Orange County, North Carolina historic information cache - The Quaker Freedmen's school in Chapel Hill
 
The Quaker Freedmen's school in Chapel Hill
 
 
The school building in 1916
The school building in 1916, view south


In January 1866, James Craig sold (from his father, John M. Craig's, estate) to Benjamin Craig and Green Cordal at auction "one lot of land...opposite the North West end Franklin Street in Chapel Hill," consisting of one acre for fifty dollars. Benjamin and Green, however, seems to have immediately donated the property to Elliston P. Morris, Anthony M. Kimber, and Richard Cadbury (Quakers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) "for the Only proper use of the association of Friends of Philadelphia...for the relief of colored freemen forever" by August 1867. Cordal (a former slave) and Craig (a local farmer) likely had the school in mind when they purchased the land, as they immediately gave it to the Quakers.

In her diary, Cornelia Phillips Spencer described an 1866 Fourth of July celebration, where the black residents of Chapel Hill "had a celebration... and they all marched out to dinner provided by themselves, and sat on the ground bought from the Craigs for their new school house."

The Quakers sent George Dixon, his wife, and daughter to establish the school. Dixon later became Professor of Agriculture at the University of North Carolina during Reconstruction.

Early teachers whose names are known that taught at the school were: Miss C. Loveland, in July-August 1868; John Weaver, in September-October 1868; John Weaver and Miss Fannie Culver ("the only white teacher in the District"), in December 1868.


An excerpt from the 1915 Sanborn map of Chapel Hill, showing the former Quaker school for Freedmen<br>(the
An excerpt from the 1915 Sanborn map of Chapel Hill, showing the former Quaker school for Freedmen
(the "Primary School, Negro"), with West Franklin Street at lower right


Around 1890, the Quakers began "cooperating" with the Orange County school board, with them supplying the building and the county supplying the teachers and supplies. Prior to this, the school was a private school and no tax monies were utilized for the building, its teachers, or its students. However, this also meant that the local school board had no control over the teachers or students.

By 1910, the county had added a second room to the school house, and the number of teachers was increased to three. In 1910, there were 130 pupils enrolled.


Photo of the school's students and teachers, circa 1905
Photo of the school's students and teachers, circa 1905



Photo of the school's students and teachers, circa 1910
Photo of the school's students and teachers, circa 1910


The school was in operation until 1917, when the school board consolidated it with the original Orange County Training School. Also at that time, the original section of the Quaker school house was moved to the campus of the Orange County Training School on Merritt's Mill Road (see photograph below). The building burned June 12, 1922, when a fire was accidentally started in the kitchen of an adjacent building.

The section of the school building that remained at the end of West Franklin Street was moved out of the path of the new West Franklin/East Main/Highway 54 connector when it was constructed sometime between 1925 and 1929.


The former Quaker school building in its new location on Merritt's Mill Road, November 1917
The former Quaker school building in its new location on Merritt's Mill Road, November 1917


In the 1940s, the remaining school building section (i.e. the early 1900s addition) in the school's original location was being used by the community, mainly as a temporary place for church services (the first black Methodist and Baptist churches in Chapel Hill were started in the building, as was Mt. Calvary Church). The property, however, was still owned by the Quakers. A 1944 map of Chapel Hill shows the "Quaker School" on the southern edge of the West Franklin-Main Street connector (a.k.a. Highway 54), the 1945 Sanborn map of Chapel Hill lists the building as a "Church (Colored)," and several plat maps from 1946 and 1948 show the school property (see image below).

In March of 1946, the Friends Freedmans Association of Philadelphia transferred the property to the somewhat newly-established Chapel Hill Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, who in turn sold most of the property. In October of 1947, the Meeting transferred the remainder of the property (the small "triangle" cut off by the highway) to St. Paul's A.M.E. Church. The remaining building section was either demolished or moved in the 1950s, when the current car wash building was constructed.

With the proceeds from the sale of the property, the Chapel Hill Meeting established the "Dudley Carroll Fund," named after Dudley Carroll, a UNC faculty member and co-organizer of the Chapel Hill Meeting. The Fund then established a "Negro Education Fund" to use some of the proceeds to assist in the education of local African American students. The first time the fund was used was when Carroll approached the principal of Lincoln High School and asked if and how the Meeting could help the school; the principal said the school needed band uniforms, but that they would prefer a loan instead of a grant. The Fund then loaned the school the money, which was repaid in full within a few years. With that money, the fund later contributed money to the Hargraves Recreation Center. Since 1975, the fund has been used to pay for scholarships of black students to attend the Carolina Friends School in Durham County.


Property of the Association of Friends of Philadelphia for Colored Relief, 1946
Property of the Association of Friends of Philadelphia for Colored Relief, January 1946, showing the Quaker school property
and the remaining section of the school building after it was moved out of the right-of-way


The remaining section of the former school building in the background (red arrow), with Rachel Crook's market (present-day Crook's Corner) in foreground, 1951
The remaining section of the former school building in the background (red arrow),with
Rachel Crook's market (present-day Crook's Corner) in foreground, view north, 1951


Today, the site of the original school is under the connection between West Franklin and East main streets, just west of Merritt Mill Road, at the border of Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
 
 
View the school's site on Google Maps
 

 
Sources:

Alexander, Roberta Sue. North Carolina Faces the Freedmen: Race Relations During Presidential Reconstruction, 1865-1867. Durham: Duke University Press, 1985. 165.

Brown, Agnes. The Negro Churches of Chapel Hill: A Community Study. Unpublished masters thesis. University of North Carolina, 1939. 2.

Caldwell, Edwin. History of Lincoln High School. 1973.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools. District History Timeline. {http://www2.chccs.k12.nc.us/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=56110}.

Freeman, Charles M. Growth and Plan for a Community: A Study of Negro Life in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North Carolina. Unpublished masters thesis. University of North Carolina, 1944. 58, 63-65.

Freeman, Charles M. Chapel Hill & Carrboro NC Negro Community (map). 1944.

Gwyn, Robert J. and David J. Brunn. The Old Quaker School. n.d.

Lincoln High School Alumni website. {http://lincolnhighalumni.org}.

Mark Chilton, personal communication.

The News (Chapel Hill/Orange County). June 15, 1922

NARA. Records of the Field Offices for the State of North Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned lands, 1865-1872. Roll 26, Monthly reports of schools, Feb-Dec 1868. Washington, DC, 2004.

Orange County Register of Deeds
        Deed Book 37, Page 453 (1867)
        Deed Book 123, Page 163 (1946)
        Deed Book 123, Page 164 (1946)
        Deed Book 128, Page 94 (1947)
        Plat Book 64, Page 99 (1946)
        Plat Book 64, Page 102 (1946)
        Plat Book 66, Page 138 (1948)
        Plat Book 69, Page 184 (1948)

Pender, Irene O. A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983. Hillsborough: Shanklin's Press. 1983.

Sanborn Map Company. Chapel Hill, 1915, 1925, 1932, 1945.

University of Virginia Library. Jackson Davis Collection of African American Educational Photographs.


The photographs of the Quaker School students are courtesy of Ms. Keith Edwards, via Ernie Dollar of the Chapel Hill Preservation Society.

The (excerpted) photograph of Rachel Crook's market was taken by Roland Giduz; courtesy of UNC.

And, thanks to David Southern for providing the digitized deed document for the Quakers' purchase of the property.
 
 
[Created: 25 February 2011; last updated: 22 March 2017]    

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