An agricultural school for African American men and women was planned to be built in the Ambler borough during the early 20th century. It was unknown if the school was ever built or even agreed upon to be built. The school was inspired by another school in Alabama under the leadership of Booker T. Washington.
Booker T. Washington's School
Booker T. Washington was admitted to the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia (now Hampton University) where he studied the common subjects and agriculture, as well as learning good manners.
After graduating with honors, Washington returned to his home in Malden, West Virginia to teach. Feeling motivated to learn more, he went back to school at the Wayland Seminary in Washington, D.C. where he developed his educational philosophy on practical skills and self-help.
Meanwhile, in Macon County, Alabama, former slave Lewis Adams and former slave owner George W. Campbell worked together to establish a school for African Americans in the state. On February 12, 1881, Alabama governor Rufus W. Cobb signed the bill into law, marking the beginning of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, known today as Tuskegee University. Washington was recommended to be the school's first president. He served as the school's president until his death in 1915.
He supported funds, with the help from recruited students and local white people, to buy land and building materials for the school.
What Do We Know About The African American School in Ambler?
In February 1903, an African American man named Joseph B. Owens, a builder and contractor from Philadelphia, planned to establish a school in Ambler after a failed attempt to establish the school in the Somerton section of Philadelphia.
Joseph B. Owens was born and raised in South Carolina, and was a graduate at the Colored Normal Industrial Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina, now known as the South Carolina State University. After graduating, he ventured up North to establish a school similar to Washington's Tuskegee Institute.
"His attention has been directed to the need of an agricultural school established along the lines laid down by Booker Washington, by the condition of his race in the north, and for a number of years he has seriously considered the project of establishing such an institution from his own resources assisted by philanthropic northern friends whom he has interested in the project and from whom he considers help will come."
- Ambler Gazette, February 5, 1903
It was said that there was a similar school in Flemington, New Jersey that was planned on April 1, 1903 to be built by Owens himself for $35,000.
What Would The School Look and Be Like?
Joseph B. Owens initially planned to purchase 4-6 acres of farm land for his agricultural school. He proposed to build a $50,000 stone building. It was intended that he would be the manager of the institution, and hoped he would be assisted by those who were from the agriculture schools in the South.
Courses would be offered at this school, and it would include agriculture, general housework, stenography, bookkeeping, typewriting, etc.
Bibliography
"Dr. Booker Taliaferro Washington." Tuskegee University. Accessed August 19, 2023. https://www.tuskegee.edu/discover-tu/tu-presidents/booker-t-washington.
"Will Teach The Blacks." Ambler Gazette. February 5, 1903. Page 1. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_2946.
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