Chronology of Schools for
People of Color in Colquitt County, Georgia
This Information was
obtained from the Public Library in Moultrie, Georgia. The information is
not intended to
be gospel and may be incorrect in some
instances. If you see any errors in this
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1873 Colquitt County Schools began with 1st school commissioner, Mr. R. E. Watkins.
1883 Average daily attendance: 303 students; cost of annual operation, $793; school term: 3 or 4 months
1887
17 teachers employed by the school system; $67.20 the average teacher
salary for the
school term
1894 First school built in Doerun
1898 Moultrie established an independent city school system
1897 Colquitt County School system owned
8 one/two room school buildings with a total value of $1030; 28 other
school buildings were
privately owned. There were 1574 white and 212 Negro students. Total expenditures
for
the year $3756 for an average of $2.10 per pupil. Of
this, the state paid $.58 per pupil
1900 Fifty-eight one/two room schools in county
1900 Norman Institute built (private Baptist
preparatory school)
1903 Moultrie High School 1st graduating class: 5 female students
1904 Moultrie Public Schools' first brick school built
(on site of Stringfellow Elem) was called
Central Grammer School
1905 City properly taxes raised $2370 in revenues for
schools
1905 County was divided into school districts
1908 Colquitt County School system had 46 white and 10
Negro schools; 2742 white and 381
Negro students; 5 month school term
1913 First Moultrie High School football team
1914 New building for MHS (on Stringfellow
site) 11th grade was added
and SACS accredited
1914 First MHS baseball and track team.
1919 Consolidation of county schools
began. Funston was 1st consolidated school in state with motor
transportation. Most of larger rural
schools added high school grades.
1927
Funston was made up of Bay, Kendallwood, Buckhead,
Centerville, Funston, and Center Hill schools.
Ty Ty included Sumner, Cypress Pond, Cross Roads, and Leila
schools. Culbertson- Evelyn, Troy,
Glendale,
Kingwood. Norman Park - Lone Star, Rochelle, Horkan, NP. Crosland - Perry and Warrior.
Hartsfield - liberty Hill. Berlin-Part of Troy, May, Hempstead, Gay, County line. Sunset - Midway, Murphy,
Mt
Olive. Ellenton - Oaky Grove,
Baker, Bayboro. Reedy Creek - Union, Stallings.
Rose Hill - McNeil, Pine
Mount,
Fields, Collier. Okapilco - Part of Horkan and Rochelle, Sinclair, Old Elm, New Elm, Rocky Ford.
Doerun
- Rose of Sharon, Mt. Sinai, Horne, Ticknor, and Herring.
1920 William Bryant was principal of Moultrie
High School for Negro Youth
1920 North Moultrie Elementary
School was built 1 st St NE
1921 Doerun expanded to 11 grades; 1 st graduating class of 4
students
1924 Moultrie Public School System
was first independent system in state to make provisions for rural students.
Four
classrooms added to MHS to make room for county students (referred to "The
Barn'').
1924 Norman Institute extended to two year
college
1928 Moultrie High School constructed at a
cost of $80,000 (Arts Center). W.H. Barber gave the land.
1933 Colquitt County rural teacher average
salary was $45 per month; 6 month school term.
1935 Under the leadership of
Miss Ethel Adams, Moultrie High School was one of 33 high school
in 11 states
selected by SACS to
participate in a national program to improve curriculum.
1935 10th and 11th
grades added to Moultrie High School for Negro Youth.
1937 New high school building
completed for MHS for NY; the Rosenwall building.
1938 American Council on Education invited MHS and four other public high schools in United
States to participate
in
study of training teachers in service.
1939 Moultrie High School newspaper,
"Pack-Q-News", started by journalism class
1939 Gym built at MHS
1943 Doerun School became part of Colquitt
County School System
1947 Look magazine named MHS one
of top 16 high schools in United States
1947 Norman Park High School began (rented
space from Norman College); 266 students grades 8-11
1952 Twelfth grade added to high schools
1952 $1,620,000 allocated to Colquitt County
for strategically locating new permanent buildings
for schools
1954 Frank R. Pidcock
unit of MHS build at a cost of $625,000 (presently WJWMS); 9th grade housed in old MHS
building
(Arts Center)
1954 Mack Tharpe
Memorial stadium built; cost $100,000
1955 Moultrie Public Schools: 5000 students,
8 permanent buildings valued at $4,000,000. Total operating expenses $647,530.
1956 Norman Park High School built
1956 Colquitt County School System: 2 high schools (Doerun and Norman Park) 16 elementary schools (Autreyville,
Baypole,
Berlin, Crosland, Culbertson, Doerun,
Ellenton, Funston, Hartsfield, Norman Park, Okapilco, Reedy Creek,
Riverside, Rose Hill, set, Ty Ty); 174 teachers, 5112 students; total operating expenses $970,957.89
or
$189.94 per pupil; average
annual teacher salary $2704.
1958 R. B Wright school constructed at $204,000.
1958 Cox Elementary built; $198,000.
1960 MHS for NY became William Bryant HS
1968 Residents of Moultrie voted to
abandon city school system; merged with county. All schools in the county
governed
by
Colquitt County Board of Education.
1970 Integration of schools: William Bryant
High School building housed 8th grade students.
1973 Colquitt County School System: Benin,
Central, Cox, Culbertson, Doerun
(Elem. and HS), Funston, Gray, Hamilton,
Norman Park. (Elem
and HS), Okapi co, Reedy Creek, Sunset, Veered, Wright, Junior High 8th grade,
Junior High 9th grade, Moultrie
High School
1976 17 schools, approx 4000 students and
400 teachers, operating budget of SB.2 million
1978 Colquitt County High School built
$4,000,000; consolidated Doerun, Norman Park. and
Moultrie High Schools; grades 10-12
1995 Colquitt County High School became a 9 -12 high
school. Colquitt County Junior High School became
Willie J. Williams Middle School. CA Gray and Williams Middle Schools grades 6-8
2001
9th grade center constructed at CCHS.