George Washington Carver High School (Carrollton, Georgia)

George Washington Carver High School was a public secondary school in Carroll County, Georgia. It served as the school for African American students during segregation in the United States. The school closed when integration was mandated.

George Washington Carver High School
Address
101 Pearl Street

Carrollton
,
Georgia
30117

United States
Information
Former nameCarroll County Training School
School typePublic Segregated School
Established1913 (Unknown name)
1932 (CCTS)
1954 (Carver High)
Closed1969
School districtCarrollton City Schools
Grades8-12
Color(s)Blue and gold    
NicknameYellow Jackets

History

While the Carrollton City School District first operated the Carrollton Public School and then the Maple Street and Carrollton High School, students of racial minority background were denied entry into these schools.

The first black school in Carrollton opened on Pearl Street in 1913. However, the original name of this school is unknown. In 1932, using funds raised from a bond issue by the city of Carrollton, along with matching funds from the Rosenwald Fund, the first school for black children that reached past elementary opened under the name Carroll County Training School. In 1954, a new building was built for grades 8-12 and was named George Washington Carver High School while the Carroll County Training School became a feeder elementary school. Carver had an initial enrollment of around 600, which remained fairly constant until the school closed. In 1965, a "school choice" plan was implemented, which allowed students to choose which high school they chose to attend regardless of race. A small number of black students chose to attend the previously all white Temple High School, but many students recall being met with racial harassment and intimidation upon first enrolling. In 1969, the courts mandated complete integration; Carver was closed and all students were reassigned to previously all-white high schools. The school reopened briefly as the integrated Alabama Street School with its absorption into the desegregated Carrollton school district.[1]

Legacy

In 2005, the Carver High Museum and Archives was founded to collect and preserve the history of Carver and the African American community of Carrollton.[2][3] Carrollton Board of Education member and Carver High graduate Joshua Mabry proposed turning the site of the school into a museum. Mabry died however in 2008 and the remaining board members decided to sell the site of the former school. In 2020, the owner of the site, Dr. Brent Harris, a physician and owner of US MedClinic, a local business, planned to turn the facility into a molecular lab. This announcement was met with mixed reactions from the community. Nearby residents scrutinized the plan citing concerns about the safety of such a facility in a suburban setting while others encouraged the idea of utilizing the abandoned site. Many also questioned Harris's original purchase of the site with disappointment that the former school was now owned by a private businessman. Harris decided against his plans after pushback from community leaders and the site currently remains unused.[4]

Athletics

Carroll County Training School was the first school in the county to win state championships. With the conversion to Carver High, the Yellow Jackets were the first local school team to win a state title with two state championships and three district titles in the 1950s. The school is also the alma mater to Olympic Gold medalist Catherine Hardy Lavender whose team placed first in the 4x4 Women's Relay at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.

Entrance to West Georgia College denied

In the 1955 and 1956 school years, every black senior at Carver applied for admission to West Georgia College (now the University of West Georgia), and all were denied admission because of their skin color. In 2002, the college apologized, and an anonymous donor created a scholarship fund for the descendants of the students who had been denied admission.[5]

Notable alumni
  • Catherine Hardy Lavender - Olympic Gold Medalist (Carroll County Training School)
  • Joshua Mabry - Carrollton Board of Education member and founder of the school district's namesake arts center (Carver High)
  • Bernice Brooks - Carroll County Board of Education member (Carver High)

References
  1. Rouse, Dierdre (Spring 2009). "The Journey" (PDF). University of West Georgia. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  2. "WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE CARVER HIGH MUSEUM DEVELOPMENT EFFORT".
  3. "The Carver High Museum & Archives of West Georgia, Inc". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
  4. TIMES-GEORGIAN, MICHAEL O’HEARN THE. "Plan to locate lab in former Carver High scrapped". Times-Georgian. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  5. "Georgia College Offers Scholarship to Amend Discrimination". Diverse issues in higher education. Retrieved 29 November 2018.

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