Reader Submitted: Delemars School, Dorchester County







There's a schoolhouse where? Roofline is visible through the trees in top section. Images from Google.

A few months back, I received a message from Alessa, blogger at Carolina HeartStrings, concerning an historic school located in Dorchester County, South Carolina. The school is known historically as Delemars School and is located off of Delmar Highway (Hwy. 165) outside of the Summerville/Charleston area. Satellite images, topographic maps, and Google Street View fun ensued-- thankful for simple location information!-- and I was able to find the location pretty quickly. It is encased in trees in the satellite and Streetview images and if not for the photographs sent by Alessa, I would not have noticed it. Alessa states that the land now looks as if it is being cleared and wondered if the school would soon be demolished.


School shown near red balloon. Topographic map cited from a 1981 geological survey.



Schoolhouse not shown  in a 1915 Dorchester Co. USDA Soil Survey map. Map found at SCDL.

A search through the South Carolina School Insurance Photographs taken between 1935-1952 for Dorchester County was not successful-- I'd like to find historic photos eventually. Next, I checked a 1915 Dorchester County USDA Soil Survey map via the South Carolina Digital Library's collection. The school is not shown. I'd like to know if it was an white or African-American school-- I know it is not a Rosenwald School, at least. From the photos, the school appears to be a two-roomed schoolhouse with a hipped roofline. The entrance consists of two doors each leading into a large classroom. The classrooms are divided by paneled door partitions that can be pulled away or closed.

Interior of school. Photos by Carolina Heartstrings, 2011.

 

Façade and side elevations. Photos by Carolina Heartstrings, 2011.

More information about this school would be very welcome-- I will continue to hunt for more information about Delemars School. Please feel free to submit information and photographs, of this school or others, to RuralSchoolhouseSC@gmail.com. You are the strongest resource I have in finding and documenting rural schoolhouses! On that note, thank you to Alessa at Carolina HeartStrings!

Photos of Pryor Colored School

Last weekend, on my way back from Charlotte, I took the opportunity to swing by the outskirts of Chester. My goal was to visit the site of the historic Pryor Colored School, built ca. 1898. This old school is very easy to find-- it sits at the top of a roadside embankment off of Lancaster Highway. Though I did not dare to trespass inside the school, I did take the liberty of walking around the building to take photos. The land is privately owned and I will be contacting the owner shortly to gain permission to investigate further. I am pleased to share some of the photos with you:

South facing facade. Photo by Haley Grant, 2013.



East elevation. Photo by Haley Grant, 2013.



East and north elevations. Photo by Haley Grant, 2013.

West elevation. Photo by Haley Grant, 2013.



Detail of facade. Photo by Haley Grant, 2013.

Pryor Colored School, Chester, SC. Photo from SC School Insurance Photographs, 1935-52, South Carolina Department of Archives and History.



Part II On Rural SC Schoolhouses: Hopewell Rosenwald School, McCormick Co.



Hopewell Rosenwald School after construction in 1926-1927 school year. The building adjacent to the school is Hopewell Baptist Church. Photo found in Rosenwald Fund Card File Database, Fisk University Special Collections.

Between 2008 and 2010, I researched the last remaining Rosenwald School in McCormick County, South Carolina. I was lucky enough to meet a former student, Georgia Collier-Scott, who was very active in preserving the school-- which was built near the site of the old school and adjacent to Hopewell Baptist. Hopewell Rosenwald was an important additon to a rural community greatly in need. Collier-Scott was a student at the old schoolhouse as well as the new-- and she could still recall, with great clarity, the run-down condition of the old school, also called Hopewell:

Collier-Scott as a young girl.

Courtesy of Collier-Scott.

“Hopewell school, as I remember it was a one room wood structure with one door facing what was then the main highway…with a window on each side facing each other, and a window in the back. It was not sealed, wooden benches served as seats for the students, and a wood burning stove furnished heat for the room. Three ten-inch boards nailed together and painted black, served as the blackboard…One teacher taught all subjects, and all grade levels.”



 

 

 

When the Rosenwald School Building Program started in 1912, its purpose was to solve issues of inadequate school facilities for rural black communities across the southeast. I'll save the topic of Rosenwald Schools for another post, but I will say that this program was founded in a time when public education funding for African Americans was basically non-existent in South Carolina and most of the southeast. A State Agent for Negro Schools was employed by the South Carolina Department of Education to inspect black schools and to advocate for their improvement. But black education remained an non-issue for many state officials. In my research, it isn't until the 1920's that I see true mention of any concern for the condition of African-American education in State Board of Education records. In a 1927 letter from the State High School Supervisor, J. Daniel, to the State Superintendent of Education, James H. Hope, Daniel stated that he was, "especially anxious to give the negro schools this year a rating and to keep a more accurate check than has heretofore been made." (This was excerpted from my National Register of Historic Places Nomination for Hopewell Rosenwald ).



From HistorySouth.org

The state and local school governments largely believed that the black communities should educate their own children and be responsible for a large amount of the funding. When the Rosenwald School Building Program was made available, new school facilities and funding were made available to replace older schools. To several black communities, the Building Program provided a schoolhouse where there had been none. Those communities were using private homes, churches, barns, and veritable shacks as schools. To Collier-Scott, when the Hopewell Rosenwald School was built (at the cost of $400), it wasn't just a new schoolhouse. It was a place where, "for the first time during our elementary school days we were warm and comfortable in school. We were in a learning atmosphere and were able to recieve a good elementary education." Hopewell Rosenwald School was a simple design that conformed to the One Teacher Community Plan (with small modifications). The schoolhouse contained three rooms: a large classroom, a small library/industrial room, and a storage closet. The large banking windows, common in most Rosewald Plans, were designed to let in the maximum amount of natural light.

Left to Right: Hopewell Rosenwald School ca. 1935-1952, SCDAH School Insurance Photographs and Hopewell in 2009 as listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Hopewell Rosenwald School was accepted into the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. Today, it is still standing by Hopewell Baptist Church and is used as a community center. After her time at Hopewell, Collier-Scott graduated high school in Augusta, Georgia and attended college. After receiving her M.A., she became a teacher and retired after 37 years. Today, she is active in preserving the history of African-American education in McCormick County and she has created a scholarship fund. Collier-Scott recently was honored with a local award for her philanthropy and community involvement. She firmly believes, even now, that "All that I am and ever hope to be I owe it to Hopewell."

 

Getting Started: Coleman Ridge and Pryor Colored

I am using this blog to highlight my time researching and site checking rural schoolhouses in South Carolina. This project is purely volunteer based and will be slow-going at first. Schools are picked at random, really, or by suggestion (RuralSchoolhouseSC@gmail.com). There will be three parts to my research process: 1. Find school 2. Site survey 3. Historical research. The Rural Schoolhouses of South Carolina Project is based on my love of the rural built environment and my love of schoolhouse architecture. These places matter to their communities, former students and teachers, and to our state's history. I want this blog to show how important these buildings are...and not just show how many times I get lost finding rural schools.
Currently, I am focusing my attention on two schools: Coleman Ridge School in Trenton, SC and Pryor Colored School in Chester, SC.

Coleman Ridge School, Trenton, SC:
A search through the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), gave me the historical location of the school. Located off of McCreight Rd. near Trenton and Johnston, SC, Coleman Ridge School is associated, at least in name, with Coleman Ridge Baptist Church, of the same location. A visit is in order because aerial images show two buildings near the school's historical site and I'd like to visually confirm the school. I will contact the church to get some additional information before I visit South Carolina Department of Archives and History (SCDAH).

The red baloon marks the historical location of Coleman Ridge School. U.S. Geological Survey through Google Maps.


Topographic maps from the U.S. Geological Survey also indicate the school was located here at least by 1939, the date from which the current topo is cited. U.S. Geological Survey through Google Maps.

Pryor Colored School, Chester, South Carolina:
A former Chester local and friend suggested a schoolhouse to me that is "on Hwy 9, outside of Chester, SE of town about 4 miles, left side of highway ... Not sure whether [it has an] historical marker, yet it was painted within past 10 years." I found it today using Google Street View (yes, that means I just Street Viewed down Hwy. 9 for a couple of miles!) and plan to site check the school soon.

Pryor Colored School as seen in Google Street View. Google Maps.

GNIS also indicated a Pryor Church, which is no longer standing, a few yards down Hwy. 9 from the schoolhouse.
ETA: Confirmed by local source that it is the Pryor Colored School and was built in 1898. She states that, "In the late '80s my family leased the property and grew corn / melons on it. We used the school for a fruit stand those summers--there was still a black board and remnants of the classroom environment inside. The state built the 4-lane which made the school right on the road." I really can't wait to visit this schoolhouse and do some research.

Above: An historic photo of Pryor Colored School, Chester County. School Insurance Photographs, 1935-1952, SCDAH.