EDUCATION
EDUCATION
Embedded Files
Education - Past History
Education - Past History
Church Schools
From early 1870 to early 1950, school for most blacks meant church school with one room and one teacher that taught all grades and subjects. Old Pleasant Hill Church School that still stands. Other church schools were Bald Rock, Double Spring, Mount Olive, Peek's Chapel, Miller's Chapel, Pleasant Hill C.M.E., New Hope, Rock Temple A.M.E., , and Shady Grove
Bryant Street School - 1950
Bryant Street School was the first formal colored school; blacks referred to it as Bryant Street School while whites referred to it as the "Conyers Colored School". It's location was atop the hill near the intersection of Bryant Street and Dogwood Drive. Read "The Education of Black Children in Rockdale County: The First 90 Years" by E. R. Shipp submitted in The Heritage of Rockdale County book which can be purchased at the Nancy Guinn Library.
J. P. Carr School
While there are no records on file, blacks insist that John Phillip Carr donated a small portion of land for the for the J.P. Carr School gym to be built on. Starting with the Class of 1952, it had twelve grades.
J. P. Carr was named after him in 1958.
According to the late Willie Turner, Jr. in an interview with E.R. Shipp, his family sold a large parcel of land for $150.00 for the J. P. Carr School to be built on. The Turner's are rarely recognized in this conversation but should be.
From The Covington News Archives:
Johnson Brown
Sold land to Rockdale County Schools for them to build Rockdale County High School
The Citizens Progressive Club compiled all the yearbooks to memorialize the years the school was in operation and provide historical insight.
The Citizens Progressive Club compiled all the yearbooks to memorialize the years the school was in operation and provide historical insight.
Church School
Church School
Laura E. Thompkins Adams
Laura E. Thompkins Adams
Laura E Adams Tompkins - Remembers.pdfShady Grove Baptist Church and Mt Olive Baptist Church Schools
Laura E. Tompkins Adams and her husband, The Rev. John Henry Adams, a presiding elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, came to Rockdale County, Ga., and built a new house on Malcolm Street -- a rarity in that section of town. But Mrs. Adams is not known for that house. She spent about forty years teaching in the public school system, where she affected the
Mrs. Adams taught in Rockdale County as early as 1910, according to the census taken that year. She taught at Shady Grove Baptist Church for a while. But she spent most of her teaching career in Milstead, where, starting in 1919, she had charge of the children of black employees of Callaway Mills.
Said to have a photographic memory, Mrs. Adams was largely self-taught. She had graduated from seventh grade, which was the highest offered to blacks in most of rural Georgia, but she read extensively and every summer she took courses at Atlanta University that kept her au courant. She had four or five Bibles placed strategically around her house, including on in the kitchen. Among her books were theological tomes purchased by Rev. Adams between 1888 and 1901; literary classics such as The Works of Charles Dickens, and textbooks such as Essentials of Arithmetic, Intermediate Book (1915) and Our World Today (1939).
She loved mathematics, as well as poetry, and often recited poems at Rock Temple. Willie Robert Hamm, who turned 70 in August 1997, still remembers lines she recited from W.E. Henley's "Invictus" ("It matters not how strait the gate/How charged with punishments the scroll/I am the master of my fate/I am the captain of my soul...")
The Milstead school was at the Mt. Olive Baptist Church in the village built by the owners of Callaway Mills for their workers. Blacks who worked for Calloway could live in company-owned houses; if they lost their jobs, they had to move. By the 1939-40 school year, Mrs. Adams had 46 students enrolled in seven grades, with an average daily attendance about half that number.
Ruth Collins Lee recalls Mr. Adams as a strict disciplinarian. While she taught one class in a portion of the room, other students were expected to keep still. Ruth Lee’s younger brother, Grover Simmons, attended Mrs. Adams’s school from 1938-1945. He remembers that there was more mischief-making than studying when Mrs. Adams turned her back to one group of students to teach another. She whacked misbehaving kids across their hands with her ruler.
But Mrs. Adams didn’t just rely on her ruler. Most of the parents of her pupils were right up the street from Mt. Olive, at the mill. It was easy for her to call them in to deal with their children, who could then expect a scolding – or worse – when they got home.
The lower grades concentrated on reading, but the fifth through seventh grades studied reading, arithmetic, English, spelling and geography each day. The students had two fifteen minute recesses each day; lunch was thirty minutes. To keep them alert and fit, Mrs. Adams kept windows open even during cold weather and, even when she was well past retirement age, she led the children in physical exercise.
The Rev. William R. Wilkes, Jr., the son of her daughter Julia, recalls that his grandmother walked six miles to Milstead and six miles back every day. Others remembered her traveling on horseback or in a horse and buggy. Eventually she was able to catch a school but that would drop her off near the school.
Rut Lee’s son, Walter Collins, had Mrs. Adams for his first three grades, beginning in 1943. He remembers that Mrs. Adams took students to the woods behind the school on Fridays to collect tree limbs and pieces of wood for use as firewood during the next week of school. She instilled in him the notion that blacks could achieve anything they wanted; he went on to become an engineer in the air Force and for the U.S. Public Health service.
Mrs. Adams retired when the school was closed, around 1949. Milstead’s black children then attended the Bryant Street school in Conyers.
Mrs. Adams lived a long life, dying Feb. 10, 1981.
Excerpt from the Heritage of Rockdale County, Ga (1998) - Submitted by: E. R. Shipp, with research assistance from Norma Shipp
Leidies Gilstrap Parker
Leidies Gilstrap Parker
Whitehall (Bald Rock Baptist Church area), Springfield Baptist Church
Leidies Gilstrap Parker taught black children in Gwinnett, Rockdale and Newton Counties in the days when classes were held in churches and children walked for miles to reach school and teachers might supplement their family income by working as maids during the summer.
She had attended school at Miller’s Chapel, where her teacher was Arizona Hoard. After graduation from seventh grade, she attended Fort Valley State College for two years to prepare to become a teacher. Miss Hoard recommended her for the job at the Grayson school in Gwinnett County, where she taught for a year. “That was so far; my mama and daddy didn’t want me to stay out that long. So I started teaching in Rockdale.”
The one-room school, called Whitehall, was located a couple of miles from the Bald Rock Baptist Church and had formerly been used as a school for white children. Leidies often had forty to fifty children to teach at one time.
“In the summer time, when school was out, I went out and got me a job doing maid’s work.” Among the people whose houses she cleaned was C.J. Hicks, the county school superintendent.
Mrs. Parker began teaching at the school held in the Springfield Baptist Church. Children came from Oxford, from Almon and even from the Shady Grove area in Rockdale County. She remained there for fourteen years, sometimes with as many as eighty children. Occasionally she had an assistant or two.
“When I was teaching, I had a room full of children every day. I don’t see how I taught them, but I did,” she said. “I had so many here, so many there. I had them all in groups. I stood up on my feet all the day.” What made teaching more pleasant at Springfield than it had been at Whitehall were the seen trustees that the church appointed to maintain the facilities for the school. “They were taking care of all the fuel and everything and saw to everything going on good and that made me have a better chance to stick to my work,” Mrs. Parker said.
The day began with devotional services, then the children went through their lessons in arithmetic and spelling. Around 10:30 they had a thirty-minute recess, then returned for another hour of reading and writing At noon, they got an hour for lunch, then finished up the day with English, history and geography. Her own favorite subject was arithmetic. “I just loved it. I sure did.”
When she ended her teaching career, Mrs. Parker spent seven years working at the Lifetime Foam in Conyers. Taking from her mother, an accomplished seamstress, Mrs. Parker made choir robes for Peek’s Chapel in Conyers, Kelley’s Chapel in McDonough, Friendship in Loganville, Macedonia in Lithonia and the Wheat street Baptist Church in Atlanta.
Excerpt from the Heritage of Rockdale County, Ga (1998) - Submitted by: E. R. Shipp, with research assistance from Norma Shipp
School Transportation
School Transportation
Charlie Darien, played an important part in the Black Educational System. He owned and drove the only School Bus for Black students for many, many years. He supported the progressive platform of "Professor" Tolbert in the quest for more resources and a new school building for Black students. He paid a very heavy price for supporting Tolbert - his bus driving services were terminated because of his support for Tolbert and a better educational system for Black Students in Rockdale County. Submitted by Walter Collins to the Black Heritage of Rockdale Facebook page August 17, 2017.
Early School Principals
Early School Principals
Mrs. Carol M. Collins was principal on this certificate dated 5/31/1934
Mrs. Carol M. Collins was principal on this certificate dated 5/31/1934
Mrs. Collins is the grandmother of Walter Collins. During this timeframe the grade only went to the seventh grade and then you would go to Atlanta to go to the twelfth grade.
Professor J. P. Godfrey, Sr.
Professor J. P. Godfrey, Sr.
Excerpt from the Oxford Historical Society website. Click the link to read the full article.
In 1939, Godfrey went to Rockdale County to take the position of principal of Conyers Colored High School, a simple, one-story, wood-framed building located on Bryant Street. Following World War II, the faculty was expanded and in 1946 the school purchased several former military barracks that were relocated from Camp Gordon in Augusta. Godfrey instituted a school lunch program and also provided bus transportation for the students by purchasing and driving the school bus himself. (The county did not provide funds for school bus service for black children until 1950).
Godfrey was in the forefront in advocating state aid for the education of handicapped black children in Georgia. In 1948-49, he led an initiative to negotiate with the Rural Electric Association (now Snapping Shoals EMC) to provide electricity for Oxford residents living west of Wesley Street in Oxford and extending throughout the county.
George L. Edwards, Jr.
George L. Edwards, Jr.
George L. Edwards, Jr. was principal of J. P. Carr School starting September 1951 for eighteen years. He served as a leader of the school and of the black community at large. In 1961, for instance, Edwards led the March of Dimes drive among blacks. Starting in the mid-1960s, he helped shape the integration scheme for Rockdale County schools. Edwards and Willie Henderson, Sr. worked together in championing the name change from Bryant Street School to J. P. Carr School. After the schools integrated and J. P. Carr was converted to a junior high school and Mr. Edwards became a special assistant to the superintendent. He retired in 1977, and in 1978, the middle school was renamed in his honor.
Excerpt from The Heritage of Rockdale County Ga: The Education of Black Children in Rockdale County: The First 90 Years - page 28 #40 Submitted by E. R. Shipp
Education - Current History
Education - Current History
Linda Lee Aikens was the catalyst for change in the education system's hiring practices when she sued Rockdale County Board of Education for overlooking her qualifications for school principal. 15 lesser-qualified whites had been promoted over her during the eleven years she had sought promotions. This became a national story carried in the JET Magazine.
Teachers Suit Charges Ga. School System with Bias -Jet-Dec 5, 1988
Rockdale Citizen Article
Rockdale Citizen Article
Rockdale Neighbor article
Rockdale Neighbor article
Dr. Linda Lee Aikens Young
Was the first African American school principal in Rockdale County since integration in 1968. She was with the school system for 16 years and had a doctorate degree in education administration and supervision, a master's degree in elementary education from Georgia State University and had been state certified as a specialist in administration and supervision since 1979.
In 2003, Dr. Young retired with 34 years of service after serving students in the Rockdale County School System, with her last 14 years as the principal of C.J. Hicks Elementary School.
Dr. Samuel King
2005
First African American School Superintendent for Rockdale County Public Schools
Clayton County administrators leaving for superintendent positions
King touts schools' success in special media presentation
King named state's top superintendent
Rockdale schools make AYP for sixth year in a row
Rockdale superintendent named head of GSSA
King takes superintendent post in Virginia
Katrina McCollum Young
2018-2019
First African American Chairman of Rockdale County Board of Education in 125 years
New BOE member is ready to learn
Katrina Young takes Board of Education Oath of Office
Young sworn in as GSBA President
Rockdale School Board member Young named to Professional Standards Commission by Gov. Deal
Katrina McCollum Young announces candidacy for Rockdale Commission Chair post
Dr. Terry Oatts
2018
Superintendent of Rockdale County Public Schools
Dr. Terry O. Oatts hired as new Rockdale schools superintendent
Rockdale County's new superintendent talks about new innovations for students
There's a new layer of security at 22 schools in Rockdale County
Pamela J.Brown
Rockdale County School Board
Heather Duncan
Rockdale County School Board
Rockdale County School Principals 2018-2019 School Year
Rockdale County School Principals 2018-2019 School Year
Shavon Beckett
Sims Elementary School Principal
Fred Middleton
Memorial Middle School Principal
Sonya Mosley
Peek's Chapel Elementary School Principal
Dr. De'borah Reese
Conyers Middle School Principal
LaTonya Richards
Heritage High School Principal
Santana Flanigan
Rockdale County School Board Attorney
BOE: No family influence in hiring of new attorney
Flanigan recognized as a rising Georgia lawyer
Henry County Board of Commissioners approves additional Magistrate Court judges
Willie Henderson, Sr. Scholarship
Willie Henderson, Sr. Scholarship
The Willie Henderson, Sr. Scholarship was named for Deacon Willie Henderson, Sr. He served his community as president of the J. P. Carr PTA for many years. He was asked by local and state educational school system administrators to serve on committees to help plan, outline and implement Rockdale County's integration of schools. As a tribute to his life, love of his family, education of, and concern for the children of the community, the Willie Henderson, Sr. Memorial Academic Scholarship Fund was established in 1991. Scholarships were presented annually to qualifying graduating students entering college for 25 years; culminating with a gospel concert each June. The family held the last concert 2017 but will continue working in the community.
Board of Directors: Mrs. Iris Henderson Vance, Mr. Clifford Henderson, Mrs. Sandra Henderson White, Deacon Willie Henderson, Jr. and Deacon Forrest Reid. Ms. Betty Mitchell served on the board until her death, July 2010.
Henderson Family: Honoring their fathers legacy by lifting up the communitys brightest
The Beginnings of the Scholarship
The Beginnings of the Scholarship
The 25th and Finale Concert Booklet
The 25th and Finale Concert Booklet
Henderson Scholars 1992 - 2017
Henderson Scholars 1992 - 2017
List of Recipients.xlsxOther Education Related Stories of Interest
Other Education Related Stories of Interest
Principal George L. Edwards, Jr.
Principal George L. Edwards, Jr.
George L Edwards.pdf
MEET JOHNSON BROWN
MEET JOHNSON BROWN
Mr. Brown owned the land on which Rockdale County High School was built in the 1960s. Born around 1873 in Morgan County, he was a colorful character about whom I knew absolutely nothing until I began putting together the history program presented at Macedonia on July 27. His parents were farmers, Esquire (“Squire”) and Caroline, who in 1910 were neighbors on Malcom Street of another black couple who figure prominently in our Rockdale history: Rev. John Henry Adams, who was a presiding elder in the A.M.E. church and a trustee at Morris Brown College, and his wife Laura E. Adams, who became a legendary teacher and church leader.
According to Elmer Johnson Brown, his grandson, the older man was not much of a farmer, but he had a strong sense of equity. Under the typical sharecropping system under which many of our forebears toiled, they worked the land and at settling up time were pretty much at the mercy of the landowners as to how much their crops were worth and whether that was enough to cover what they owed for the use of the land, farm implements, horses and mules and various supplies. More often than not, they came up short and were in debt to the landowners. Johnson Brown had a different idea. At the time he was farming land out near where the monastery is now. Elmer Brown, who is now 83 years old, told me: “He told the man, ‘I’ll give you five bales of cotton for the use of the land and you don’t have to furnish me anything.” When he encouraged other black farmers to follow his approach, the landowners “ran him out from over there. He had to leave the county.”
During his “exile,” Mr. Brown traveled and spent some time in Sioux City, Iowa — yes, Iowa! — where he was working as a porter in 1925 when that state’s census was taken. At some point he returned to Georgia, living mainly in Atlanta, and acquiring some land in Conyers. In his twilight years, he worked as a handyman-porter-butler for the Hewlett family then living in Atlanta near Buckhead. He had basement living quarters in their mansion. Mrs. Hewlett’s father, John H. Almand, was founder of the old Bank of Rockdale (later part of Sun Trust). Mr. Hewlett was a prominent cotton broker.
When Mr. Brown agreed to sell land to the school board in 1960 for $20,000, his grandson tried to talk him out of it. “I told him he was selling it too cheap,” Elmer Brown said. “I told him he shouldn’t be selling it, but he said, ‘Well, I ain’t gone do nothing with it.’ At the time he thought $20,000 was a lot of money.” Coach Cleve Stroud recalls hearing that Mr. Brown wanted to be paid in cash and that Rockdale sheriff’s deputies escorted the school’s representative to Atlanta to make the transaction. Mr. Brown opened a bank account at the Mutual Federal Savings & Loan Association and, among other things, bought a house that he lived in with a daughter, Artelia.
He died in Atlanta on March 25, 1964, and was buried in a family plot in a Stockbridge cemetery. Among Mr. Brown’s children was Peccolia Brown (1919-1965) who in the 1940s married Magdalene Shipp, my aunt. Submitted by E. R. Shipp Facebook
David T. Hudson
David T. Hudson
James Flanigan candidate for School Board
James Flanigan candidate for School Board
Gregory Levett ran for School Board Education at age 25.
Gregory Levett ran for School Board Education at age 25.
Hosea Williams
Former aide to Martin Luther King Jr., and a principal leader of the civil rightsmovement
Cleveland Stroud talking about Hosea Williams and Rockdale County connection to education. Williams taught them Chemistry as well as how to be men and present themselves well by dressing and grooming.
Annette Lucille Hall
The Hunt v. Arnold decision of 1959 against the state of Georgia
1956, the State of Georgia had not integrated it's schools, including colleges and universities. A year after the integration of UGA, two African American women enrolled at GSU, including Annette Lucille Hall, who held an undergraduate degree from Spelman and a master’s from Atlanta University. A teacher in Rockdale County, Hall.
They Sued to Integrate Georgia State University
This book, authored by Maurcie C. Daniels, details the fight:
Iris Henderson Vance First Grade Elementary School Teacher
Iris Henderson Vance First Grade Elementary School Teacher
Dinah Watts Pace
Dinah Watts Pace
"A social activist and business woman before her time, Dinah Watts Pace became the 'Mother of the community.' She established an orphanage in Covington in 1884, that later became a school which trained over 700 children". Source: Neighbor News by Nasir Muhammad
Mother of the Community: Exploring the Life and Legacy of Dinah Watts Pace
Dinah Watts Pace: a Covington legend
Professor Shipp invited Mr. Muhammad to speak at one of our events but unfortunately he was delayed and arrived too late to speak. Professor Shipp provided the backdrop for the connection to Conyers, Rockdale. Norman Moore, Sr. was raised in the orphanage. He later married Ethel Moore and they raised eight children in Conyers: Marion Moore Foster, Minnie Ola Moore Shipp, Robert Moore, Norman Moore, Samuel Moore, Joseph Moore, Richard Moore, and Carrie Moore Taylor.
She nurtured over 700 children in Covington; these children took what they learned and went out into the community and beyond. Mrs. Emma Allen remembers Norman Moore, Sr. as Professor Moore. He went on to teach school in Covington for a number of years.
Found this business card among some old papers belonging to Ethel Moore, wife of Norman Moore, Sr. who was raised in the orphan.
Obituary - Clipping found in The Atlanta Constitution in Atlanta, Georgia on Feb 6, 1933. Dinah Watts Pace death reported in AC, 1933
The school closed in 1935 and the property, in later years, was burned down by the county. Today, the Dinah Pace Orphanage and School is merely a green open space, majestic oak trees and a cemetery. A plaque at the Washington Street Community Center commemorates Dinah's contribution to Newton County history.
Source: History's Heroes: Dinah Watts, November 14, 2016 Chamber of Commerce
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