Dunbar - Haywood County Training - Carver High School

In the 1890’s, Dunbar became the first public school for African Americans in Brownsville, Tennessee, serving primary through eighth grade.  It was located on the west corner of Jefferson Street and Anderson Avenue.  John R. Gloster was the first principal with George Currie as assistant principal.

Dunbar, a frame structure, was destroyed by fire but the instruction continued in the city’s three African American churches: Farmer Chapel C.M.E., First Baptist, and Holiness (Brick Sanctified).  Three principals, F. E. Jeffries, Mack Solari, and George Currie, were chosen to direct the temporary schools.

When the school was rebuilt around 1922, it became known as Haywood County Training School, and professor F. E. Jeffries was named as principal.  Growing enrollment required expansion of the school and a domestic agricultural building was constructed.  Significant funding for the new school was provided by the Rosenwald Fund, established by Sears, Roebuck and Company magnate Julius Rosenwald, guided by Booker T. Washington, and supplemented by African American community contributions of “matching funds.” Rosenwald’s philanthropic endeavors ultimately supported over 5,000 educational initiatives for African Americans and Native Americans in the South. 

In 1936, Roy B. Bond became the principal when F. E. Jeffries became the first full time African American agricultural extension agent in the county.  As enrollment continued to skyrocket, an additional structure became necessary.  A woodwork shop, gymnasium, eight classrooms, larger office space, and a cafeteria were added.  This increased enrollment was due largely to better provision of transportation and World War II veterans returning to complete their education.

In 1950, a committee recommended renaming the school in honor of George Washington Carver.  Carver High School embraced grades 1 through 12 until the 1960’s when grades 1 through 8 were transferred to a newly built Eastside Elementary School.

Carver High had a peak enrollment of over 1,600 students in the 1950’s with a staff of 50 to 60, including 3 full time custodians.  The school remained under the guidance of principal Roy B. Bond until desegregation of public schools and an “integrated merger” was accomplished in 1970.  Following the farewell bid of the graduating class of 1970, the school closed its doors.

In 1981, eleven years after the last student graduated from Carver, a small group of alumni hosted the first reunion in Detroit, Michigan.  From that humble and glorious beginning, a formal alumni association was born.  Today the Association has 10 chapters in 8 states and operates the Dunbar-Haywood County Training-Carver High School Museum and Cultural Center.  The facility,  which  was officially dedicated on September 1, 2007, is located on the site and in the building known as Carver High School.