From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)

African American Schools in Crittenden County, KY

In 1880, twenty year old Belle Clark, and James Johnson were school teachers in Marion, KY [source: U.S. Federal Census]. In 1890, Lollie Bingham was the school teacher at the Marion Colored School. There were two school districts, and Simpson Colored School was led by Adella Pippin. In 1894, there were eight colored school districts in Crittenden County, Ky; there had been nine districts, but no.9 was merged into no.6. A new school district had been added in southwest Marion in 1894. The school house was to be built on the farm of A. H. Cardin; he had donated the land and was to pay half the cost of constructing a school building. The trustees were Sam Parmer, John Hatcher, and William Braddock. In 1895, the Marion Colored School had 166 students, 33 more than the previous year.

By 1933, there were two colored schools in Crittenden County, according to John S. Brown in his thesis titled History of Education of Crittenden County, Kentucky, p.58. The school in Marion was under the city school system, and there was a school in the county. In 1940, the Negro teachers in Cirttenden County included Verna Cofield and Laura Mitchell [source: U.S. Federal Census]. The colored school in the county continued until the 1946-47 school term when there were only five students enrolled in the school [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, p.634]. The schools in the city of Marion began to integrate during the 1956-57 school year [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, 1956-57, p.425].

For more see "The Marion Colored School...," Crittenden Press, 05/09/1895, p.3; "For the school year ending June 30, 1894," Crittenden Press, 03/01/1894, p.3; "The colored school opened Monday," Crittenden Press, 09/11/1890, p.1; "Marion had two colored school districts." Crittenden Press, 09/18/1890, p.1; and "A colored school district...," Crittenden Press, 01/11/1894, p.3.

  • Cardin School
  • Marion School
  • Colored Schools No.1-9
  • Simpson School
  • Rosenwald School [source: Kentucky School Directory, 1961-62, p.850]

Kentucky County & Region

Read about Crittenden County, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Kentucky Place (Town or City)

Read about Marion, Kentucky in Wikipedia.
Read about Simpson, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Item Relations

Cited in this Entry

NKAA Source: History of education of Crittenden County, Kentucky (thesis)
NKAA Source: Kentucky public school directory (serial)
NKAA Source: Crittenden press (newspaper)

Related Entries Citing this Entry

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Cite This NKAA Entry:

“African American Schools in Crittenden County, KY,” Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, accessed March 29, 2024, https://ukscrc001.net/nkaa/items/show/2645.

Last modified: 2017-11-22 23:50:50