Early African American Education

Early African American Education. . The Leora Brown School is one of Indiana's oldest standing black elementary/secondary schools. It was built in 1891 at a cost of $1100.00 and bore the name Corydon Colored School. It had no water or electricity, and students shared a room, divided for elementary and secondary instruction. Students worked at their own levels, and were individually tested for promotion. The first senior class of four students was graduated in 1897. Leora Brown Farrow, a graduate of the school, taught at the school for 26 years. The school was renamed in her honor in 1987, after the careful restoration of the property by her niece, Maxine Brown., Leonard Carter, a native of Indiana, was an African-American Civil War veteran who served in the 28th Colored Infantry. After he was injured in the Petersburg Campaign in Virginia, he was discharged from the army, married and raised nine children in Corydon. He built his own home in 1891., In 2005, under threat of demolition, it was relocated adjacent to the Leora Brown School. These two historic buildings demonstrate part of the everyday lives of Indiana's early African-American settlers., The Indiana General Assembly sanctioned the erection of segregated schools in 1869. Desegregation began in 1949., By the Way:In 1894, Professor William H. Fouse became the first African-American teacher/principal at the Corydon Colored School. Professor Fouse, from Westerville, Ohio, was an accomplished musician and played in the Corydon Community Band. After he left Corydon, he went on to distinguish himself as principal of the Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School in Lexington, Kentucky.