Black history school: ‘The only place we had to play’

GEORGETOWN, Del. (AP) - At one time there was only one space for black children to play in Georgetown.

For years the Richard Allen School was a hub of learning and community in the early and mid-1900s. Now, the cherished staple of the black community is getting closer to its restoration to community purpose.

A project to restore the historic Richard Allen School in Georgetown was expected to be fully funded by the end of 2016, but unforeseen costs delayed that somewhat.

“There is still much to be done,” said Jane Hovington, president of the Richard Allen School Coalition, the nonprofit organization behind the restoration effort. “But we’re visionaries. We believe that we can accomplish this.”

The school was built in the 1920s as a blacks-only school and endured through a period of significant social change for African-Americans.

“It’s a great way to show the public what African-American education was like from the 1920s to desegregation,” said Dan Parsons, historic preservation planner for Sussex County.

The segregated school in Georgetown was a one-room schoolhouse established by Prospect AME Church on Railroad Avenue in the 1830s, Parsons said. Although school taxes were paid, the only schools that would accept black students were outside the public school system and supported by local churches.

Richard Allen School was built on the same site in 1927, part of philanthropist Pierre S. DuPont’s effort to improve the education system in Delaware. Following a 1919 education study that placed Delaware 35th in the nation, DuPont donated over $6 million (nearly $800 million today) for a comprehensive program to build 80 schools, many of which were slated for African-American students.

The new brick building was designed to accommodate 60 students in first through sixth grades. A major upgrade in 1965 added a second wing to accommodate students through 11th grade.

The school was named for the freed slave who founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1794, the first independent black Christian denomination in the United States. Allen worked to undermine the profitability of slave labor and promoted education for African-Americans. The United States Postal Service honored Allen with a stamp in 2016.

Parsons said that Richard Allen School is the best preserved example of the six remaining DuPont schools.

The coalition’s second annual fundraiser gala, to be held Feb. 4 at the Georgetown CHEER Center, is expected to solve some money problems for the school, which will serve as a museum, banquet hall and community center.

Phase I of the coalition’s restoration plans involved gaining control of the property. The deed was tied to a bond bill introduced by former State Sen. Joseph Booth, leaving it in the hands of the Georgetown Boys and Girls Club. The building stood vacant for five years and was heavily vandalized. A bill shepherded by State Sen. Brian Pettyjohn - himself a Richard Allen alumnus - and State Rep. Ruth Briggs King paved the way to transfer control to the coalition when former Gov. Jack Markell signed the legislation in August 2015.

Hovington said Phase II began with the first gala in February 2016. The gala was supplemented by other fundraisers throughout 2016, including food sales at Return Day in Georgetown and at the Delaware State University Homecoming celebration, Hovington said.

All told, the coalition raised $25,000 in 2016. Although the coalition thought the restoration would be fully funded by the end of the year, there were other costs, including utilities, groundskeeping and vandalism repair.

Nevertheless, there was enough left over to hire an engineering firm specializing in historic restorations. Hovington said that the company is working with them to plan the rest of Phase II.

“They will tell us what needs to be restored, how it should be restored, and from the blueprints they give us we’ll be able to go out and solicit funds for the restoration,” Hovington said.

Plans for the school

The structure is in good condition overall, Hovington said. The coalition wants to turn the rear wing into a banquet hall and community center. The older front wing is already planned to become a museum and classrooms for special programs. Two restrooms exist in the older wing, but Hovington said two will be needed in the newer wing, to serve community events that may not have access to the front wing and for outdoor events.

“We have several events outside on the grounds, like the old timers’ baseball game and Juneteenth celebrations, and other celebrations going on on the field and there are no bathroom facilities out there,” Hovington said.

Harry Crapper, a member of the coalition board of directors, thinks renovations will be completed by spring. He said that in addition to the other features, the school will have computers so that residents can obtain GEDs online.

Hovington hopes that this year’s gala will exceed last year’s fundraising total. Ticket sales will be augmented by donations from attendees and community organizations. Highlights include a celebrity keynote speaker whose identity is being kept under wraps, a demonstration by youth performance group Sussex Artz in Motion and discussions of the history of the school and the Railroad Avenue area.

“The only place we had to play”

The school’s long history parallels changes in Georgetown in the struggle for civil rights and in African-American history in general, Parsons said. The field was also home to a minor league African-American baseball team. The neighborhood was “bustling with inventors and poets” at the time, Parsons said.

With desegregation, the area began to change. Obstacles still existed for black students, and families moved away from the area. The neighborhood is predominantly Hispanic now. Richard Allen represents a key piece of local black history, Parsons said.

Crapper was enrolled at the school in the 1950s. He has only fond memories of the experience.

“It was real nice going there. Only bad thing was we never got new books,” he said. “We got what was handed down to us (from white schools). Sometimes pages were missing and the backs were gone.”

He said the original wing had only two classrooms, one for grades one through three, the other for grades four through six. The different grades occupied separate rows in the same classroom in front of the same teacher, common for black schools at the time.

Crapper said the school produced many doctors and lawyers, some of whom couldn’t practice in Delaware because of their color. Having gone to school with so many future professionals makes him proud, he said.

The Railroad Avenue neighborhood was a village in which everyone looked out for everyone else, Crapper said. Richard Allen School was the center of that community.

“The only place we had to play as kids was Richard Allen School,” he said.

Richard Allen School continued as a black-only institution until desegregation in 1967. The school remained part of the Indian River School District as an alternative school until it was closed in 2010.

“It’s just so exciting when you think of the history that came out of that school,” Hovington said. “The individuals who were part of that school, the judges and lawyers and even (Milton-born social justice activist) Bryan Stevenson, who is renowned, all of them were a part of that school. Nowhere in Delaware is that history written. It’s just amazing.”

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Information from: The Daily Times of Salisbury, Md., https://www.delmarvanow.com/