Class Picture from Douglass Elementary School

Class picture from Douglass Elementary School in El Paso, Texas. The first school for blacks had only seven students and was opened in March 1883 in the home of John Smith. Andrew Morelock was both principal and teacher. The school was given the name of "Douglass School" in tribute to Frederick Douglass, a well respected statesman and orator and one of the country's strongest abolitionist. After two and a half years, this small school closed down after encountering financial problems, but in the spring of 1886, the trustees of the public school of El Paso broadened their educational program to include black children. The board made plans to construct a four-room brick building at Fourth Street and Kansas. In order for the children to start school on time, an adobe shack on Second and Oregon Street was used. Although this temporary site featured only rough chairs and tables, the atmosphere did not affect the attitudes of the black children towards school. Children learned reading, writing and arithmetic. In 1889, the more permanent site had been adopted by the city's school system and officially named Douglass School. The school served as an elementary school until a secondary component was added in 1895-96. By 1909, the student population had grown to 260. In 1920, the school found yet another home, a larger building at its present location, 101 Eucalyptus Street in Central El Paso. The new school had 10 rooms and an auditorium. In 1944, the school was enlarged to include a gymnasium and a homemaking department. It also provided care for the small children of working mothers, the first and only school in the South to offer such program. http://epcc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=309255&sid=2626317

Creator: Douglass Elementary

Area: Central / South Central

Collection: Neighborhood photos

Source: Douglass Elementary

Reference ID: 0530

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History