Sheffield in Colbert County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)

Sheffield Colored School
⎯⎯⎯
Sterling High School

Sheffield Colored School Marker (side 1) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, April 15, 2015

1. Sheffield Colored School Marker (side 1)

Inscription. Sheffield Colored School Public education for Sheffield's black children began in 1889 in a framed building at E. 20th St. and S. Atlanta Ave. with Henry Hopkins as teacher. Professor Benjamin J. Sterling (1847-1941), a former slave, became principal in 1896 and continued to teach until 1936. Sheffield Colored High School began in 1920 with 12 students. Grammar and high school classes were taught in the frame building and in several churches. In 1921, P.B. Swoopes and Marion C. McDaniel became the first high school graduates. By then the old building was dilapidated and overcrowded. Supporters of the school donated land on E. 19th St. and the Sheffield Board of Education erected a modern brick building in 1923 at the cost of $20,227.50 to house 12 grades. The architect was D.L. Simon and the contractor was Florence Lumber Co.

Sterling High School Sheffield Colored School was renamed Sterling High School in 1942 in memory of the late Benjamin Sterling. The Board of Trustees worked diligently with school officials to obtain equipment and qualified teachers to make Sterling an accredited school. Land for an athletic

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

field and playground was acquired in 1946. A gymnasium and dining room were added in 1950, and the entire building was renovated when grades 1-6 moved to a new school in 1959. Rev. Richard A. Stewart served as principal, 1944-1968. The Sterling band greeted President John F. Kennedy as he arrived at TVA in 1963. Sterling closed in 1968 under federal court orders and its 225 pupils and 12 teachers were absorbed into Sheffield Junior and Senior High Schools. The vacant building was razed in 1978 and 19th St. was renamed Sterling Blvd.

Erected 2010 by City of Sheffield, Sterling Alumni and Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation, alabama Historical Association.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Education. In addition, it is included in the Alabama Historical Association, and the Former U.S. Presidents: #35 John F. Kennedy series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1889.

Location. 34° 45.209′ N, 87° 41.58′ W. Marker is in Sheffield, Alabama, in Colbert County. It is on Sterling Boulevard near Southeast 11th Avenue, on the left when traveling east.

Sterling High School Marker (side 2) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, April 15, 2015

2. Sterling High School Marker (side 2)

Located across the street from Healing Fountain Apostolic Faith Church. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1019 Sterling Blvd, Sheffield AL 35660, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Alabama

and in the Shoals.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, measured as the crow flies: In Memory of Our Comrades of Sheffield (approx. 0.4 miles away); President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (approx. half a mile away); Percy Sledge / Producer Quin Ivy (approx. half a mile away); The Birth of VFW Post #8640 (approx. 0.6 miles away); History of Sheffield (approx. 0.6 miles away); The Singing River Sculpture (approx. 0.7 miles away);

Sheffield Colored School/Sterling High School Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, April 15, 2015

3. Sheffield Colored School/Sterling High School Marker

Furnace Hill (approx. 0.9 miles away); Nitrate Plant No. 1 (approx. one mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sheffield.

Sheffield Board of Education image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, April 15, 2015

4. Sheffield Board of Education

Credits. This page was last revised on March 13, 2022. It was originally submitted on April 16, 2015, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 3,221 times since then and 182 times this year. Last updated on March 12, 2022, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on April 16, 2015, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. • Mark Hilton was the editor who published this page.

Sheffield Colored School⎯⎯⎯Sterling High School

Sheffield Colored School
⎯⎯⎯
Sterling High School