- School
- Segregation
- 1866–1872
- City of Atlanta
- Location approximate
Separate from the start: Summer Hill School and the 1872 public schools
When Atlanta opened its public schools in January 1872, white children got new grammar schools and two high schools. Black children got two existing schools started by the Freedmen's Bureau and Northern missionaries.
The record
The Atlanta Public Schools opened on January 31, 1872, with Crew Street, Ivy Street and Walker Street grammar schools for white students, plus Boys High and Girls High. Summer Hill School and Storrs School, established for Black students by the Freedmen's Bureau in 1866 with Northern missionary support, were taken into the system. A 1870 school census counted 3,345 white and 3,139 Black children. By 1896 the city ran fifteen white grammar schools, five Black grammar schools and two high schools, both for whites. Wikipedia's Summerhill history says Frederick Ayer founded the Summer Hill school at Richardson and Martin streets in 1867, the Board of Education bought it three years later, and it became E. P. Johnson Elementary. Georgia passed laws segregating schools in 1872 (NGE).
Today: Summerhill, south of the stadium district.
Where on the map: Point at Richardson St SE and Martin St SE, Summerhill.