From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Industrial Union Mission School for Colored Orphans in Harrodsburg, KY
(start date: 1917)The Industrial Union Mission School for Colored Orphans in Harrodsburg, KY, was established in 1917 by Charlie H. Thompson, a Methodist evangelist of the Gospel Christian Church. Children were sent to the orphanage/training school from juvenile courts in Kentucky and other states. Boys received agriculture training and girls were trained in sewing and home economics. The goal of the training school/orphanage was to place the children in a home with a family and find them employment. The training school was nondenominational and was supported by the Mercer County Fiscal Court with donations from the community. The training school was not considered a state institution.
C. H. Thompson was born around 1864 in Kentucky. He was the husband of Mary Thompson. The couple is enumerated in the 1930 U.S. Census with six children as boarders. The children were between the ages of 2 and 13. The Thompsons owned their home in Harrodsburg. According to the newspaper article in the Lexington Herald, in 1930 there were 22 children at the orphanage and they attended West Side Public School. It is unknown at this time if the Thompson home always served as the training school/orphanage located on English Avenue.
Rev. W. A. Jackson was born in March of 1857 in Kentucky. He was a Methodist minister and served as the financial secretary of the Industrial Union Mission School for Colored Orphans in Harrodsburg, KY. In 1930, he traveled around Kentucky soliciting funds for the school.
Rev. Jackson had previously been in Indiana where he was a member of the Methodist Church Miami Conference in 1891. He was the managing editor of the quarterly newspaper titled Wesleyan Indicator with co-publishers Rev. J. E. Artis and A. Lawrence. The following year, Rev. W. A. Jackson was back in Kentucky. He was a member of the Kentucky Colored Methodist Episcopal Conference and was named to the Missions Committee in 1892. Three years later, he was the Presiding Elder of the Mt. Sterling District and had organized a church in Maysville, KY. In 1898, Rev. Jackson was in Covington, KY, serving as the Presiding Elder of the Louisville District. Rev. Jackson was later over the Ohio District. In 1907, he was editor of the newspaper The Indicator in Covington and was a member of the Negro Press Association for Kentucky.
At this time, it is not known how long Evangelist Charlie H. Thompson and Rev. W. A. Jackson were associated with the Industrial Union Mission School for Colored Orphans in Harrodsburg, KY. Rev. W. A. Jackson was living in Richmond, IN, by 1933.
For more information see "Seeking contributions," The Lexington Herald, 11/19/1930, p.11; "Funds solicited here for orphan school in state," The Park City Daily News, 10/02/1930, front page; "Worthy work," The Harrodsburg Herald, 08/22/1930, p.4; "Miami Conference," Richmond Evening Item, 08/22/1891, front page; "In session here," The Courier-Journal, 09/29/1892, p.8; "C.M.E. Church," The Evening Bulletin, 01/15/1895, front page; "Quarterly Meeting," The Tri-Weekly Kentucky Advocate, 01/28/1898, p.3; "Negro Press Association," Lexington Leader, 08/28/1907.