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<br />Schools
<br />continued from Front
<br />rounding community, rose and
<br />spoke of what exactly needed to be
<br />preserved. 9fie made the point that
<br />the National Register typically
<br />conferred landmark status on sites
<br />possessing architectural brilliance,
<br />but in the case of the White Oak
<br />Grove School, other factors were
<br />more Alp - ificant.
<br />"[We want to] preserve a history,
<br />a heritage, of a time when there
<br />was no other place for African -
<br />American students to go," said
<br />Chapman. She made the point that
<br />while the building itself wasn't es-
<br />pecially stunning architecturally,
<br />and in fact had fallen into disrepair,
<br />the school, located next to the
<br />White Oak Grove Primitive Baptist
<br />Church, deserved recognition based
<br />on the role it played in people's
<br />lives.
<br />For twenty years the parents of
<br />the community kept the school
<br />running, educating grades 1 -7, with
<br />virtually no outside aid. In addi- _
<br />tion to _English, mathematics
<br />(regular math and algebra),
<br />spelling, geography, reading, and
<br />writing, children studied music,
<br />penmanship, arts and crafts, and
<br />Bible verses. A Sunday School
<br />was 'established, and elaborate
<br />Christmas and May Day celebra-
<br />tions were held.
<br />Through it all, the parents found
<br />a way to pay for textbooks, lights,
<br />water coolers, and grounds
<br />maintenance. A dentist was
<br />brought in periodically to look af-
<br />ter the children's teeth, as well as a
<br />doctor to check eyes, ears, noses,
<br />and throats. The county did pay
<br />the salaries of the school's faculty,
<br />including the Rev. P.O. Jones, the
<br />school's first principal. -
<br />"Rev. Jones was a man who be-
<br />lieved in helping people, who'd go
<br />into homes and work with kids
<br />who needed extra help and train-
<br />ing," said Martha Corbett Nichols,
<br />whose father donated the land for
<br />..; .. ..
<br />the school back in 1927. The ma-
<br />jority of those who founded the
<br />school and breathed life into it dur-
<br />ing its existence were described by
<br />the school's alumni as exception-
<br />ally hard- working.
<br />According to Don Belk, planner
<br />for the commission, several op-
<br />tions exist to recognize and reno-
<br />vate the property. The White Oak
<br />Grove School could be designated a
<br />local landmark, instead of or in ad-
<br />dition to inclusion on the National
<br />Register. Local landmark status
<br />would confer a tax break on the
<br />property, making renovation more
<br />likely to become reality. -
<br />Belk said that while everything
<br />was still in the planning stages,
<br />the commission expected to make
<br />its recommendation to the Board of
<br />Commissioners next month. Ren-
<br />ovating the property; he said,
<br />would need to be a matter of com-
<br />munity organization, and would
<br />need to be owned by a nonprofit
<br />entity in order to be eligible for the
<br />limited funds the county has to of-
<br />fer. The property is currently pri-
<br />vately owned.
<br />Belk also stated that if the school
<br />did make it on to the National Reg-
<br />ister, that would certainly be a big
<br />boost in efforts to drum up com-
<br />munity interest in renovation. The
<br />citizens who attended the school,
<br />who want to renovate the building
<br />into a community center and li-
<br />brary, hope to spearhead another
<br />community effort of the kind that
<br />founded the school in the first
<br />place.
<br />"They [the Parents Teachers
<br />League] worked together for a
<br />common cause, and they did it
<br />without too much help from any-
<br />one," said Ellen Corbett Askew,
<br />who still lives just across the road
<br />from the school she attended so
<br />long ago. "That's the kind of
<br />thing [people] shouldn't forget."
<br />
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