African American Schools in Collierville Updated November 18, 2020

COLLECTION SUMMARY

Creator(s):

Morton Museum of Collierville History

Inclusive Dates:

1942 - 2007

Scope & Content:

Documents and objects related to African American education, African American schools, and school desegregation in Collierville, Tennessee. Documents include biographical information about current and former African American residents of Collierville.

Physical Description/Extent:

Three books; one roll of microfilm; two manuscripts.

Accession/Record Group Number:

Museum Collection Accession No. Description Date(s) B002 Book, The Gift: From Loving Parents by 1942 – 1970 Mitchell Spears, Jr. and Bobby Earl Spears [published 2007] MF001.15 Microfilm, Collierville Herald editions 1968; 7/17/1968 July 17, 1968, “Professor O.L. Armour Retires After 32 Years at Collierville Elementary School on Byhalia Rd.” MF001.15 Microfilm, Collierville Herald editions 1968; 8/14/1968 August 14, 1968, “Community Invited to Honor Professor Armour Sunday” MF001.15 Microfilm, Collierville Herald editions 1968; 8/21/1968 August 21, 1968, “Prof. Armour Is Honored” YB1967 Yearbook, Collierville High School Pathfinders 1966 - 1967 1967 YB1968 Yearbook, Collierville High School Pathfinders 1967 - 1968 1968

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Museum Research Files Topics Description Date(s) School Desegregation “Schools Desegregation Case At Crossroads” 7/26/2007 Shelby County Schools by Bill Dries, Daily News, July 26, 2007 African American “Mt. Pisgah,” Fisk University Rosenwald 1925-1926 Schools Fund Card File Database Rosenwald Schools African American “Collierville School,” Fisk University 1920-1921 Schools Card File Database Rosenwald Schools African American “Melrose School,” Fisk University Rosenwald Undated Schools Fund Card File Database Rosenwald Schools African American “Neshoba (Germantown),” Fisk University Undated Schools Rosenwald Fund Card File Database Rosenwald Schools African American “Eads School (St. Matthews #1),” Fisk Undated Schools University Rosenwald Fund Card File Rosenwald Schools Database African American “Shop at Collierville School,” Fisk University 1927-1928 Schools Rosenwald Fund Card File Database Rosenwald Schools African American “Teachers’ Home at Collierville School,” Fisk 1921-1922 Schools University Rosenwald Fund Card File Rosenwald Schools Database African American Notes from conversation with Linda Brown, Undated Schools taken by Dr. Leung of St. George’s Rosenwald Schools Independent School African American Notes from interview with Shirley and February, Schools Thomas Brown 2016 Rosenwald Schools African American Experience

Language:

English

Permanent Location:

Museum Collections Storage, Clarene Russell Reading Room

Repository:

Morton Museum of Collierville History, 196 North Main Street, Collierville, Tennessee, 38017

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Administrative/Biographical History According to the United States census, the population of Collierville was 1,000 strong in 1860. Of those 1,000, 700 were enslaved . Following Emancipation, a number of newly freed African Americans remained in Collierville. The 1870 census records 2,784 individuals living in Collierville, 65% of which were African American. As Federal troops withdrew after the Compromise of 1877, the South began to see the rise of which sought to disenfranchise African Americans and erode the rights they had won in the wake of the Civil War. In 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of segregation under the idea “separate but equal.” This Supreme Court ruling justified the segregation of schools throughout the American South. From 1912 to 1932, thousands of Rosenwald Schools were built in the south, over 300 of which were in Tennessee. The schools were built for and by local African American communities to provide education to African American students who were underserved by major public educational institutions due to systemic racism. The schools were the brainchild of African American educator Booker T. Washington. He paired with wealthy white businessman , who provided seed money for each school. Local communities had to contribute funds, materials, and/or labor, and the state usually provided some additional money. Collierville was home to a Rosenwald School, the name of which changed over the years. Upon its opening in 1921, it was called the Collierville School, Collierville Colored School, or Collierville Junior High School. The school was located somewhere near the modern highway overpass on S. Byhalia Road and taught African American students grades one through ten initially. By the 1960s, the school’s name changed to Collierville Elementary School or Collierville Colored Elementary School as it served only grades one through six. The Collierville African American school would close several months earlier than white schools in the spring and close again in the fall so that African American students could assist with the cotton harvest. African American students would then return to school during the summer and winter. African American students looking to complete grades eleven and twelve would have to continue their education at African American schools in Germantown, Eads, and Memphis. As train transportation was not always possible, it meant that some students and their families moved to or lived with other family members in those towns in order to complete their schooling. Notable among those involved with the Collierville African American school was Professor O.L. Armour (1903-1993). Armour began teaching at the school in 1936 when it was still called Collierville Junior High School. His wife, Minnie Greer Armour (1905-1984) also taught at the school, and both lived on the property in teachers’ housing. Armour would later become the principal before retiring to great acclaim in 1968. Armour went on to be involved with Lane

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College, a historically black college in Jackson, Tennessee. In 1970, not long after Armour’s departure, the Collierville African American school was closed by court order. In the wake of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), some states and counties were more resistant to school desegregation. With little change having occurred in Shelby County, the parents of 21 African American students filed suit. Robinson v. Shelby County Board of Education (1963) asked Shelby County Schools to develop an active plan by which they could be fully desegregated. In 1964, Shelby County adopted a “freedom-of-choice” doctrine, stating that African American students could attend a white school—and vice versa—so long as they receive permission from that school’s principal. No details were given about the principal’s requirement to accept African American students. The U.S. government intervened in Shelby County in 1966, having determined that Shelby County Schools were not doing enough to obey the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. In 1967, the courts further found that the school system had not taken the proper steps to comply with court orders and pushed for remedial measures. According to the Collierville High School yearbook, the Pathfinder, Collierville High School had its first African American students in the 1966-1967 Sophomore and Freshman classes. In 1968, the first African American Seniors graduate from Collierville High School. Their names are Annette Jones, Olivia Stout, and Thelma Faleeta Wilson. Stout’s yearbook entry notes that she transferred from Mt. Pisgah, and Wilson’s notes that she transferred from Melrose. The 1967 – 1968 school year also saw the first African American faculty members at both the High School and Elementary School. African American students attend Collierville Schools in almost every grade that year. The Robinson v. Shelby County Board of Education lawsuit continued, however. In 1971, the Sixth Court of Appeals ruled that the school system had an “affirmative duty” to wipe out racial discrimination in its schools that it was not meeting. The ruling resulted in court-ordered busing. It would not be until 2006 that both parties to the lawsuit filed a motion to close the case and declare the school system integrated. Organization/Arrangement of Materials

Materials are housed within their individual accession number groupings.

Conditions of Access and Use

Restrictions on Access:

No restrictions.

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction:

Although the Morton Museum houses an item, it does not necessarily hold the copyright on the item, nor may it be able to determine if the item is still protected under current copyright law.

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Users are solely responsible for determining the existence of such instances and for obtaining any other permissions and paying associated fees that may be necessary for the intended use.

Index Terms

Personal Names:

Armour, O.L., 1903-1993 Armour, Minnie Greer, 1905-1984 Spears, Mitchell, unknown Spears, Gracie, unknown Spears, Jr., Mitchell, unknown Spears, Bobby Earl, unknown

Corporate Names/Organizations/Government Bodies:

Collierville High School (Collierville, Tenn.) Collierville Colored Junior High School (Collierville, Tenn.) Collierville Elementary School (Collierville, Tenn.) Collierville Colored School (Collierville, Tenn.)

Subjects:

African Americans--United States Schools, African American African Americans--Legal status, laws, etc.

Geographic Names:

Collierville (Tenn.)

Document Types:

Manuscript, typed Microfilm Book, paperback Yearbook

Acquisition and Appraisal

Provenance and Acquisition: Yearbooks and microfilm were acquired from Collierville Burch Library. Book donated by unknown donor. Research manuscripts found by Morton Museum staff.

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Processing and Administrative Information

Preferred Citation:

Cite collection materials individually: [Accession number], [Description], Morton Museum of Collierville History.

Processing Information:

Version 1 completed by Maureen Smith, November 18, 2020.

Additional Reading

• Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Card File Database, http://rosenwald.fisk.edu/.

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