Smithville Colored School
| Smithville Colored School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 39°04′32″N 76°59′42″W / 39.075433°N 76.995100°W |
| Information | |
| Other name | Smithville School |
| Funding type | Rosenwald School |
| Established | 1927 |
| Closed | 1952 |
| Website | www |
Smithville Colored School (1927–1952) was a two-room Rosenwald School for African American students in Colesville, Maryland, near Silver Spring.[1][2] A historical marker erected in 2005 by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity's Iota Upsilon Lambda chapter, in cooperation with the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission and the Maryland Historical Trust commemorates its history.[3] It was also known as the Smithville School,[4] and is now known as the Smithville School Museum and Education Center.
History
The Smithville Colored School was established in 1927 one of the many schoolhouses built with the help of money from Julius Rosenwald. It was one of 15 school campuses for African American children in Montgomery County.[2] Smithville was the name of a small, unincorporated black community near Colesville.[5]
After the school closed in 1952, the building was used briefly used as a recreation center, and later as a storage facility and a bus depot.[2][4] Students were transferred to a new school in Sandy Spring, Maryland.[4] The deed to the school was transferred in 1999 from the Montgomery County Board of Education to the local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha.[6] From 1999 until 2005, members of the local Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity worked to renovate the building into a meeting place, computer center, and history museum.[2]
See also
References
- ^ "Smithville School and Education Center". Visit Montgomery. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
- ^ a b c d Ly, Phuong (February 17, 2005). "New Chapter for an Emblem of Exclusion". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on August 9, 2025. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
- ^ "Smithville Colored School, A Julius Rosenwald School". Historical Marker Database (HMDB).
- ^ a b c "Recreation center open at Smithville school". The Afro-American. November 28, 1953. p. 17. Retrieved August 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Entrance of Ofays into Community Protested". The Afro-American. May 20, 1933. p. 14. Retrieved August 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Duncan Signs Deed Transferring Ownership Of Former "Smithville Colored School" Site To Alpha Phi Alpha for Reuse as Museum". Montgomery County, MD Government. June 2, 1999. Retrieved August 9, 2025.