Oak Ridge in Anderson County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Scarboro
Building a Community
Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, December 29, 2024
1. Scarboro marker
Inscription.
Scarboro. Building a Community. During the war, African American families were separated and segregated in drafty plywood-walled one-room hutments near today's Illinois Avenue. After the war, couples were reunited and allowed to move into housing euphemistically named "Victory Cottages" which consisted of two units. These had slight improvements over the hutments in terms of security and privacy, but provided limited space and low quality amenities. In 1950, Scarboro Village opened without restrictions based on race, which allowed more permanent housing for the African American population. Town leaders organized the creation of churches and other social organizations, which instilled a sense of community and stability. The former Gamble Valley Elementary School was used in the new community and renamed Scarboro School. That same year Scarboro High School was established with a teaching staff of 2.5 paid positions and volunteer teachers offering courses in math, biology, and physics. The year following the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education (1954), 40 African American children enrolled at Oak Ridge High School and 45 attended Robertsville Junior High, making Oak Ridge the first Southeastern school system to integrate.
During the war, African American families were separated and segregated in drafty plywood-walled one-room hutments near today's Illinois Avenue. After the war, couples were reunited and allowed to move into housing euphemistically named "Victory Cottages" which consisted of two units. These had slight improvements over the hutments in terms of security and privacy, but provided limited space and low quality amenities. In 1950, Scarboro Village opened without restrictions based on race, which allowed more permanent housing for the African American population. Town leaders organized the creation of churches and other social organizations, which instilled a sense of community and stability. The former Gamble Valley Elementary School was used in the new community and renamed Scarboro School. That same year Scarboro High School was established with a teaching staff of 2.5 paid positions and volunteer teachers offering courses in math, biology, and physics. The year following the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education (1954), 40 African American children enrolled at Oak Ridge High School and 45 attended Robertsville Junior High, making Oak Ridge the first Southeastern school system to integrate.
35° 59.68′ N, 84° 16.018′ W. Marker is in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in Anderson County. It is on Hampton Road 0.1 miles south of Tuskegee Dr, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 172 Hampton Rd, Oak Ridge TN 37830, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in East Tennessee and in Greater Knoxville. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, December 29, 2024
2. Scarboro marker
Credits. This page was last revised on January 7, 2025. It was originally submitted on January 6, 2025, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. This page has been viewed 219 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on January 6, 2025, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
