African American Schools in Lee County, KY

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 Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, school-year ending June 30, 1886 and June 30, 1887, pp.499-502]. The average attendance at the colored schools was 45 students for 1885-86, and 37 for 1886-87. 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 the colored school in Lee County 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 the teachers 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 1940, Lena Lightfoot was the only Negro teacher in Lee County who was listed in the U.S. Federal Census. 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]. The first school to be listed as integrated was Lee County High School on p.872 in the Kentucky School Directory, 1961-62.

• Colored Schools (2)
• Beattyville Industrial Institute
• Green Hill School
• Coal Branch School [source: Kentucky School Directory, 1961-62, p.872]