Douglass High School (Kingsport, Tennessee)

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Douglass High School was an African-American school in Kingsport, Tennessee, that closed in 1966. At the time, it was the largest African-American elementary/high school in Upper East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and Southeast Kentucky, and the largest between Knoxville, Tennessee and Roanoke, Virginia. It was named for the great African-American statesman Frederick Douglass. Douglass High School, which included the elementary and junior high schools as well, was originally called the Oklahoma Grove School, which began in 1913 when the all-white Kingsport Public School moved to a new building and location, and its old building became the school for black children. Kingsport incorporated as a city in 1917.

The first principal was Professor H. L. Moss, and he found the Oklahoma Grove School in bad shape. African-American parents requested the city build their children a new school.

The Oklahoma Grove School later moved to Walnut and Myrtle Streets in Kingsport. It was in 1924, Albert Howell and his wife Ellen arrived from Tennessee A & I State College in Nashville to lead the school.

The rapid growth of students quickly outgrew the building, and in 1924, another school building was built in the 700-block of Sullivan Street at Center Street. Still, even that building was quickly outgrown, and the Kingsport Board of Education realized that it would simply have to build a large school that would be around for a while.

A contract was awarded in 1928 for a new school for African-American children. The school was to be named after Frederick Douglass, the great orator, journalist and abolishionist during the anti-slavery movement of the 1800s. The school was built at the corner of Center Street and East Sevier Avenue.

In 1927, the school had already transitioned from an elementary school to a combination elementary-high school. It was during this time in 1931, music teacher Bessie French wrote the official school song:

"We are the Sons and Daughters of Douglass, Most loyal and true. We love our school colors, The gold and the blue. We love the task before us, We always try to win. V-I-C-T-O-R-Y, Is the motto of Douglass High!"

From 1924 to 1942, Doctor Howell helped Douglass High School become well known in most athletic circles. There was no budget for athletic equipment and uniforms, and the hand-me-down uniforms and equipment from Dobyns-Bennett High School soon became the property of the Douglass High School Tigers. Principal and Football Coach Doctor A.W. Howell, who was also the basketball coach, was known to dye the basketball uniforms in the school-supplied blue ink. But when the players sweated while running up and down the court, puddles of blue dotted both players and the gym floor.

When Professor Howell resigned in 1942, Professor V. O. Dobbins, Senior, a Douglass science and math teacher, was appointed principal. Professor Dobbins started the free lunch program at Douglass School, feeding students with fruits and vegetables grown in his own backyard and canned by his sister and other neighborhood moms in the Riverview-South Central Kingsport area.

The Douglass building still outgrew its surroundings, and in 1951, a new school building for black students was built, that still stands at 301 Louis Street in the Riverview Neighborhood in Kingsport today. The building was expanded in 1962, and within the walls of the combined elementary-high school, fiercely-competitive sports teams were nurtured. The Douglass trophy case was a display of superiority in basketball and football. Top-notch marching bands and choruses also earned superior ratings, and Professor Dobbins and faculty were able to both entertain and educate the community through "Miss Douglass" competitions and various plays and pageants, funded mostly through the sale of sports concessions. The teachers fostered a togetherness that united each student with a sense of family, that was taught right along with the school subjects. Academically, Douglass gained accreditation from the Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges, assuring its graduating seniors that their educations would further them at quality universities.

During its years, Douglass Elementary-High School held the honor of being the largest African-American elementary-high school in Upper East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and Southeast Kentucky, easily outpacing the second largest, Langston High School in Johnson City, Tennessee by about 50-60 high school students.

Douglass Elementary-High School closed its doors and ceased operations on June 8th, 1966, making it one of the last all-black schools in the area to close. The students who had not graduated yet, were all assimilated into the all-white schools of Kingsport, and the Douglass High School Alumni Association was formed to remind and lead school graduates and former students of the "Tiger Spirit" that forever binds them with their African-American heritage in Kingsport, and a reminder that the school's rich tradition and neighborhood pride are to be passed on to future generations.

The Douglass Alumni Association operates the "Sons and Daughters of Douglass" website that remembers and commemorates the heritage of the largest African-American school in upper East Tennessee and Southwest Virigina. The school building is still standing, and houses Kingsport's Headstart classes. The building is on a master plan to be renovated by the City of Kingsport, to house the area's non-profit profit programs, including the Douglass Alumni Association. The website also serves as a news outlet for the neighborhood the school building is located in. A link to the website address is below, and is the only operating website in the region dedicated to the history and memory of a former all-African-American school and its neighborhood.

[edit] External links

Sons And Daughters of Douglass

www.sonsanddaughtersofdouglass.org

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Portions of this article were reprinted by permission from an article written by former Douglass teacher Virgealis Ellis for "80 Years Of Enlightenment", a book by the Kingsport Retired Teachers Association, Kingsport, Tennessee.