Finley School, which grew to include Finley High School, was a school for African Americans in Chester, South Carolina. The school was named for Samuel Louis Finley Sr. (March 11, 1880-?) who was principal of Chester's "colored" school.[1] He was a leader of the South Carolina Colored Teachers Association.[2]
In 1937, a fire in the janitor's closet severely damaged the second floor of the building.[3]
In 1951 a book studying its homemaking program was published.[4] That same year, a school bus overturned in a ditch, injuring 25 students.[5] Dovey Johnson Roundtree taught at the school for three years.[6][7]
The school had auto mechanic, carpentry, and textile worker programs.[8] Teachers at the school lived in the East Chester neighborhood. Principal Finley lived on Loomis Street.[9]
The S. L. Finley Restoration Association is working to preserve the school's legacy.
In a 1993 interview, J. Charles Jones recounted his recollections of growing up in Chester, attending school, and his mother teaching at the school. He recalled Ms. Crosby being controversial for teaching sex ed.[10]
See also
edit- Brainerd Institute, a private Presbyterian school in Chester for African Americans
References
edit- ^ Caldwell, Arthur Bunyan (1919). "South Carolina".
- ^ "Bulletin - Bureau of Education". 1913.
- ^ "Finley High School Badly Gutted Weekend". The State. 1937-01-25. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ A Critical Analysis of the Homemaking Program in the Finley High School, Chester, South Carolina. Cornell Univ., Sept. 1951.
- ^ "25 Are Injured As Bus Overturns". The Sentinel. 1952-12-05. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ Roundtree, Dovey Johnson; McCabe, Katie (5 November 2019). Mighty Justice: My Life in Civil Rights. Algonquin Books. ISBN 9781616209551.
- ^ McCabe, Katie; Roundtree, Dovey Johnson (2009). Justice Older Than the Law: The Life of Dovey Johnson Roundtree. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781604737745.
- ^ "Directory of All-day Trade and Industrial Education Programs Qualified for Federal Aid". 1954.
- ^ nationalregister.sc.gov/SurveyReports/HC12001.pdf
- ^ https://repository.duke.edu/dc/behindtheveil/btvnc02031