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The Hattons
The Hatton family of Oxon Hill, Maryland, was free before the Civil War began in 1861. Henry Hatton was freed in 1840, at 28, when the woman who enslaved him, Mrs. Henry C. Hardey, died. A blacksmith, he bought 21 acres of Mount Welby Farm, and he, his wife Martha and their family lived at the edge of what is now Oxon Hill Farm, part of Oxon Cove Park.
Colored School No. 1
The Hattons are considered the founders of the first primary school for freedmen in southern Maryland, as schools were also opening in Baltimore and on the Eastern Shore. Records show the family asking the Freedmen's Bureau for lumber and shingles in 1867. The one-room school was first called "Colored School No. 1 in District 6," and later became known as the River View School.
| Hoped-for teacher | George Hatton, Henry's son, wrote to the Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of Colored People asking to teach after returning from Civil War service |
| First teacher | Ellen Fisher, until 1869, according to the school's records |
| Permanent teacher | Josephine Hatton, Henry and Martha's daughter, appointed by the Baltimore Association in 1872; she served until 1874 |
| Trustees | Henry Hatton, Alfred Travis and Henry Butler, who also lived near Oxon Hill Farm, served the school and the Black community |
A long campaign for a new school
In 1889 the community petitioned for a new building and met resistance. From 1889 to 1901, Black leaders from Oxon Hill traveled again and again to Upper Marlboro, the county seat, asking for funds. The community bought land in 1902 — but construction wasn't approved for another 19 years.
The new school was funded by three sources:
| Source | Amount |
|---|---|
| The Oxon Hill community | $500 |
| The Julius Rosenwald Fund | $1,000 |
| Requested from the Prince George's County Board of School Commissioners | $2,000 |
The two-room Rosenwald School was built from 1921 to 1923. A committee report congratulated the community "not only because of its new two room Rosenwald School, but especially because of the very splendid way this community backs up its leaders."
Later years
In 1931 the school got electricity, a stove and repairs, and the community kept adding improvements and facilities into the 1940s. Eventually the Rosenwald School merged with Fort Foote's school and was renamed Sojourner Truth Elementary. Its site is now the Oxon Hill Branch Library, about two miles from Oxon Hill Farm.
Sources
Based on "Freedmen's Schools in Oxon Hill," National Capital Parks-East, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The article draws on Bianca P. Floyd, Records and Recollections: Early History in Prince George's County, Maryland (Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, 1989).
Nestas publicaçõesNational Capital Parks-East
Licença: CC0 1.0 (domínio público) · Adaptado de www.nps.gov
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