The Lowndesboro School Museum and Regional Technology Center, in Lowndes County, Alabama, occupies the former Lowndesboro School — a Reconstruction-era school for African Americans, and today one of the oldest Reconstruction-era schoolhouses still standing in the United States.
Mansfield Tyler
After the Civil War, in 1867, Mansfield Tyler founded Lowndesboro School in rural Lowndes County. Born enslaved, Tyler went on to:
- serve in the Alabama House of Representatives;
- help create Selma University, and chair its Board of Trustees;
- found churches, and lead several organizations in Alabama.
The school
| Year | |
|---|---|
| 1867 | the school is founded; with help from the Freedmen's Bureau, buildings go up for the school and a Baptist church serving newly freed men, women and children |
| 1880 | a new church is built, and the school runs from it |
| three years later | Tyler and his wife transfer the property to the Lowndesboro Colored Education Association, which builds a school building on the site |
| until 1967 | for the next 84 years, the school teaches only African American children — with meager resources and no electricity, running water or indoor restrooms |
| after 1967 | the building serves several uses, among them a local health center |
| 2024 | the museum joins the African American Civil Rights Network |
The African American Civil Rights Network
The African American Civil Rights Network recognizes the African American Civil Rights Movement and the sacrifices of those who fought discrimination and segregation. Created by the African American Civil Rights Act of 2017 and coordinated by the National Park Service, it tells the stories of the movement's people, places and events through public and private properties, facilities and programs.
Sources
Based on "The Lowndesboro School Museum and Regional Technology Center (Lowndesboro County, Alabama)," African American Civil Rights Network, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The source's title says "Lowndesboro County"; its text, followed here, says Lowndes County. Its "Freedman's Bureau" and "Lowdnesboro" are spelled Freedmen's and Lowndesboro.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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