African American Schools in Cumberland County, KY

Record of the first colored school in Cumberland County was for the school built by white citizens in Burkesville, KY, between 1866-1870. The school was supported by the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands [see NKAA entry African American Freedmen Schools]. In 1870, Mag Taylor was the school teacher [see NKAA entry Migration from Canada to Kentucky]. Taylor was from Canada and lived with the Owsley family in Burkesville [source: 1870 U.S. Federal Census]. In 1886, there were six colored school districts in Cumberland County [see NKAA entry African American Schools, 1886]. One of the schools was located in Marrowbone;, today, Marrowbone is located within the Marrowbone Historic District. Other colored schools were located in Bakerton, Beech Grove, Burkesville, Clay Lick Bottom, Coe, and Lawson's Bottom [source: History of Cumberland County by J. W. Wells]. John E. Burbridge (1867-1914), from Adair County, was the school teacher at the Burkesville Colored School for several years, until his death in 1914 [sources: "Last week we wrote a notice of the death of John Burbridge..." The Adair County News, 06/03/1914, p.1; and Kentucky Death Certificate, File No. 12587]. In 1923, the school teachers were J. M. and Kate Alexander at Burkesville; Miss Stella Baker at Waterview; Mrs. Flora V. Allen at Leslie; Thomas E. Cox at Black Ferry; Mrs. Eliza Ellington at Marrowbone; Mr. W. J. Lawson and Miss Susie Lee Scott at Bakerton [source: Proceedings of the Kentucky Negro Educational Association, April 18-21, 1923, pp.49, 50, 55, 57, 66, & 74]. The number of colored schools would decrease to where there was only the one in Burkesville. There was not a high school for Negro children in Cumberland County. In 1940, the Negro teachers in Cumberland County included Thomas Campbell and Eliza Ellington [source: U.S. Federal Census]. The Cumberland County Schools began to integrate during the 1959-60 school term [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, p.784], and the Cumberland County High School [for Whites] was noted as integrated the following school year. John W. Burbridge was principal of the Burkesville Negro School, grades 1-8, and both the school and the principal are listed in the Kentucky School Directory up to the 1966-67 school term.

• Burkesville Freedmen School
• Burkesville School
• Marrowbone School
• Bakerton School
• Beech Grove School
• Clay Lick Bottom School
• Coe School
• Lawsons Bottom School
• Waterview School
• Leslie School
• Black Ferry School