418 North Mason Street
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Last updated on September 4, 204
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Directions from Mary Fairfax Home to site 13:
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The history of African American schooling in Harrisonburg begun after the Civil War. The Freedman's Bureau established a school for African American children that was held in the basement of the former Scanlon Hotel. The school moved to be housed in a church on West Market Street. In 1870, the city statewide implemented the statewide public school system that was racially segregated. The first school building for black children was built located along Blacks Run in 1870 called Whipple School and/or The Tine Cup Alley School.
The Effinger Street School was built in 1882 after the Harrisonburg Town Council allocated $2,000 for a new schoolhouse for African American students. Also known as Harrisonburg Colored School, the new school for African American students stood on the southwest end of Effinger Street. It was two-story, four-room brick schoolhouse. In 1910, an auditorium and two more classrooms were added. The school operated based on three grades based on reading level and provided night school for adults. Educators taught traditional subjects to all students. The school added economics, music, and industrial arts in the later years when grade levels were also implemented. Effinger had extracurricular activities such as a choir and sports. The gym at the Colonnade on Wolfe Street was used for sports games and social events for the school. The school was full of children eager to learn, and teachers dedicated to their students' success. Many students remember the dedication and kindness shown to them by their teachers and the fun times they spent with their peers.
Effinger became a locus in the Black community in the northeast end of Harrisonburg. It was a school and community engagement center. Constructed at a time when government institutions withheld the same funding, attention, and resources to black schools as they did to white ones, the staff and students of Effinger worked hard to create an atmosphere of learning, exploration, and friendship. After almost 60 years, Effinger Street School was closed in 1937 and torn down. The lot where the school once stood is now part of a shopping center that cut off Effinger Street in the 1960s due to R4 Urban Renewal projects. In 1939, a new school, Lucy F. Simms School, was established. It was named after community leader and former teacher Lucy F. Simms of Effinger, who taught there for nearly 50 years.
The Effinger Street School was built in 1882 after the Harrisonburg Town Council allocated $2,000 for a new schoolhouse for African American students. Also known as Harrisonburg Colored School, the new school for African American students stood on the southwest end of Effinger Street. It was two-story, four-room brick schoolhouse. In 1910, an auditorium and two more classrooms were added. The school operated based on three grades based on reading level and provided night school for adults. Educators taught traditional subjects to all students. The school added economics, music, and industrial arts in the later years when grade levels were also implemented. Effinger had extracurricular activities such as a choir and sports. The gym at the Colonnade on Wolfe Street was used for sports games and social events for the school. The school was full of children eager to learn, and teachers dedicated to their students' success. Many students remember the dedication and kindness shown to them by their teachers and the fun times they spent with their peers.
Effinger became a locus in the Black community in the northeast end of Harrisonburg. It was a school and community engagement center. Constructed at a time when government institutions withheld the same funding, attention, and resources to black schools as they did to white ones, the staff and students of Effinger worked hard to create an atmosphere of learning, exploration, and friendship. After almost 60 years, Effinger Street School was closed in 1937 and torn down. The lot where the school once stood is now part of a shopping center that cut off Effinger Street in the 1960s due to R4 Urban Renewal projects. In 1939, a new school, Lucy F. Simms School, was established. It was named after community leader and former teacher Lucy F. Simms of Effinger, who taught there for nearly 50 years.
