African American Schools in Frankfort and Franklin County, KY
Start Year : 1820
According to author Marion B. Lucas, there was a day school for Black children in Frankfort, KY as early as 1820, a grammar school was established in 1859, and there were five schools in Franklin County prior to 1900 [source: A History of Blacks in Kentucky, pp.141, 144, & 266]. That total may include the Freedmen School in Frankfort that was constructed between 1866-1870, and supervised by the Bishop of the Episcopal Church [see NKAA entry Freedmen Schools, Kentucky]. In 1871, Mattie E. Anderson opened the Frankfort Female High School, using her own money. The school trained students to become teachers. A colored high school was located on Clinton Street in the 1880s, and in 1907, the Board of Education had an addition built onto the school for the teaching of domestic science: cooking, sewing, and general housekeeping. The school principal was W. H. Mayo and the teachers were Winnie A. Scott, Margaret E. Gray, Bianca Parker, Sadie M. Kibby, Katie Smith, Virginia M. Madison, Julia M. Spencer, Lettye A. Williams, Martha E. Williams, Charity A. Boyd, and Annie L. Fairs. In 1887, State Normal School for Colored Persons opened to train teachers. For more see "Improvement of Colored School," The Frankfort Roundabout, 01/12/1907, p.3; "The commencement of the High School for girls..." The Frankfort Roundabout, 07/04/1891, p.6; and "Colored School," The Frankfort Roundabout, 06/22/1907, p.4.

• Clinton Street High School
• County Schools No.1-5
• Day School
• Female High School
• Frankfort School
• Frankfort School [Freedmen School under Bishop of Episcopal Church]
• State Normal School for Colored Persons [now Kentucky State University]

See photocopy image of Frankfort School on p.13 in Rosenwald schools in Kentucky, 1917-1932 [.pdf].

See photo image of Clinton Street School [1880s-1890s] in the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives [KDLA] Electronic Records Archives.

Subjects: Education and Educators, Grade Schools & High Schools in Kentucky, African American Schools in Kentucky (Counties A-Z)
Geographic Region: Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky