Lee Street School and its Community 1925 - 1969

The Story of Lee Street School

The Beginnings

Lee Street School began as “The Colored School”. It was a Rosenwald funded structure located at 646 Lee Street in Pierce County. The school was constructed between 1925 and 1926 as a three-teacher type plan with a kitchen addition. The building was a wood plank structure resting on a brick foundation with a tin roof and nine-over- nine windows.

The structure was initially built as a library/school. The Library was named in honor of African American Opera Singer Marian Anderson. Initially the school was simply known as the “colored school”. It was built at the corner of what is now Lee and Tuck streets using Rosenwald and community funds. A condition of Rosenwald funds was that the community gets involved and provides support for the effort. There is no record of county public support for the education of black children in Pierce County before the Rosenwald Schools.

The school did not have a formal name and Principal Lee F. Fluker thought it should be called something other than the Colored School or the Negro School. A group of community leaders met with Principal Lee F. Fluker and decided on the name Lee Street School.

The Lee family lived on the southwest corner of the intersection of what are now Lee and Tuck Streets. They were a distinguished family in the community. The street was also named for this family.

The Library/school began as an adjoined two room structure and remained in this form from 1926 until 1949 when the Eaddyville School and some of the other small rural communities within the county merged with Lee Street School. The Patterson Training School however continued as a separate entity.

In 1949 the Rosenwald structure had two large rooms. One room was designated as a classroom, the second large room doubled as a classroom and a library. The classroom was partitioned into two smaller areas. Grades one and two were on one side of the partition with grades three and four were on the other side. Grades above four were accommodated in the second large room called the library/classroom. The seating arrangement defined the grade level.

By 1949, barring consumables, nothing in the school was new. The desks, chalkboards, potbelly wood stoves etcetera that were a part of the original Rosenwald gift were still functioning and many of these elements were still in the classrooms. Our parents, aunts and uncles sat at these desks and were taught by some of the same teachers who remained on staff. The school was the heart of the community.

In 1950 the Rosenwald structure was amended to add an administrative office and additional classrooms. This provided space for better class groupings and more teachers. A twelfth grade was added to the curricula. Today (2016) this structure still stands as a historical structure and faces Tuck Street.

Physical Education and Sports

Physical Education and sports were an important part of Lee Street School education. The faculty recognized the importance of teaching and nurturing interpersonal skills through sports and physical education.

At recess we went out and played – and we played hard. Little did we know the health benefits that would accrue to us - from leaner bodies and lower blood pressure to improved mental health and cognitive functions. Most importantly, learning to be active early in life provided an important foundation for a lifetime.

The athletic program at Lee Street School has consisted mostly of basketball and, for a brief period, 1937-38, football. Basketball teams were organized about 1929 by Prof. Modron J. Hadley, Mrs. Elizabeth “Betty” Sutton Johnson and Mrs. Mittie Gertrude Butler served as coaches. Later Prof. C.B. Holloway organized the first boy’s team and served as coach for the boys and girls teams.

It was left to Prof. L.F. Fluker to organize a systematic athletic program at Lee Street. In 1937-38 a successful winning streak began for the boys. The boy’s team played in the state tournament held at Georgia State College (Now Savannah State University) and won an award. The team also played in the National Basketball Tournament at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

At the state tournament, Leo Marshall Jr. and J.C. “Smokey” Wilson won the All-State Guard award, and A.C. King won an award as All-State Forward. The team’s hook shot artist was O.T. Surrency and Thomas Roundtree was the backboard man.

The boy’s basketball team, under S.D. Tarver as coach won the 1949 and 1951 Class C championships in state and district. In 1953 they won the district championship.

Until 1953 the school had no indoor facilities for physical activities. All physical education and intramural games were played outside on dirt and in the elements. My friend Leviticus Roberts, who graduated in 1957, reminded me that during winter months one of his tasks during intramural games was to build fires in the 55 gallon barrels that were placed on either end of the basketball court. The players would warm their hands when there was a break in the court action.

To participate in sports activities was a challenge. There are anecdotal stories of young men who wanted to participate in the basketball sports and would overcome extraordinary hurdles to find ways to participate.

Julius Myers was perhaps 6ft, 2in in high school and an excellent basketball player. The challenge was not how to play basketball but rather how to get to and from Lee Street School in Blackshear from his home in Patterson for practice. The practice sessions and games were held after school and no transportation was provided for participating students. To play on the team Julius would stay after school for the practice sessions, thumb a ride back to Patterson (about 9 miles) and then walk three miles from the highway back to his home – sometimes arriving well after midnight. School was next day. Other participating students had similar challenges.

In 1953 a gym was added to the facilities facilitating the acceleration of sports programs and providing an indoor facility to host school and community events. The school briefly fielded a track team but basket ball was to become the forte of the school’s sports.