Description
In 1891, the Corydon Colored School was constructed at a cost of $1100. [1], [2] The school was built to educate the increasing number of African American school-aged children living in Corydon and Harrison County. These children were descendants of about 100 enslaved African Americans who migrated into the Corydon area in the early nineteenth century with a white couple, who eventually gave the group their freedom.[3] Corydon Colored School served both elementary and secondary students and held its first graduation in May 1897.[4] In 1925, the high school closed due to lack of enrollment.[5] The elementary school remained open until 1950,[6] when African American students from Corydon were sent to nearby previously all white schools.[7] The closure of the Corydon Colored School greatly affected the African Americans who taught there, as very few African Americans were hired to teach at segregated schools within the school district.[8]
After sitting unused for decades, the school was purchased in 1987 by Maxine Brown, who created the Leora Brown School, Inc., a non-profit organization named in honor of her aunt. Leora Brown Farrow graduated from Corydon Colored School in 1923, and then spent a year studying education at Madame Blaker’s Teachers College in Indianapolis. She returned to teach at the Corydon Colored School from 1924-1950,[9] becoming the longest serving teacher at the school. Even though she had tenure, Leora Brown was one of the African American teachers who was not retained by the school district when Corydon Color School closed in 1950.[10]
Leora Brown School, Inc. used funding from individuals, foundations, and corporations to rehabilitate and preserve the building. The Leora Brown School opened to the public as a cultural and educational center in 1993, and is used for community functions and to promote tourism in Harrison County.[11] As perhaps the oldest African American educational institution still remaining in Indiana[12] , the Leora Brown School was commemorated with an Indiana Historical Bureau marker in 1995, listed on the Indiana Register of Historic Places,[13] and is part of the Indiana African American Heritage Trail. [14]
Source
[1] “Leora Brown School Marker Text Review Report.” Indiana Historical Bureau. October 21, 2013. Accessed September 21, 2020. https://www.in.gov/history/files/31.1995.1review.pdf
[2] “Leora Brown School.” Journey Indiana. February 28, 2016. Accessed September 21, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eWWoGuL5mk
[3] Brown, Maxine F. “Mitchems of Harrison County.” Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. Spring 2009. Volume 21, Number 2. Indiana Historical Society. Indianapolis, Indiana. Accessed September 21,2020. https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/collection/p16797coll39/id/6623/rec/1
[4] “Leora Brown School Historical Marker.” Indiana Historical Bureau. Corydon, Indiana. 1995. https://www.in.gov/history/markers/132.htm.
[5] “Leora Brown School.”
[6] Esarey, Jenna. “Ind. African American Heritage Trail Gets Boost,” February 20, 2015. Accessed, September 21, 2020. https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/indiana/2015/02/19/ind-african-american-heritage-trail-gets-boost/23693067/.
[7] “Leora Brown School Marker Text Review Report.”
[8] Wilson, Carrol. “Leora Brown School.” Indiana Historical Bureau. November 17, 2013. Accessed September 21, 2020.https://www.in.gov/history/4226.htm
[9] “Leora Brown School Fund.” Accessed October 5, 2020. https://hccfindiana.org/esDonations/details/41/Leora-Brown-School-Fund.
[10] “Leora Brown School.”
[11] Esarey, Jenna.
[12] Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, “Leora Brown School,” Discover Indiana, accessed September 21, 2020, https://publichistory.iupui.edu/items/show/338.
[13] “Leora Brown School Fund.”
[14] Esarey, Jenna.
Contributor
Student Author: Molly Hollcraft
Faculty/Staff Editors: Dr. Ronald V. Morris, Dr. Kevin C. Nolan, and Christine Thompson
Graduate Assistant Researchers: Carrie Vachon and JB Bilbrey
Rights
PHOTO & VIDEO:
Leora Brown School, attributed to Cool10191, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leora_brown_school1.jpg