Snow Hill Normal and Industrial Institute
{{Use American English|date=April 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Snow Hill Normal and Industrial Institute
| nrhp_type = hd
| image = Snow Hill Institute.jpg
| caption =
| nearest_city = Snow Hill, Alabama
| coordinates = {{coord|32|1|14|N|87|1|59|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Alabama#USA
| area =
| architect =
| architecture = Bungalow/Craftsman, Queen Anne
| added = February 24, 1995
| refnum = 95000146{{NRISref|2008a}}
| designated_other1 = ARLH
| designated_other1_date = July 14, 1981{{ARLHref|version=201402|accessdate=August 17, 2014}}
| nocat = yes
}}
The Snow Hill Normal and Industrial Institute, also known as the Colored Industrial and Literary Institute of Snow Hill, was a historic African American school in Snow Hill, Alabama. It was founded in 1893 by Dr. William James Edwards, a graduate of Tuskegee University, and began in a one-room log cabin. The school grew over time to include a campus of 27 buildings, a staff of 35, and over 400 students. The school was operated as a private school for African-American children until Dr. Edward's retirement in 1924, when it became a public school operated by the State of Alabama. The school closed in 1973, after the desegregation of the Wilcox County school system. Out of the original 27 buildings, only eight survive today.{{cite web|url=http://www.wilcoxareachamber.org/history/snow_hill_institute.htm|title=Snow Hill Institute|work=Wilcox Area Chamber of Commerce|accessdate=2008-10-14}} They range in architectural style from Queen Anne to Craftsman and include the founder's home, five teachers' cottages, and the library. The National Snow Hill Alumni Association and the local Snow Hill Institute supporters determined to save the remaining structures in 1980. In June 1980, Dr. Edwards' granddaughter and Snow Hill alumna Consuela Lee Moorehead reopened the school as the Springtree/Snow Hill Institute for the Performing Arts and ran after-school and summer programs for local students.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/arts/music/12lee.html|title=Consuela Lee, Jazz Pianist and Educator, Dies at 83|last=Weber|first=Bruce|date=2010-01-12|website=The New York Times|access-date=2018-04-03}} The art institute continued to run until 2003 when Moorehead's declining health caused her to close down the school. The school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 24, 1995.
William James Edwards
The school's founder, William James Edwards (born 1869) is buried by the school.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ruralswalabama.org/attraction/snow-hill-institute-at-snow-hill-al/|title=Snow Hill Normal and Industrial Institute located in Wilcox County}} He authored Twenty-Five Years in the Black Belt about his experiences. In the book, Edwards identifies as alumni of the school:
- Emmanuel McDuffie, founder and principal of Lauringburg Normal and Industrial Institute in Laurinburg, North Carolina
- Rev. Emmanuel M. Brown, a faculty member at Street Manual Training School in Richmond, Alabama
- John W. Brister who established a prize at Snow Hill Institute
- Waverley Turner Carmichael the "Poet of Snow Hill".
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Snow Hill Normal and Industrial Institute}}
- [http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=68185 Historical Marker Database]
{{NRHP in Wilcox County, Alabama}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Wilcox County, Alabama
Category:School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama
Category:Historic districts in Wilcox County, Alabama
Category:Defunct schools in Alabama
Category:Queen Anne architecture in Alabama
Category:American Craftsman architecture in Alabama
Category:Properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage
Category:Historically segregated African-American schools in Alabama
Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama
Category:1893 establishments in Alabama
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