From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
African American Schools in Estill County, KY
There was one colored school in Estill County, KY, for the year 1866, as reported in the Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Kentucky, for the School Year Ending December 31, 1864. There was still one elementary colored school in Irvine during the 1905-07 school terms, with an average of 13-15 students, and the Negro teachers earned an average of $24.30 per month for 1906-07, and an average of $24.00 per month for 1905-06 [source: Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, July 1905-June 1907]. Mr. L. R. Diggs and Mrs. Nora Park were teachers at the colored school in 1924 [source: Proceedings of the Kentucky Negro Educational Association, April 23-26, 1924, p.49 & p.70]. In 1925, there were 25 students in the colored school [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, 1925-1926, p.69]. The school enrolled students from the county and the city, and there was one teacher. Mrs. Nancy Covington was the teacher in 1935 [source: KNEA Journal, v.6, no.1, p.52]. There were years when less than 10 children were enrolled in the school. During the 1955-56 school term, there were four students, and during the 1956-57 term, the Irvine Independent Schools integrated [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, 1955-56, p.209; and 1956-57, p.426].- Irvin School