scott v. Sanford Decision U.S. Supreme ruled slavery was legal and constitutional Emancipation Proclamation First one was issued September 2, 1862 declared the freedom of all slaves in the Confederate States of America that did not return to the Union by January 1, Second one was issued on January 1, 1863 naming ten specific states declaring freedom of those slaves WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspec@ve Page 5

6 Journey to CCHS cont d 1865 Civil War ends Thirteenth Amendment-abolished slavery 1868 Fourteenth Amendment defines citizenship with the equal protection clause. This amendment essentially overturned the Dred Scott Decision of The equal protection clause provides that "no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspec@ve Page 6

7 Journey to CCHS cont d 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson Decision U.S. Supreme Court decided that a Louisiana law mandating separate but equal accommodations for blacks and whites on intrastate railroads was constitutional. Essentially saying the practice of segregation was legal. From some unknown date(s) to the 1930 s In most southern states African American children living in rural areas classes were held in their local churches. School lasted about three months of the year: December, January & February WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspec@ve Page 7

8 Journey to CCHS cont d ~The Rosenwald Schools Initiative Mr. Julius Rosenwald partnered with the incomparable Dr. Booker Taliaferro Washington in 1911 to perform a public service of the highest order. Together they made a contribution of enduring value which changed the course of American history. It been called the "most influential philanthropic force that came to the aid of Negroes at that time. It eventually provided seed grants for the construction of more than 5,300 buildings in 15 states, including schools, shops, and teachers' houses which were built by and for African Americans. Most of these school buildings are gone as would be expected because of changing times WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective 8

9 Journey to CCHS cont d 1930 s to 1954 On the next several slides are photos of 12 old grammar schools buildings from the communities that Chestnut Consolidated High School* served after it was established. Six of these schools on the following pages were known to be funded with by the Rosenwald Foundation. *CCHS housed grades 1-12; therefore, the word high was basically contradictory, which meant the school was often referred to as Chestnut Consolidated School in many documents WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 9

10 Brooksville Colored School Photo taken between (Rosenwald School) Construction Date: Rosenwald Appropriation: $ White Contribution: $0.00 Negro Contribution: $ Public Contribution: $1, Total Cost: $2, Original Acreage 4 Number of Teachers WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 10

11 Little River Colored School (Little River Neck, SC) Photo taken between Item WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 11

12 Little River Colored School (Little River neck, SC) Photo taken between Item WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 12

13 St. Paul Colored School Photo taken between (Rosenwald School) Construction Date: Rosenwald Appropriation: $ White Contribution: $0.00 Negro Contribution: $1, Public Contribution: $1, Total Cost: $3, Original Acreage 4 Number of Teachers WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 13

14 Mt. Zion Colored School Photo taken between (Rosenwald School) Construction Date: Rosenwald Appropriation: $ White Contribution: $0.00 Negro Contribution: $ Public Contribution: $1, Total Cost: $2, Original Acreage 2 Number of Teachers WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 14

15 Poplar Grove Colored School (Poplar Community) Photo taken between (Rosenwald School) Construction Date: Rosenwald Appropriation: $1, White Contribution: $0.00 Negro Contribution: $1, Public Contribution: $2, Total Cost: $4, Original Acreage 5 Number of Teachers WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 15

16 Poplar Grove Vocational School (Poplar Community) Photo taken between WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 16

17 St. John Colored School (Longs, SC area) Photo taken between WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 17

18 Freemont Colored School (Longs, SC area) Photo between (Rosenwald School) Construction Date: Rosenwald Appropriation: $ White Contribution: $0.00 Negro Contribution: $ Public Contribution: $1, Total Cost: $2, Original Acreage 4 Number of Teachers WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 18

19 Cedar Branch Colored School Construction Date: Rosenwald Appropriation: $ White Contribution: $0.00 Negro Contribution: $ Public Contribution: $1, Total Cost: $2, Original Acreage 2 Number of Teachers 2 (Cedar Branch, SC) Photo between (Rosenwald School) WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 19

20 Todd Swamp Colored School (Red Bluff, SC) Photo taken between WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 20

21 Mt. Calvary Colored School (Mt. Calavary#1) WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 21

22 Journey to CCHS cont d 1941 In 1941, South Carolina Governor Burnet Maybank established a legislative committee to study the state s public education. Part of the committee s report focused on the inequalities in schooling between the races. Examples: 1) Nineteen counties lacked black high schools 2) There were only eight school buses in the state to transport black children to school 1947 In 1947, with the support of Governor Strom Thurmond, the General Assembly commission a survey of the public school system WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 22

23 Journey to CCHS cont d 1947 Report Results The 1947 report, which was published in 1948 also found that South Carolina Education to be inadequate compared to other southern states. Once gain, the inequities between the races were staggering. Example: 1) Investment for whites was approximately $221 per pupil only $45 per pupil for black students 1950 Briggs v. Elliott Briggs v. Elliott was a lawsuit filed (Dec. 22, 1950) in Federal District Court (Charleston District) based on Clarendon County (SC) challenging the constitutionality of the state s "separate but equal" education provision WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 23

24 Journey to CCHS cont d Backdrop for the Briggs case ~ Clarendon County, SC Liberty Hill Colored and Summerton Graded School used in Briggs v. Elliott case as appeared in WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 24

25 Journey to CCHS cont d Backdrop for the Briggs case cont d~ Clarendon County, SC Scott's Branch School: This ten-room building in Clarendon County housed grades 1-12 when the South Carolina case of Briggs v. Elliott was filed. Photo reproduced by permission from Quest for Equality: Briggs Descendants Reunion WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 25

26 Journey to CCHS cont d 1951 Briggs v. Elliott District Court s Decision May 1951: The case was lost in a split decision, i.e., the court supported the constitutionality of separate but equal doctrine, i.e., ruled that the county must make facilities equal Briggs vs. Elliot The case was then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court 1951 Topeka, Kansas In 1951, a class action suit was filed against the Board of Education of the City of Topeka, Kansas in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. The plaintiffs were thirteen Topeka parents on behalf of their twenty children WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 26

27 Journey to CCHS cont d 1951 South Carolina Launches its School Equalization program 1951: South Carolina passed a three-cent sales to fund a statewide program of school constructions in order to finance the equalization program, which was designed to equalize white and black public schools. This campaign was based on Briggs vs. Elliott, a lawsuit based on Clarendon County challenging the state s constitution "separate but equal" education provision. The equalization program was intended to construct new African American elementary and high schools across South Carolina to circumvent a potential desegregation ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. Note: It has been reported that more of the equalization funds were used on white schools than black schools WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 27

28 Journey to CCHS cont d 1952 U.S. Supreme Court s decision on Briggs v. Elliott January 1952: The U.S. Supreme Court ordered that the Briggs case be returned to the lower court for a review of progress being made in equalizing educational facilities. The case was returned to the lower court because in the 1951 decision, the court ruled that Clarendon County must equalize educational facilities News Article December 18, 1953, The Myrtle Beach Sun reported that two Negro Schools would be constructed in Horry County, one was Finklea at a cost of $422,000 and one in Wampee (Chestnut was not yet named at the time) at a cost of $214,000 on 18 acres between Nixon Crossroads and Wampee WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 28

29 Journey to CCHS cont d U.S. Supreme Court Decision Later called Brown I Briggs v. Elliott and four other cases joined with Brown v. Board of Education. All five cases were sponsored by the NAACP. On May 17, 1954, the Brown vs. Board of Education case in a 9-0 decision the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation of the schools violated the Equal Protection Clause under the Fourteenth Amendment; therefore, unconstitutional. As said by many scholars, it is arguable that it was really Briggs v. Elliott lawsuit that started the journey which lead to Brown v. Board of Education in the 1954 court s decision WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 29

30 Journey to CCHS cont d 1954 Chestnut Consolidated School was established The school opened its doors for classes in September 1954 as an equalization school and remained segregated until The school was built and established as part of South Carolina Schools Equalization Program; therefore, the school operated under separate but equal doctrine from 1954 to 1970, when it was integrated. Hence: CCHS operated under the Plessy v. Ferguson 1896, which was basically overturned by the Brown s case. The establishment of Chestnut School can be traced back to the Dred Scott decision in 1857 via the Fourteenth Amendment 1868, and directly to the Plessy v. Ferguson court s decision in 1896, and Brown v. Board of Education decision in WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 30

31 Journey to CCHS cont d Fall of 1954 cont d As compared to 1941 when the were only eight school buses in the entire state to transport black children to school, when CCHS opened its doors in the fall of 1954, there were at least 7 or 8 buses for Chestnut alone Brown II Based on several schools seeking relief on intermediate integration from Brown I asking for more time for desegregation. U.S. Supreme Decision was rendered: With all deliberate speed Flow Chart Terminates WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 31

32 Journey to CCHS cont d Wilson s Spaghetti and Meatballs Chart! This chart summarizes Chestnut s Historic Significance in the battle for an equal education WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 32

33 Chestnut Consolidated High School Grammar Schools 1-7 Eastside of Waccamaw River Brooksville Colored School Little River Colored School St. Paul Colored School Mt. Zion Colored School Before Fall 1954 Elementary Grades 1-6 Poplar Training School Chestnut Elementary School Fall Elementary Grades 1-6 Fall 1970 Wampee Little River High School (White) Poplar Grove Colored School Poplar Grove Vocational School Westside of Waccamaw River Todd Swamp Colored School Mt. Calvary #1 School St. John Colored School Freemont Colored School Cedar Branch Colored School Loris Training School Poplar Elementary School Longs Elementary School Chestnut Consolidate d High School (Black) North Myrtle Beach High School (Integrated) Schools Segregated (Black) Schools Integrated WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 33

34 High School Graduates Approximately 650 from Number of Graduates/Class % 3% 4% 4% 3% 4% 5% 6% 6% 5% 8% 8% 9% 9% 12% 13% Notes: The high numbers of graduates for 1969 and 1970 were affected by a significant number of adult education graduates WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 34

35 Comments South Carolina Education Finance Committee, which disbursed the funds for construction for some unknown reason, which has been documented, did not keep very good records during the school equalization construction program; therefore, when the records were turned over in 1964 to the archives, most of the information for that period were missing. Therefore, so far Chestnut Consolidated High School is not yet listed as an equalization school. In light of the fact that CCHS was constructed under South Carolina Schools Equalization program, it qualifies under this historic initiative for a historic marker. Update: The historic marker was approved in 2010 and erected in 2011 by CCHS Alumni Association WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 35

36 Historical Marker q In the Spring of 2011, South Carolina Department of Archives and History approved the establishment of a Historical Marker for Chestnut Consolidated School on the basis that it was one of South Carolina s Equalization Schools. This Historical Marker was erected on July 3, 2011 by the Alumni Association with a most momentous and joyful ceremony WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 36

37 Historical Marker q The marker is located on the grounds of North Myrtle Beach Middle School, near Hwy. 90 Front side Back side WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 37

38 WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 38

39 *Horry County Equalization Schools List is incomplete and is updated as schools become available Allen Elementary School (black), 1954, Aynor Bucksport Elementary School (black), 1954, Bucksport (report) Carver Elementary School (black), c. 1954, Myrtle Beach Chestnut Elementary and High School (black), 1954, Wampee (marker front) (marker back) Cochran Elementary School (black), 1954, Conway Finklea Consolidated School (black), 1954, Finklea Floyds Elementary School (black), 1954, Floyds Crossroads Levister Elementary School (black), 1953, Aynor (marker front) (marker back) Longs Elementary School (black), c. 1954, Longs Sweet Home Elementary School (white), 1953, Loris Whittemore Elementary School (black), 1954, Conway Whittemore High School (black), 1954, Conway * WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 39

40 Reference Sources Debrasko, Rebekah, Equalization Schools in South Carolina (February 2008) Botch, Robert, Briggs v. Elliott (1954), Southern Education Foundation, Rosenwald Schools in Horry County: Rosenwald Schools legacy: SC School photos in 1950: South Carolina Equalization Schools WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspective Page 40

41 All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including printing, photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission from the Wilson Consulting Services, LLC and/or the editor. DISCLAIMER Wilson Consulting Services, LLC Myrtle Beach (SC) metropolitan area Areas of expertise: Data/Statistical Statistical, and Mathematics Education David C. Wilson Although, the author has made every effort in researching and contacting sources for information to ensure its accuracy, the author assumes no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any other inconsistencies heron beyond the sources. Copy can be located at: Historic Perspective.pdf WCS, LLC Chestnut Consolidated High School: A Historic Perspec@ve Page 41