Dorchester Academy
Dorchester Academy Boys' Dormitory | |
Location | 8787 East Oglethorpe Hwy, Midway, Georgia |
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Coordinates | 31°48′2″N 81°27′56″W / 31.80056°N 81.46556°W |
Built | 1935 |
Architect | George Awsumb |
Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 86001371 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | June 23, 1986[1] |
Designated NHL | September 20, 2006[2] |
Dorchester Academy was a school for African-Americans located just outside
Description and history
The former Dorchester Academy campus is located at the corner of Lewis Fraser Road and East Oglethorpe Highway (
The Dorchester Academy was founded in 1869 by the American Missionary Association, a forerunner of the present United Church of Christ. The school was established to educate local freed African-Americans after the American Civil War. 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 [Civil Rights] movement" by Martin Luther King Jr., and established hundreds of education centers across the American South.[5]
Notable alumni of Dorchester Academy include architect Sanford Augustus Brookins.[6]
Dorchester Academy was listed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 2009 list of America's Most Endangered Places.[7]
Photos
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Front entrance
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Side entrance
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Academy historical marker
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Boy's Dorm historical marker
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Arch, by class of 1927
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Older building, ca. 1874
See also
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b "Dorchester Academy Boys' Dormitory". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on January 31, 2009. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
- ^ "Georgia: Dorchester Academy Boys' Dormitory (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
- ^ Caridad de la Vega, Susan Cianci Salvatore (February 9, 2006), National Historic Landmark Nomination: Dorchester Academy Boys' Dormitory / Dorchester Center (PDF), National Park Service, archived from the original (pdf) on October 25, 2012
- ^ a b "NHL nomination for Dorchester Academy Boys' Dormitory". National Park Service. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
- , retrieved February 24, 2023
- ^ 11 sites make new list of 'endangered historic places', at CNN.com
External links
- Dorchester Academy - National Park Service
- Liberty County Historical Society: Dorchester Academy[usurped]
- Dorchester Academy Museum - N-Georgia.com
- Media related to Dorchester Academy at Wikimedia Commons