Eckstein Norton Institute was a private

vocational school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...

for African American students founded in 1890 in the rural town of Cane Spring (now Lotus) in

Bullitt County Bullitt County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 82,217. Its county seat is Shepherdsville. The county was founded in 1796. Located just south of the city ...

, Kentucky, 30 miles south of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. In 1912, the school merged into the Lincoln Institute in

Shelby County, Kentucky Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,065. Its county seat is Shelbyville. The county was established in 1792 and named for Isaac Shelby, the first Governor of Kentuck ...

. It was also known as Eckstein Norton University.

History

Dr. William J. Simmons and the Rev. Charles H. Parrish helped organized the school. In 1890, the school opened as Eckstein Norton Institute, named for donor Eckstein Norton (1831–1893), the president of the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of ...

. In the first year of operations William J. Simmons died, and Charles H. Parrish assumed the role of principal. It was located in the rural town of Cane Spring (sometimes written as Cane Springs; now Lotus) in

, Kentucky, 30 miles south of

. The campus was near the Cane Springs Depot on the railroad line from Bardstown Junction running eastward. It had a brick main building with twenty-five rooms, five frame buildings with twenty rooms for dormitories and assembly halls, a printing office, and a laundry and blacksmith shop. The school offered classes in

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to Cursive, longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Gr ...

, literary studies, science classes, music, photography, oil painting, business classes, dressmaking, cooking,

telegraphy Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

, printing, poultry raising,

sericulture Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, the caterpillar of the Bombyx mori, domestic silkmoth is the most widely used and intensively studied silkwo ...

, cabinetmaking, tailoring, and carpentry. Teacher Harriet Gibbs Marshall ran the music program at the school, and Mary Virginia Cook Parrish taught Latin and mathematics. Eckstein Norton Institute was known for their music conservatory, and it was the first music program in the United States led by Black teachers. On January 24, 1892, the main campus building was burned down from a fire started in the

flue A flue is a duct, pipe, or opening in a chimney for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, furnace, water heater, boiler, or generator to the outdoors. Historically the term flue meant the chimney itself. In the United States, they a ...

on the upper floor. By September 1892, a new building was completed to replace the main campus building. "The accommodations are not adequate to the demands upon them," reported the ''Courier-Journal'' in 1902.

Merger and historical marker

The

Day Law The Day Law mandated racial segregation in educational institutions in Kentucky. Formally designated "An Act to Prohibit White and Colored Persons from Attending the Same School," the bill was introduced in the Kentucky House of Representatives by ...

in Kentucky passed in 1904, which was a mandated

racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...

for educational institutions in the state, and designated "An Act to Prohibit White and Colored Persons from Attending the Same School." The was a law specifically aimed at

Berea College Berea College is a private liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky. Founded in 1855, Berea College was the first college in the Southern United States to be coeducational and racially integrated. It was integrated from as early as 1866 ...

Berea, Kentucky Berea ( ) is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Madison County, Kentucky, Madison County, Kentucky, in the United States. The town is best known for its art festivals, historic restaurants and buildings, and as the home to Ber ...

which at the time was the only racially integrated college. As a result, the

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

s of Berea College raised the funds to open a separate school for African American students, and the land was purchased near

Simpsonville, Kentucky Simpsonville is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Shelby County, Kentucky, Shelby County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is located 8 miles west of Shelbyville, Kentucky and 23 miles east of Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville si ...

to form Lincoln Institute. In 1909, discussions began around the idea of a merger between Eckstein Norton Institute and the new Lincoln Institute, which was finalized in 1912. In 2024, the former Eckstein Norton Institute campus property was rediscovered, and a Kentucky State Highway Marker was added.

References

External links

School image
from NYPL {{Authority control 1890 establishments in Kentucky 1912 disestablishments in Kentucky Historically segregated African-American schools in Kentucky Schools in Bullitt County, Kentucky Defunct schools in Kentucky

History

Merger and historical marker

See also

References

External links