The History as told by Mrs. Willie Bell Leigh Rawls in 1988

DUNBAR/HAYWOOD COUNTY/CARVER HIGH ROOTS
Spreading – Sprouting

           These schools have given us a sense of place, a sense of where we come from and give’s us strength to face the winds of tomorrow, and know that we really are strong, we have worth - and we really can endure.

Isaiah 51:1 reminds us to "Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug", for one cannot measure how far he has come, unless he knows the point from which he started.

Dr. Mary Boone Hutton, Alabama University instructor and former Carverite, said, "We must not forget that great student body, led by a great faculty, once lived is living and will forever live through our deeds, as they impact upon the lives of those who follow after us.

In the 1890s, Dunbar (Primer - 8th grades) was the public school for Blacks in Brownsville, Tennessee, and was located on the west corner of Jefferson and Anderson Avenue. John R. Gloster, graduate of Roger Williams University, Nashville, Tennessee, was principal with George Currie , assistant principal. Mr. Currie came from Jackson, Tennessee.

Some of Dunbar teachers were: Mrs. Parr, the wife of First Baptist Church minister; Mrs. Minnie Smith, daughter of Rev. Hardin Smith, founder of Woodlawn Baptist Church; Mrs. Ladie Lee; Mrs. Cora Lynk; Ms. Emma Slaon; Nannie BeiI Whitelaw Leigh; and Bulah Womble Hill.

Some surviving Dunbarites are Emma Hill, Elizabeth Lee, Sarah Walker Taliaferro, The Ethel Chatman Whitelaw  and Sam Wilson. Surviving Dunbar teachers, as of September 1988, are Mrs. Minnie Smith Ward.

Dunbar, a frame structure burned and instruction continued in the city's three Black churches - Farmer Chapel C. M. E., First Baptist and the Holiness (Brick Sanctified) Church.

            Three principals were chose to direct those temporary schools: F. E. Jeffries, Mack Sloan and George Currie.

            The newly built school became Haywood County Training School, with F. E. Jeffries, Knoxville College graduate, principal.

            There were no four year Black high schools in West Tennessee in 1902, when the West Tennessee Educational Congress was organized. Only four Black West Tennessee schools offered eleven grades and they were; Kortrich in Memphis, South Jackson/Merry in Jackson, Bruce High in Dyersburg and Dunbar High in Brownsville. All other Black West Tennessee high schools offered one or two years high school training. Higher education was offered
by institutes like Lane in Jackson and Howe in Memphis.

            The West Tennessee Educational Congress focused on improving the quality of instruction and grew from about thirty members in 1902 to well over a thousand financial teachers and educators. This congress met in Brownsville, at Dunbar, 1913. Dr. Gloster had been principal for nearly thirty years there. Haywood Countians serving as president of this Congress were; F. E. Jeffries, 13th president; R. B. Bond 18th president and Claude C. Bond, 19th president.

            There were many early developments that expanded the scope of education
and improved the quality of life; Jeanes Supervisors - Algee C. Outlaw served Haywood County many years; Vocational Agricultural Teachers, Farm Demonstration Agents; Home Demonstration Agents; Smith-Hughes Home Economics Teachers; The Farm Security Administration - funds: Rosenwald, Rockefeller, Reed, Slater, NYA & WPA, General Education Board Extension Classes for teachers.

            These agencies and funds helped in paying teachers salaries, providing scholarships, school buildings, equipment and student aid.

            Attendance at Haywood County Training School often meant walking five or six miles to school, for there were no busses to HCTS for many years. Students who lived too far to walk had to room and board "In town". When money was a problem, families who roomed to students were glad to receive sausage, sorghum or potatoes or greens as payment.

            Growing enrollment required expansion of the school and a Domestic/Agricultural building was constructed.

            Loyal, supportive parents have always been an asset to any school and these schools were blessed with people like Anna Green, Ivory Austin, Bertha Merriwether, Floy King, Vella Morris and many more who gave time, money and moral support.

            Competitive sports, basketball and football, aroused great school spirit and under coaches Ollie Bond and W. P. Porter, the Haywood Wildcats became well known. Their fame continued under a new coach Roy B. Bond, when Porter moved to Memphis.

            In 1936, Roy Bond became principal when principal F. E. Jeffries became the first full time Negro Agricultural Extension Agent.

            As enrollment at HCTS continued to skyrocket, additional structure became necessary. A woodwork shop, gymatorium, eight cIassrooms, larger office space, and a cafeteria were added. This increased enrollment was due to better provisions for transportation and also World War II veterans returning to complete their education.

            In 1950, a committee selected a new name for Haywood County Training School and Carver High was the approved name. Carver High embraced grades 1 - 12 until the 1960s, when grades 1 - 8 were transferred to a newly built school (Eastside) on Jefferson Street with 0. C. Outlaw as its principal.

            The cooperation of two Brownsville church musicians must be mentioned in connection with these schools because all of the early pianists for Dunbar, Haywood County Training and Carver School were trained by either Mrs. Kate Evans, wife of Dr. J. W. Evans or Mrs. Blanche Taliaferro, wife of Earl Taliaferro. It was "Mrs. Kate" who enabled this writer to proudly play "War March of the Priests" by Mendelssohn for commencement exercises.

            The cultural impact that these musicians had on the whole county, is still felt and well remembered and appreciated for they were dedicated to making the world a better place, through their music and unselfish service, underpaid and often unpaid. Mrs. Evans left most of her huge collection of sheet music in Brownsville with her students when she moved to California.

            Carver High, an all Black school, had a peak enrollment of over 1600 students in the fifties when there was a staff of fifty-six and three full time custodians employed. The school closed in 1970, with the desegregation of public schools.

            In 1980, in Detroit at Ruth Nixon James home, some transplanted Haywood Countians gave birth to an idea of an All School Reunion. In July 1981, over three hundred former students gathered at the Book Cadillac Hotel, downtown Detroit, and were greeted by Detroit Alumni. Clara Bond read the school's history and the group made plans to establish a national network between those of us who share a common heritage and appreciate our educational and cultural backgrounds.
           The reunions have been in: Detroit, Michigan - 1981; Brownsville, Tennessee - 1982; Memphis, Tennessee - 1984; Decatur, Illinois - 1986; Milwaukee, Wisconsin - 1988; scheduled in Nashville, Tennessee - 1990.

A twenty five year lease had been granted to establish a recreation center/museum at the Carver High site.

            From our humble beginnings, we have become artists and architects, morticians and musicians, bishops and bankers, entertainers and educators, courtroom clerks and county commissioners, realtors and representatives. A bit of proof: Tina Turner - entertainer; Clay Evans - radio/TV minister, recording artist, PUSH National Board Chairman; Leroy Tyus, Missouri Representative; William Graves - Methodist Bishop; C. A. Rawls - Mortician, Banker, Golden Circle Life Insurance Company, Rawls Funeral Home founder and president; Rev. Samuel Flagg - Director of Stewardship & Development, Wills and Legacies Midwest-Seventh Day Adventists; Nellie Hawkins Williams - musician, Director of Williams Chapel Nursery School and Day Care Center; Carolyn Vaulx Russell Wayne Community College Acting Executive Dean, Detorit, Michigan.

            Submitted by Willie Bell Leigh Rawls, with quotes from Dr. Mary Boone
Hutton the late M. L. Morrison and Clara Moore Bond.