Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School facts for kids

Main building, c. 1907. By 1910 this served as the girls' dormitory.

Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School (DIAS) was a school for African Americans in Chester County, Pennsylvania from 1905 until 1993. Its motto was "Self help through self work". It was in what is now East Brandywine Township.

History

Founded by John S. Trower and William A. Creditt, both well-known African Americans from Philadelphia, the school was aimed at African-American teenagers and operated as a non-profit organization. Tower was a local businessman and Creditt was pastor of the city's First African Baptist Church. The school's purpose was to provide vocational training. By 1907 it had a chapel and barn, dining room and sewing room and an illustrated report on the school was published. It was included in Philadelphia's colored directory in 1910. In July 1912 it was preparing to send 15 graduates to Lincoln University.

James H. N. Waring (1890 - 1973) served as the school's principal.

Mortelia Womack, who worked as a secretary for W. E. B. Du Bois, applied for a job in the school in 1931 and Du Bois sent the school's principal, J. H. N. Waring, Jr., a reference for her. In 1980, a 36-page publication about the school was printed.

Legacy

Delaware County Community College's Downington campus is on the site of the former school.