Brownsville Colored Normal School (1883 -1887)
Dunbar School (1890 - 1920)
Haywood County Training School (1921 - 1950)
Carver High School (1950-1970)
About Us
From Whence We Came
The Dunbar Carver Museum has recently welcomed a new team dedicated to expanding and elevating our collections, documents, media and memorabilia that tell the story of the African American sojourn in Brownsville, Haywood County and West Tennessee. Meet the knowledgeable team that works tirelessly to preserve and showcase the rich history and culture of African Americans in this region.
1910 Dunbar School Students
1928 HCTS Football Squad
Mrs. Algee Outlaw, African American School Supervisor, 1960's
Our Story
It has been a consistent dream of African Americans throughout all times to know and record their history and contribution to world civilization in spite of an oppressive past consisting of enslavement and Jim Crowism. That dream has remained alive and well in the hearts of the alumni of the four schools at Brownsville, Tennessee. Those schools were Brownsville Colored Normal School, Dunbar School, Haywood County Training School, and Carver High School. These schools along with Haywood County feeder schools for African Americans spanned the period from mid 1880s to 1970. Early schools were housed in and co-located in churches within the farming and share-cropping communities of Haywood County.
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The dream was realized when the Dunbar Carver Museum (DCM) opened during the Dunbar-Haywood County Training-Carver High School Alumni Association’s (DHCTCHSAA) Biennial Super Saturday Celebration which occurred during the Labor Day holiday weekend in September of 2007.
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The museum will start its 17th year of existence in September of 2023 and has embarked on a new and very aggressive plan to enhance its collections, expand its public presentation (in person and digitally), and develop age-appropriate educational material with emphasis on grades 1 thru 12. In this endeavor the museum leadership staff has committed to using the best 21st Century Museum practices and digital technologies.
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In this age of retrenchment in the public-school systems, from the teaching of history related to the African American experience, the mission of this museum has taken on a renewed importance. That void is perhaps best expressed in the words of Luther Caesae Keith, Founder, United Committee on Negro History, Detroit, MI 1955, “ History is not about the story of men and women of one race or color and the neglect or omission of the men and women of another race or color. It is not the glorification of any people of a single color to the exclusion of those of other colors, but it is the story of all peoples irrespective of race or color. It deals with people in all times and places and should present the contributions of all peoples to world civilizations.”
