BLACK AMERICAN CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS OF NORTH VERNON, INDIANA by Denise Shafer
Appeared in the North Vernon Plain Dealer, Sept. 2004.
In the town limits of North Vernon as early as 1868, a building somewhere on Greensburg Road was being used by the
colored church for the purposes of holding protracted meetings, quarterly meetings and Sunday school. This building was
the first colored and free (or common) school house in North Vernon. The Plain Dealer of October 3, 1871 indicated
that the “colored” people of North Vernon were circulating a petition to build a church building of their own. Material
donations were made and several dinners and festivals were held at various locations to raise money for their new church.
In October of 1873 the North Vernon School Trustee’s offered an award of $50.00 for the arrest of the person or
persons responsible for breaking into and smashing the window, doors and furniture of the colored school, stating
that the building could not be used for school purposes until it was repaired. Also in this year the congregation
of the Second Methodist Church first appeared in the Methodist Conference minutes. The school was repaired
and on December 31, 1873 the colored people held a watch meeting in the school.
The cornerstone for the Church was laid August 29, 1873 on the south side of South State Street on a lot between
what is now Meloy Street and Park Street. The Church was dedicated on June 18, 1876 however due to gloomy
weather the basket meeting was postponed until the fourth Sunday in August. The colored children attended school
inside of the church until from an unknown date till 1883.
In February of 1945 the Plain Dealer reprinted a letter from S. J. Richardson who asked if anyone remembered
certain things about North Vernon and when the colored folks built the first brick church near the old fair grounds
on the road to Vernon. The end of his letter stated “If you can remember these you are at least 75 years old.”
In June of 1883 a massive tornado ripped through North Vernon leaving only a fraction of the walls of the 30’ X 50’ 2nd Methodist Church standing. The school trustees of North Vernon purchased the lot at the junction of Greensburg Road
and State Street and contracted with Miller Bros. to build a new school house for the colored children in June or July of
1883. The Plain Dealer of September 6 indicates that the newly built colored School was in process which later was
known as the State Street School. It may be that the Methodist Church used the new school building until December
of 1888 or sometime in 1889. According to records from the DePauw University Archives the members moved
sometime in 1884 to the West End until the new church on Stockwell Street was built.
The report that the colored school on the Greensburg Road was closed in 1884 was not accurate; the notice in the
1884 May 14th Plain Dealer was for the yearly closing exercises and not the closing of the school entirely. This is
how it was worded.
"EDUCATIONAL"
The closing exercises of the Colored School occurred at the school house on last Friday afternoon. The program
consisted of select readings, declamations, sketches and essays and vocal music. Rev. T. W. NORTHCOTT and
Supt. S. W. COABOY were present and made very interesting addresses. The exercises being interspersed with
wit and humor were attentively witnessed by a crowded house. The average percent of the school for the year is 86
percent.”
In the Banner Plain Dealer of January 27, 1897 and March 24, 1897 these children were on the Honor Roll at the
State Street School: Frances Davis, George Staten, Harry Staten, seventh grade; Clarence Good, fifth grade; Minnie
Mitchell, Fidelia Burton, and Isabella Burton third grade; Lulu Peck, Clyde Hood, second grade; Carry Johnson,
Carl Mitchell, Ralph Malone, first grade: Johnnie Johnson and Ethel Mitchell.
On June 6, 1888 the trustees of the 2nd Methodist Church purchased lot number 15 in Stockwell’s Addition on
Stockwell Street and the December 12, 1888 Plain Dealer made mention of the churches frame work being up
and progressing right along. The work on the 2nd Methodist Church was probably completed in 1889 and classes
for the colored children were first believed held in this building for the school term that began in fall
of 1897 and ended in spring of 1898. The Corinthian Baptist Church was built later in the 1900’s.
In September 1897 the Banner Plain Dealer had a note about the South State Street School being used
as an overflow for the students, and the furniture which had been stored at the High School was to be
moved back into the building. In August of 1898 the school building on South State Street was offered
for sale by the North Vernon School Corporation and the closing exercises for the school were conducted at
the Stockwell Street Church in May of 1898. In January 1900 the old colored School House on Greensburg Road
was rented to Andy Alexander who made kitchen cabinets and tables there. In February of 1900 the building
was reported as being repaired for a residence and then in June of 1900 the Banner Plain Dealer reported that
Orlando Bacon bought the schoolhouse for $396.00
In 1902 a petition was made by the congregation of the Stockwell Street Church and School to the North Vernon
City Council to have the North Vernon School Corporation furnish a school for the colored children, noting that
they would not support the school for the next year. On June 19, 1902 three lots numbered 36, 37, and 38 on
Laurel Street were transferred to the trustees of the Corporation. According to the Jennings County Assessor’s
office the Laurel Street school building was built in 1900.
In May of 1902 a notice in the Sun mentions the children who had not missed a day at Stockwell Street School.
Since the North Vernon city school term was from September until May the Laurel Street School started classes
in September of 1902. The Laurel Street School had only black students and teachers. The two roomed school
house was without electricity or plumbing, was heated with a large pot bellied stove and had chalkboards in both r
ooms. One room was for the First to Fourth grades with their own teacher and the other was for the Fifth to Eighth
grades with their own teacher as well. The outhouse was right out back, one side was for the boys and the other
for the girls. The children would all volunteer to fetch free water from the neighbors well so as to miss lesson time
and the boys would take turns filling the coal bucket. The main lessons taught in the school were reading, writing
and arithmetic. The education of these students was comparable to that of the other schools in North Vernon, the
attendance officer and the teachers would make lesson plans so that by the time the students went onto the High
School from the Eighth grade they were at the same level as the other students. Lunch had to be brought in or
some of the students walked home. Some of the city kids would trade paper for lunch from the country kids.
Also there were some problems with some of the older students mostly the boys creating trouble and causing
the teacher’s to come and go. At the end of School year in May there was always some type of exercise to move
the children on to the next school year.
The Laurel Street school was closed in 1946 or 47 and all the schools in North Vernon were integrated, no
reference has been found so far in the local newspapers about the colored School in North Vernon after 1947.
In the Nineteen Fifties the building was sold and became a modern residence.
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Informmation by Denise Shafer
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Page last updated 7/16/07