African American Schools in Fleming County, KY

As early as 1884, there were colored schools in Fleming County, KY, when the Kentucky General Assembly passed an act to support the schools with fines and forfeitures from the courts [source: Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Passed, v.1, Chapter 356, pp.652-653]. In 1886 there were six colored school districts in Fleming County, the schools were held in churches [see NKAA entry African American Schools, 1886]. During the 1909-10 school term, there were 241 students in the colored schools, grades 1-8 [source: Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in Kentucky, 1909-1911, Part I, p.14]. The average monthly salaries for the Negro teachers during the 1911-12 school term was $67 for the male teachers, which was the highest salary in the county, and $39.91 for the female teachers, which was the lowest salary in the county [source: Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1911-1913, p.47]. There were at least 6 colored schools [p.56], and the colored high school was located in Flemingsburg, it was rated as a 2nd class high school [p.330].

In 1923, the six Fleming County teachers listed in the Proceedings of the Kentucky Negro Educational Association, April 18-21, 1923, were Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Adams in Flemingsburg [p.49], Miss Bertha Brown in Flemingsburg [p.52], Mr. Abel N. Hewitt in Shurburne [p.62]; Mrs. Alma Iles in Flemingsburg [p.63]; and Mr. E. L. Moore in Flemingsburg [p.69]. In 1925, there were three colored elementary schools and one high school, with a total of seven teachers, two of whom taught in the high school, all in the rural area of Fleming County [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, 1925-1926, p.67]. Three of the teachers were listed in the Proceedings of the Kentucky Negro Educational Association, April 22-25, 1925: Mrs. Romania Flournoy in Nepton [p.58]; Mr. E. L. Moore in Flemingsburg [p.70]; and Miss Emma L. Walker in Flemingsburg [p.80].

In 1936, there were two colored elementary schools, one in Nepton and one in Flemingsburg, both listed on p.39 in A Study of School Attendance Areas in Fleming County, Kentucky by the Department of Education , Frankfort, KY, 11/01/1936 [within the Kentucky Education Collection, Series 1, Box 15]. The Nepton School had one teacher and the Flemingsburg School had three teachers. The colored high school was closed by 1936 and the students attended the colored high school in Maysville, KY [A Study, pp.24-25].

In 1940, the Negro teachers in Fleming County were Lucy Herrington, Blossom Lee Martin, and Wardell White [source: U.S. Federal Census]. By 1955, there were still two colored schools in Fleming County with 57 students [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, 1955-56, p.210]. The Fleming County High School for whites was integrated in 1956 [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, 1956-57, p.427], and the city schools began to integrate in 1959 [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, 1959-60, p.786]. After the schools integrated, there was a a court case that went before the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1964 to determine the rightful owners of the property where a colored school had been located, for more see "Fleming County Board of Education et. al., Appellants, v. Martha V. Anna Hall, Widow, et. al, Appellees."

• Colored Schools (6)
• Shurburne School
• Nepton School
• Flemingsburg School
• Flemingsburg High School (closed in 1936)