1940 - 1965 History of Dandridge Avenue Campus
History of Dandridge Avenue Campus
1940 - 1965
In 1940, the school was closed at Christmas time for extensive renovations. A new cement block extension was built onto the back of the school building. Electric and heating systems were upgraded, and the walls and floors were improved. The new addition consisted of an auditorium and two classrooms on the upper level and one classroom, a laundry, a home economics department for girls, and a wood shop for boys on the ground floor.
Mr. Henry Edmunds the principal of the Black School was involved in developing the improvements.
In 1945, the school consisted of the principal (Mr. Edmunds), three classroom teachers, six household and farm workers. The enrollment at the time totaled to twenty-nine students.
In the Fall of 1965, under a mandate from the legislature that ended segregation of public schools, the Dandridge campus students and staff merged with the Island Home campus.
In the spring of 1965, Troy Haydon, the football coach on the main campus, requested that students from the Dandridge campus be allowed to participate in spring football practice. Mr. Robert Bailey, a longtime employee and coach at the Dandridge campus, transported six boys every afternoon to the main campus on Island Home for football practice.
The Black students who were the first to participate in activities at the Island Home Campus were: Willie Poplar, Jackie Burnes, Kenneth Smith, Frank Blair, Anthony Hodges and John Dandy.
Credit to:
E. Conley Akin; 100th Anniversary yearbook 1845 – 1945; 150th Anniversary yearbook 1845 - 1994