Part one in a multi-part series on black education in early 20^th century Baldwin County

Throughout much of the 20^th century, education for blacks in Baldwin County mirrored that available throughout the rest of the United States. Facilities were segregated and almost always not equal; nevertheless, blacks relegated to that system sought to learn, excel and prove themselves within the constrained society in which they lived.

That desire to achieve was nowhere more apparent than in Baldwin County. As with the whole of the United States, the venues for opportunity were limited, but were utilized to their utmost. National programs and initiatives such as the Jeanes schools and the Rosenwald Schools offered hope where once none existed.

The Jeanes program was funded at the turn of the 20^th century when Anna T. Jeanes, a Quaker from Philadelphia, gave $1 million to a fund that would provide an educational opportunity to black students in rural areas of the South. A foundation was set up at the time, known as the Negro Rural School Fund, which provided the mechanism through which money was targeted to the areas that most needed assistance. That foundation remained in place until 1936.

Monies had previously been invested in secure governmental bonds, but when interest rates fell in the 1930s, rural schools had to depend on other foundations and federal aid for a much needed supplement.

The assistance from the Jeanes foundation was used to improve physical conditions and to provide educators in rural, black communities. Those early conditions for black schools were often deplorable, with the facilities dreadfully inadequate and black teachers almost always underpaid. When the Jeanes teachers, who were most often black women, came on the scene, they usually had to teach in one-room school houses or in churches.

The early focus within the Jeanes schools was teaching vocational education and improving the school’s facilities. Later on, Jeanes teachers included more liberal arts programs in order to produce a better rounded student.

And to reach their goals, the Jeanes teachers assumed multiple duties instructing students and raising funds to maintain the school. By 1914, there were almost 120 Jeanes teachers throughout the South. By 1952, there were 510.

In Baldwin County, the Anna T. Jeanes School was located in the unincorporated northern Point Clear community outside of Fairhope. The Jeanes School also served as a “feeder” school for the Baldwin County Training School. Students attended the Jeanes School through the eighth grade, after which they completed their education at the Baldwin County Training School.

The Jeanes supervisor in Baldwin County from that early period, Ms. Elmore, provided leadership throughout the county and taught in a system that included 14 Rosenwald schools that were instrumental in the early education of black students in Baldwin County. The Jeanes program remained in place until the 1960s, when desegregation became a reality.

Next week we will examine the Rosenwald schools and their effect on black education in Baldwin County.