A glimpse of our earliest formal education

Although no certified records exist, from the time of the founding of Monroeville in 1832, small, scattered educational classes were held in homes and churches. However, the history of formal education in Monroeville and Monroe County began with small private schools that sprung up after the ending of the War Between the States in 1965.  Yet, as late as the early 1900’s there were still no public schools and only five private white schools, known as Academies. These were located in Monroeville, Old Scotland, Perdue Hill, Pineville (Beatrice) and Buena Vista.

Although it was in existence for only about ten years, the first public school in Monroeville was established by the Federal Government around early 1866.  It was established as a part of the Freedmen’s Bureau, staffed by a northerner and funded entirely with federal funds. Although whites were not denied admission, it was clearly indicated that the primary purpose was to provide education for children of former slaves, that had heretofore been denied educational advantages.

When the Reconstruction Days ended around twelve years later and the occupying Union troops withdrew, the school closed.

A dark blot on the history of the State Legislature (then called the General Assembly) occurred in 1832 when they passed a law prohibiting anyone from teaching blacks to read and write. Violation of this law was subject to a then steep fine ranging from $250 to $500.

For the record, on February 15, 1854, the General Assembly provided for the establishment and maintenance of “a system of free public schools” with the provision that “every child between the ages of six and twenty-one shall be entitled to admission into any instruction of the free public schools”.

This provision automatically repealed the exclusion clause in the 1832 act.

Other provisions of this act stated:

That separate schools be provided for the white and colored races, and

The School year begins Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30, and

Twenty days constitute a school month, and

A school day is not less than six hours, and

The schools shall be divided into convenient grades that are best adapted to give a thorough common school education, and

There is no uniformity in text books used.

The only problem for Monroeville and Monroe County was that no public schools exited at that time or for the next fifty years.

The first public school in Monroeville was an outgrowth of a prominent private academy known as the Monroe Male and Female Institute.  Although this school had been in operation in other places since around 1870, they built a new frame building on the site of the north end of the present Monroeville Elementary School in 1895. Their curriculum included seven elementary and four high school grades.

The building burned in 1903 while the students were out of the building during the recess period. From known activities that followed, it is logical to assume that the Academy did not re-open it’s elementary classes, but retained the high school venue.

The following year (1904) the Monroeville Elementary School opened, thus becoming the first white public school in Monroeville.

It is not known if the new elementary school was originally a frame or brick edifice. Nick Hare who today is probably the oldest “first grader” to attend this school in 1917 did not recall.  However, Norman Barnett who followed in 1922, recalled that it was a brick building containing just four classrooms, two on each side of a wide hallway with outside doors at each end. Each room had a “cloak room” used for students to hang outer wear and hats. I can recall that all students were routed through this narrow 4-foot by about 15-ft section each time we entered or existed the room.

Norman recalls that classes one, two, five and six were located in the brick building and three and four were housed in a separate frame building.   The rest rooms were also in a separate frame building. A small stage was erected on one end of the sixth grade room.

By the time I made my debut in the first grade in 1927, two additional classrooms and two large restrooms had been added to the original layout. Space was no problem since no grade ever had more than about twenty-five or so pupils.  

The all-white Monroe County High School did not open until 1911 when the new two-story brick building was erected about a hundred yards south of the Elementary School.  This was the first public high school in Monroe County and served until a new high school was built on York St. in 1936.  This building now serves as the Monroeville Jr. High School.  After this move, the 1911 high school was utilized as part of the elementary school until it burned in September 1946.

This year marks one-hundred and thirteen years that this site has been used for formal education in Monroeville. Interestingly, in the year prior to 1895, Judge Sowell had utilized this twenty-acre plot as a cotton field.  

(Note: Since no public records could be found, most of the above was gleaned from copies of old Monroe Journals.)