African American Schools in Mason County, KY
Start Year : 1865
End Year : 1930
According to Kentucky author Marion B. Lucas, freemen in Maysville, Kentucky, opened a school prior to the end of the Civil War. There were at least four schools in Mason County that were supported by the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands from 1866-1870 [see NKAA entry Freedmen Schools, Kentucky]. According to Elizabeth Jefferson Dabney, in her thesis, The History of Education in Mason County, Kentucky, "There is little statistical material available in regard to the general report of the Negro schools. The only years between 1874 and 1890 for which a report could be found were the years 1880 and 1881" [p.68]. There were nine colored schools in Mason County in 1880, and 12 schools in 1881 [Dabney, p.68]. A year later, in 1882, one of the colored schools had a high school, and there were 40 students. The principal D. L. V. Moffitt resigned at the end of the school year [see citation below]. In 1891, there were 15 colored schools [Dabney, p.160], one of the schools was in Maysville led by Charles Harris, the principal, and three assistants, Miss Britton, Miss Barbee, and Miss Smith. Another school was in the community of Washington and was led by Miss Belle F. Chew, from Cleveland, OH, and she was assisted by Miss Mary Bookram from Oberlin, OH [source: "About men and women," Cleveland Gazette, 05/09/1891, p.3]. According to author Dabney, the 1891 superintendent's report stated that most of the teachers at the Mason County colored schools came from Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland, and Stubenville, Ohio [p.160]. Other colored schools that existed during the 1890-1891 school term are listed in Dabney's thesis as Dover School No.106; Minerva School No.105; Mayslick District No.101; Charleston No.109; and Murphysville No.110 [pp.171-172]. The Maysville Colored School continued into the 1900s, and in 1904, there was a complaint made to the Maysville Board of Education that there were not enough teachers at the colored school [source: "There was no business...," Evening Bulletin, 10/01/1904, p.1]. In 1915, the Maysville Colored Moonlight School was reported by Cora W. Stewart to be one of the best for Negroes [source: Cora Wilson Stewart and Kentucky's Moonlight Schools by Y. H. Baldwin]. By 1930, there were eight colored schools according to Dabney [p.160]. For more see A History of Blacks in Kentucky by M. Lucas; see "D. L. V. Moffitt...," and "Our public schools," both articles in the Evening Bulletin, 06/01/1882, p.3; "The Colored school commencement in every way excellent - interesting program rendered," Evening Bulletin, 06/14/1902, p.1; and see the c.1910 photo image of the Maysville and Mason County colored schools at the Northern Kentucky Views website.

• Colored Schools (15)
• Charleston School
• Dover School
• Mayslick - American Missionary Association School supported by the Bureau
• Mayslick School
• Maysville School
• Maysville American Missionary Association School supported by the Bureau
• Maysville Freedmen School
• Maysville John Fee High School
• Minerva School
• Moonlight School
• Murphysville School
• Washington School
• Washington Freedmen School

See photo image (near bottom of page) of Maysville Colored High School at the Northern Kentucky Views website.

See photo images (mid-way down the page) of the Mason County colored schools at the Northern Kentucky Views website.
Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky, African American Schools in Kentucky (Counties A-Z)
Geographic Region: Maysville and Washington, Mason County, Kentucky