Fifth Street Colored School

Fifth Street Colored School. . , As early as 1857 there was some form of public school being offered to the children of color in Colombia - 43 males and 47 females were enrolled in classes that year, In 1872, Zion Hill AME Church turned over the property located on the south corner of 5th Street and Alley N to the Columbia School Board who converted the property into a schoolhouse. The location became known as The Fifth Street Colored School., In 1878 the Columbia School Board purchased additional lots next to the existing schoolhouse. Construction on a new Fifth Street Colored School commenced in July of 1881 and on the 21st of November 1881 the new school was up and running. This school remained in operation until 1928 when the students were reassigned to other schools in the Borough., Miss Katie Patterson, the first colored graduate of the Columbia high school, afterward a teacher in that borough's school's, for the past nine years a teacher in the school's of Camden, New Jersey, where she holds a good position, has been visiting friends and relatives in this county this week. Miss Patterson's record of hard work, crowned with success is one of which the Columbia schools should feel proud., Katie Patterson Johnson , Columbia's public schools, in the 1800's, were segregated with the exception of a few students. One of these students was Katie Patterson Johnson., Kate Patterson was born in Columbia in February of 1864. She resided, with her mother and brothers, in Tow Hill on South Fifth Street. Katie was the first student of color to attend Columbia High School. Her entrance into the school in 1879 was under a small protest by the community, but, the school superintendent could find no legal reason not to admit her since she had completed all the prerequisites required of any other student admitted to the school. On the 2nd of June, 1882 Katie graduated, where she read an essay titled "How Shall We Obtain True Prizes". Immediately following her graduation Katie was selected to teach at the Fifth Street Colored School. She obtained the salary of $30 a month (the same as eight other starting teachers that were white)., In 1888 Katie resigned from teaching in Columbia due to health reasons. After a stay in the West Philadelphia Homoeopathic Hospital she began teaching in Camden, NJ where she rose to be the Principal of the Sumner School. She was a pillar of her community - during her time in Camden - she was one of the founders and first organist of the St. Augustine Church, she was instrumental in the founding of the colored branch of the YWCA and she worked with the NAACP. She married William Johnson and had two children. Katie died 5 November 1926.