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Courtesy of Larry L. Legg
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This picture identifies the building as Douglass High School,
but until the 1920's
it housed students in all grades, 1 through 12. Later the building became
Barnett Elementary.
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HUNTINGTON --
In 1891, Huntington built its first school for black youngsters, a six-room
brick structure
on the corner of 8th Avenue and 16th Street (now Hal Greer
Boulevard). The school building, which cost $15,000
to erect, was named for
abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass. It housed all grades, 1 through 12,
with
the first class graduating in 1893. The original faculty consisted of seven
teachers.
Among the
Douglass School's early graduates was Carter G. Woodson, who became the school's
principal
four years later. Woodson was born in Virginia to parents who had been
slaves. When the family moved to Huntington,
he enrolled at the Douglass School,
graduating in 1896. His stay as the school's principal was brief. He went on to
earn
a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University and an illustrious career as an
author and educator. Widely acknowledged as
the "father of Black History Month,"
he lived much of his life in Washington, D.C., where he died in 1950.
In 1905, two
rooms were added to the Douglass School, and in 1913 a two-story 10-room
addition was constructed.
The $40,000 addition contained a laboratory for
physics and chemistry, a domestic science room, a manual
training room, a sewing
room, a commercial room, a library, an assembly room and an office.
At this
point, the total enrollment in all grades was 465 students.
By 1919, the
school's enrollment in its high school classes had grown to 120 students,
and
plans were made to construct a new building to house the junior and senior
classes.
When the new
building was built (1924-26) at 10th Avenue and Bruce Street, the Douglass name
was
transferred to it and the first Douglass building was renamed Barnett
Elementary, honoring Dr. C.C.
Barnett, a well-known local black leader. Long
vacant and disused, Barnett Elementary was demolished in 1994.
Today, an auto
parts store stands on the site.
The vintage-1920s Douglass High School building on 10th Avenue survives and now houses a community center.
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