Booker College: Difference between revisions
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The school was approved by the church during its [[1901]] annual conference, and was to be patterned after the [[Tuskegee University|Tuskegee Institute]]. The committee purchased a 20-acre site from [[E. W. Whips]]' [[Booker City Land Company]] at [[Booker City]] north of [[Ensley]]. The company donated an additional 10 acres to the school, which made plans to open in October [[1902]]. Meanwhile the [[Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company]] (TCI) prepared to drill exploratory shafts into the [[Warrior coal field]] at Booker City. | The school was approved by the church during its [[1901]] annual conference, and was to be patterned after the [[Tuskegee University|Tuskegee Institute]]. The committee purchased a 20-acre site from [[E. W. Whips]]' [[Booker City Land Company]] at [[Booker City]] north of [[Ensley]]. The company donated an additional 10 acres to the school, which made plans to open in October [[1902]]. Meanwhile the [[Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company]] (TCI) prepared to drill exploratory shafts into the [[Warrior coal field]] at Booker City. | ||
During the next year a dormitory building was constructed, with temporary classroom space secured in various other buildings. Final preparations were delayed by a [[1902 coal miners' strike]]. By the time the school opened its doors in November, the school had been merged with another Colored Methodist Episcopal school in Thomasville, Clarke County, and rechartered as [[Miles College|Miles Memorial College]], named for CME bishop William H. Miles (1828–1892). In March [[1905]] Tuskegee trustee [[Robert Bedford]] visited Booker City and praised the work being done there. | During the next year a dormitory building was constructed, with temporary classroom space secured in various other buildings. Final preparations were delayed by a [[1902 coal miners' strike]]. By the time the school opened its doors in November, the school had been merged with another Colored Methodist Episcopal school in Thomasville, Clarke County, and rechartered as [[Miles College|Miles Memorial College]], named for CME bishop William H. Miles (1828–1892). In March [[1905]] Tuskegee trustee [[Robert Bedford]] visited Booker City and praised the work being done there. [[James Bray]] was made president of the college in [[1907]]. | ||
Also in 1907 TCI entered into negotiations with the CME church to acquire all of its property at Booker City in exchange for 30 acres in the [[Vinesville]] district of [[Interurban Heights]], where it was planning to develop an industrial city around a new steel plant. The company also offered $30,000<!--also reported as $5,000 in the ''Advertiser''--> toward the construction of new campus buildings. The first of those, [[Williams Hall]], was completed in [[1908]] in the city of [[Corey]], later renamed [[Fairfield]]. Booker City was redeveloped by TCI and transformed into the "model mining village" of [[Docena]]. | |||
<!--According to the Jones Valley Times on November 24, 1904, the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Education Society was "rapidly" erecting a $200,000 "negro college" in [[Mason City]]."--> | <!--According to the Jones Valley Times on November 24, 1904, the Freedmen's Aid and Southern Education Society was "rapidly" erecting a $200,000 "negro college" in [[Mason City]]."--> | ||
Revision as of 12:43, 1 August 2020
Booker College (also called Booker City High School or Booker Memorial College) was a predecessor of Miles College which was founded in 1902 by the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church for the instruction of African-American students, primarily as an industrial training program.
The school was approved by the church during its 1901 annual conference, and was to be patterned after the Tuskegee Institute. The committee purchased a 20-acre site from E. W. Whips' Booker City Land Company at Booker City north of Ensley. The company donated an additional 10 acres to the school, which made plans to open in October 1902. Meanwhile the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company (TCI) prepared to drill exploratory shafts into the Warrior coal field at Booker City.
During the next year a dormitory building was constructed, with temporary classroom space secured in various other buildings. Final preparations were delayed by a 1902 coal miners' strike. By the time the school opened its doors in November, the school had been merged with another Colored Methodist Episcopal school in Thomasville, Clarke County, and rechartered as Miles Memorial College, named for CME bishop William H. Miles (1828–1892). In March 1905 Tuskegee trustee Robert Bedford visited Booker City and praised the work being done there. James Bray was made president of the college in 1907.
Also in 1907 TCI entered into negotiations with the CME church to acquire all of its property at Booker City in exchange for 30 acres in the Vinesville district of Interurban Heights, where it was planning to develop an industrial city around a new steel plant. The company also offered $30,000 toward the construction of new campus buildings. The first of those, Williams Hall, was completed in 1908 in the city of Corey, later renamed Fairfield. Booker City was redeveloped by TCI and transformed into the "model mining village" of Docena.
References
- "Items from the Steel City" (November 28, 1901) The Birmingham News, p. 8
- "Happy at Ensley" (October 16, 1902) The Birmingham News, p. 8
- "Visited Booker City" (March 9, 1905) The Birmingham News, p. 10
- "School is Ready: Miles Memorial College is Formally Opened." (January 9, 1908) Montgomery Advertiser
- Miles College Centennial History Committee (2005) Miles College: The First Hundred Years. Campus History Series. Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Press. ISBN 9780738517933