Centerville Industrial School, later the Bibb County Training School was a school for African American students in

Centerville, Alabama Centerville is an unincorporated community in Conecuh County, Alabama, United States, located near the communities of Battleground, Westpoint, and Longview. Notable people * Johnnie Colemon Johnnie Colemon (February 18, 1920 – December 23 ...

, the county seat of Bibb County. The school was founded in 1900 and opened in October of that same year, and its teachers and the principal were African American. Henry D. Davidson, sometimes called Henry Damon, served as teacher and principal, and his wife Lula also worked at the school until her death in 1903. It was the only school of higher learning and advanced training for Black students in or adjacent to Bibb County at the time.

Operations

In 1910, the property on which the school operated was valued at $5,500 and the school's annual operating costs of $1,500 were covered by concerts, subscriptions, and Davidson's efforts to keep costs low. As of 1908, there were 152 students, 82 male and 70 female with five teachers, three male and two female. Much of the school's programming was held within Howland Hall, a two-story five-frame building that dated to 1889.

History

Henry Damon Davidson (1869-1955) is credited as the school's founder. He was born in Bibb County in 1869 and eventually attained a bachelor's degree from the Tuskeegee Institute in 1934. Davidson was honored for his long history with and dedication to the school and the Mt. Sinai

African Methodist Episcopal The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. It cooperates with other Methodist ...

church in Centreville for which he was superintendent in 1945. He was a delegate to the

1900 Republican National Convention The 1900 Republican National Convention was held June 19 to June 21 in the Exposition Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Exposition Auditorium was located south of the University of Pennsylvania, and the later Convention Hall was co ...

in Philadelphia. In 1918, the school became the Bibb County Training School. Howland Hall burned in a fire in 1960 and little of the building remains. A new school was completed in 1966 and named in honor of Henry Damon Davidson, being known as H. D. Davidson High School, but it graduated its last class in 1969. It re-opened in 1970/1971 as the Centreville Elementary School and by 2008 it was known as the tt. The current school includes the Henry Damon Davidson Library and Museum, which opened in 2017.

Legacy

The

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

has a photograph of the school.

References

{{Coord, 32.9424, -87.1156, display=title Former school buildings in the United States Defunct schools in Alabama Education in Bibb County, Alabama Historically segregated African-American schools in Alabama Industrial Institute Educational institutions established in 1900 1900 establishments in Alabama