Dunham High School

Dunham High School. An African American School in Letcher County 1931-1964. In the early 1900s, Jenkins and other coal towns saw an increase in their black populations, as African Americans from the rural South moved to the region seeking work in the coal mines. To segregate the children of these families from the white school population, Consolidation Coal Company built separate schools in Burdine, Jenkins, Dunham and McRoberts. These schools for black students only provided education from the 1st through 7th grade. To attain a high school education, black students had to relocate and board at personal expense., When a Kentucky law mandated that all the school districts provide 12 grades of segregated school for both races, the Jenkins School System began to establish a high school for black students. Letcher County contributed their state funds to the Jenkins School System for the extended education of the county's black children. The established high school became the only high school in Letcher County, educating students from Jenkins, McRoberts, Fleming, and Haymond., The first 9th grade class was installed at the existing Jenkins Grade School in 1931. In July of 1938, the school board decided that the land near the Jenkins Colored School in Jenkins #4 Hollow, which was owned by the St. George Catholic Church, would be sufficient land for a school site. In November 1938 the board voted to request that Consolidation Coal Company construct at least four rooms to the Jenkins Colored School, two rooms up and two rooms down., In 1942 Consolidation Coal Preparation Plant was built near the Dunham Graded School. Because of the noise from the plant, the Dunham Graded School was closed and the students were relocated to the Jenkins Colored School. Residents of the area at the time recall that when the school was moved from Dunham, the newly renovated structure in Jenkins was named Dunham High School., Dunham High School closed in 1964, 10 years after the Supreme Court ruling on the court case Brown vs. Board of Education, which declared racial segregation of children in public schools unconstitutional., In 1965 the building became the home of Jenkins Junior High School until it was destroyed by fire in 1969., [Captions (clockwise from top right) , . William Stovall, Jr. along with Minnie Bell, Margaret Helmon, Kind Bell, Mae Mahone, and Jimmy Walker were members of the first class to graduate from Dunham High School in 1935. After earning a degree from Kentucky State College, Mr. Stovall went on to attain a law degree from Cleveland State University's Marshall College of Law. , . The Class of 1961 graduated from Dunham High School three years before the desegregation of schools in Letcher County in 1964. L-R: Joe N. Moss, Lana F. Broach, Fred Cook, Jacqueline Gray, John Slone, Ernestine Baxter, Jimmy Williams, Nancy Powell, Hardy Norwood, Barbara Toodle, Joseph Walter, Shirley Gray, Charles Hollyfield, Betty J. Shelton , . Principal Green V. Curry (1951-1965) G.V. Curry served as principal at Dunham High School until the schools were fully integrated in 1965. Other principals: Alexander Greenwood . William Mudd . George W. Parks . Leonard L. Owens . Pearl Cornett , . Elizabeth A. Long Caldwell attended school in McRoberts. After completing 7th grade, she then went to Kentucky State Industrial College to complete her high school and college education. She returned to Jenkins to become a progressive and beloved teacher from 1935-1951. , . With the creation of Dunham High School came the opportunity for athletics for the students. Dunham High competed against other segregated high schools in the area. In 1948-49 the basketball team took second-place trophy in their conference. (Left photo) Dunham Blue Devils Back row, L-R: G.V. Parks, Principal; Edward Oden, Edward Osley, Curtis Crenshaw, Frank Ward, Tommy Bates, George Lamarr, F.B. Cornett, coach. Front row, L-R: R. Morris [missing text] Donald Hudson, Willie Coleman, James Chance, Bobby Hocke, Arthur Davis. Sitting in front: Scorekeeper Marshall Epps. (Right photo) Cheerleaders left to right: Corine Osley, Catharine Jackson, Henry Baker, Margie Foster and Sarah Jo Richardson.