African American Schools in Lee County, KY
Start Year : 1880
In 1880, Carter Lightfoot was a teacher at the colored school in Lee County, KY [source: U.S. Federal Census]. Five years later, during the 1885-86 school term, there were two colored schools, one was held in a church and the other in a log building [see NKAA entry African American Schools, 1886]. There is a paragraph written about the schools on p. 72 of the Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the Commonwealth of Kentucky [online]. The average attendance at the colored schools was 45 students for 1885-86, and 37 for 1886-87 [source: Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Kentucky, 1885-1887, pp.499-502]. In 1903, the Beattyville Industrial Institute opened; the school had previously been located in Keene, KY, and was named Keene Industrial Institute. By 1915, there was one colored school in Lee County [source: Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, 1913-1915, p.38]. Mr. G. A. Chandler was the school teacher in 1923 [source: Proceedings of the Kentucky Negro Educational Association, April 18-21, 1923, p.54]. During the 1927-1928 school term, there was again 2 colored elementary schools in Lee County [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, p.63]. The schools had one male teacher and one female teacher, and they earned a total salary of $608, and the average attendance for both schools was 30 students [source: Kentucky Public School Directory,1930-1931, p.74]. There would again be only one colored school in Lee County in 1939 [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, 1939-40, p.508]. In 1948, the Green Hill School and the teacher, Mrs. L. E. Embry, held membership in the Kentucky Negro Educational Association [source: Kentucky Negro Educational Association Journal, v.17, no.2, pp.26 & 27].

• Colored Schools (2)
• Beattyville Industrial Institute
• Green Hill School

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