James Forten School facts for kids
The James Forten School was a very important school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It opened in 1822 and was the first public school for African American children in the city. It had a few different names over the years, like Mary Street School, Lombard Street Colored School, and Bird School.
Contents
A School's Journey: From Mary Street to James Forten
Early Days and Challenges
In the early 1800s, laws in Pennsylvania said that Black students should have free public schools. But in Philadelphia, these laws were not followed for a while. Important white reformers from the Pennsylvania Abolition Society pushed city leaders to open a school for Black children.
So, in April 1822, city officials agreed to open schools for "children of poor colored people." On September 6, 1822, the first school opened in an old church building on Mary Street. It used a teaching method called the Lancasterian system. This system meant one teacher could teach many students at once.
When it first opened, the school had one teacher for 199 students. By the end of 1823, this number grew to 237 students. The school was often crowded, and its buildings were not as good as the schools for white children in the city. Until the American Civil War, only white teachers taught in Philadelphia's "colored" schools.
Moving to Lombard Street and New Leadership
In 1828, the Mary Street school moved to a building on Lombard Street. White students who were there moved to a new school. James M. Bird became the principal, and the school became known as Bird School.
However, after Mr. Bird moved to a white school in 1833, the Lombard Street school faced many problems. City officials also started to question the Lancasterian System. In 1840, they even thought about closing the Lombard School. This would have left Black Philadelphians without any grammar school in the city.
James Forten's Help and Renaming
To prevent the school from closing, a well-known Black Philadelphian named James Forten stepped in. He was a successful businessman, an abolitionist (someone who worked to end slavery), and a civil rights activist. He and members of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society asked school officials to keep the Lombard School open and bring Mr. Bird back. Their efforts worked!
By 1854, Maria C. Hutton was the principal of the girls' section of the school. Eventually, the school was renamed in honor of James Forten. It was located at Sixth Street and Lombard Street.
In 1869, the school building was rebuilt. Then, in 1897, it was renovated again and reopened as the James Forten Elementary Manual Training School. "Manual training" meant students learned practical skills, like woodworking or sewing, along with their regular lessons. More and more immigrants, many of them Russian Jews, started to attend the school.
Notable Students
- Octavius Catto
- James Mara Adger
- Joseph E. Lee
Related Schools
- Institute for Colored Youth, another important school for African Americans in Philadelphia
- Roberts Vaux Junior High School
Images for kids
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James Forten School drawn in 1896
