Education • 271 Records • Uploaded March 31, 2023
These data were compiled from various sources that document the segregated schools on the Delmarva Peninsula, including African American Education in Delaware by Bradley Skelcher (1999), Landmarks by Frances Bibbins Latimer (2006), Up Pine Street by David "Nicky" Henry (2003), Recollections of Wicomico One Room Schoolhouses (1977), and other historical sources (primarily newspapers). This set of data will expand to include other counties, any schools that have been missed, and updated information on schools already listed. While the school districts on the Delmarva Peninsula desegregated at various stages throughout the 1960s, Worcester County was the last county in Maryland and among the final 25 counties in the nation to desegregate when they approved a geography-based system during the 1970-71 school year. Before then, schools were segregated based on race; oftentimes the schools for Black students (and, where it applied, Native American students) were given the title of "Colored School." Most of these schools were established after 1872 when Maryland required each county to create a formalized school system for Black children, but state laws differed from each other on the Peninsula and some were opened in 1867. As the education system and population grew on the Peninsula, more schools opened--especially in the 1920s when the Julius Rosenwald fund helped finance dozens of schools across the American south. Similarly, P.S. DuPont built 85 schools for African Americans in Delaware between 1920 and 1930.
The list below shows the data fields included in this source. If a field is marked as Indexed, it is searchable.