Pearsontown School

Photo courtesy of Fisk University Franklin Library, Special Collections

The original four-teacher school was built for the 1923-24 school year. It was constructed on four acres of land and cost $7,500. Of this total, $500 came from the black community, $5,900 from public funds (provided by the Durham County school board), and $1,100 came from the Rosenwald Fund. It was insured for $2,600. The first Pearsontown School was located in Patterson Township and was completed during the tenure of Jeanes supervisor Carrie Jordan. In 1923 Frank Husband, the first Jeanes supervisor for Durham County, was school principal.

Before the Rosenwald school was built, the black community had been served by a "recycled" white school for several years. That school was known as the Fayetteville Road School. The community began its campaign for the construction of a new school in 1923, making pledges at a county school board meeting to contribute part of the cost of the school in cash, labor, and materials. At that time, they requested that a seven-classroom school be built.

The first Pearsontown Rosenwald school burned down March 9, 1929. According to records at Fisk University, then-Durham County school superintendent Luther Barbour ascribed the fire to a break-in, during which the trespassers built a fire that burned out of control.

For the following school year, 1929-30, a five-teacher school was built as a replacement. It was constructed on two and three quarters acres of land and cost $11,550. Of this total, $35 came from the black community, $10,600 from public funds (provided by the Durham County school board), and $915 came from the Rosenwald Fund. It included an elementary school library valued at $120.

Black School Patrons Named in the Durham County School Board Minutes