Dorchester Academy was a school for African-Americans located just outside Midway, Georgia. Operating from 1869 to 1940, its campus, of which only the 1935 Dorchester Academy Boys' Dormitory survives, was the primary site of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African Americans, African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., ...
's Citizen Education Program. This program, ran here from 1961 to 1970, worked toward attaining equality for blacks in the
American South
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is census regions United States Census Bureau. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the ...
by teaching them their rights and helping them acquire the knowledge necessary to become registered voters by passing the required test. The dormitory building was designated a U.S.
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
in 2006 for its later role in the
American civil rights movement, and for its association with activist Septima Poinsette Clark, who oversaw the education program.
The campus, which includes several later buildings, is now a museum and research center.
Description and history
The former Dorchester Academy campus is located at the corner of Lewis Fraser Road and East Oglethorpe Highway ( United States Route 84), a short way west of Midway's city hall. The campus wraps around the Midway Congregational Church, which stands directly at the street corner. Facing East Oglethorpe is a small concrete block cottage that now houses the main museum for interpreting the site. Behind this, facing Lewis Fraser, is the two-story Georgian Revival boys' dormitory, the only building to survive the academy's closure in 1940. Ancillary buildings and structures include a barbecue pit, former swimming pool site and pool house, and a single-story annex to the dormitory.
The Dorchester Academy was founded in 1869 by the American Missionary Association, a forerunner of the present United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...
. The school was established to educate local freed African-Americans after the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. Many of the academy's buildings were destroyed by fire in the 1930s, and the complex was rebuilt. The school closed in 1940, at which time most of its then-extant buildings were torn down, leaving only the 1935 boys' dormitory. That building was adapted for use in 1961 by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as the headquarters for its Citizenship Education Program, a vehicle for training African-Americans in the effective exercise of their civil rights. This program was overseen by activist Septima Poinsette Clark, who was called the "mother of the ivil Rightsmovement" by Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
, and established hundreds of education centers across the American South.[
Notable alumni of Dorchester Academy include architect Sanford Augustus Brookins.]
Dorchester Academy was listed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...
's 2009 list of America's Most Endangered Places
America's 11 Most Endangered Places or America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is a list of places in the United States that the National Trust for Historic Preservation considers the most endangered. It aims to inspire Americans to preserve ...
.11 sites make new list of 'endangered historic places', at CNN.com
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Photos
Dorchester Academy front entrance.JPG, Front entrance
Dorchester Academy side entrance.JPG, Side entrance
Dorchester Academy historical marker.jpg, Academy historical marker
Dorchester Academy Boy's Dorm historical marker.jpg, Boy's Dorm historical marker
Dorchester Academy arch.jpg, Arch, by class of 1927
Dorchester_Academy_1874.jpg, Older building, ca. 1874
See also
*List of museums focused on African Americans
This is a list of museums in the United States whose primary focus is on African American culture and history. Such museums are commonly known as African American museums. According to scholar Raymond Doswell, an African American museum is "an i ...
References
External links
Dorchester Academy
- National Park Service
*
- N-Georgia.com
*
{{National Register of Historic Places
National Historic Landmarks in Georgia (U.S. state)
Buildings and structures completed in 1935
African-American museums in Georgia (U.S. state)
Museums in Liberty County, Georgia
Education museums in the United States
History museums in Georgia (U.S. state)
National Register of Historic Places in Liberty County, Georgia
Schools supported by the American Missionary Association