From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
African American Schools in Knott County, KY
Knott County, KY, was formed in 1884, and from 1885-1887, there were no colored schools in the county [source: Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1886 and 1887]. Ten years later, there was a report of one colored school district with one school [source: Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1895-1897, pp.474-477]. The school was taught for five months by one teacher. There was an enrollment of 37 students and the average attendance was 12. In 1925, there was still the one school with one teacher and with 83 students [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, 1925-1925, p.67]. Two years later, there were two colored schools, each with one teacher, and a total of 57 students [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, 1926-1927, p.81].July 1, 1930- June 30, 1931, Knott County was one of twelve counties to receive aid from the Rosenwald Fund for the extension of the school term to 8 months; $58 was received for the colored schools at Breeding Creek and Yellow Creek [source: "Counties Aided on the Extension of Terms," Kentucky Negro Educational Association Journal, v.11, no. 2, January 1932, p.27].
In 1936, there were still 2 Negro teachers in Knott County, and they were members of the 7th District Negro Education Association [source: "District Education Association of the K. N. E. A.," Kentucky Negro Educational Association Journal, v.7, no.1, October-November, 1936, p.57]. By 1955, the Yellow Creek School was closed and there were 38 students enrolled in Breeding Creek Colored School [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, 1955-56, p.219]. Carr Creek High School for whites began to integrate the following year [source: Kentucky Public School Directory, 1956-57, p.437]. The elementary grades continued to be segregated until 1963 when the Knott County School Board came under federal court order [U.S. District Judge Mac Swinford] to integrate the schools [source: "Knott County Board told to integrate," Park City Daily News (Bowling Green, KY), 09/12/1963, p.9 - article online]. The lawsuit the prompted the court order was filed by 14 Negro students who had been denied enrollment at the Carr Creek Elementary School for white children, the case was represented by attorney James A. Crumlin. Godloe Adams was the only Negro teacher in the county, he taught at the Breeding Creek School for Negro children, which had 11 students, grades 1-6.
- Breeding Creek School
- Yellow Creek School