Tangipahoa Parish Training School’s Dormitory
The National Register entry for the Dormitory of Tangipahoa Parish Training School (TPTS) has been added to the National Register Section. The dormitory of the Kentwood, Louisiana school was constructed in the early 1920s and was moved to another location in 1978 to prevent its destruction. TPTS was the site of secondary education for many African American students in the surrounding parishes and Southern Mississippi. The dormitory enabled their attendance.
TPTS was the first of the first of 16 parish training schools constructed in Louisiana. It changed its name to O.W. Dillon Memorial High school from 1955-1969. After Integration, it became Kentwood Elementary School.
The Dormitory became the first National Register entry for Louisiana’s African American High Schools in 1979.
Union High School, Mer Rouge, Louisiana, Morehouse Parish The name was indicative of its origin, the united communities. The red soil, Mer Rouge, was reflected in its mascot , the red fire-breathing dragon. The school had much to cheer, much to love and they felt loved. A detailed history gives one the impression of a well organized and vibrant high school experience.
Central Colored High School, Shreveport, Louisiana, Caddo Parish was a victim of planned obsolescence, as evidenced by its name. Its doors were opened in 1917, however, the true impact of its place in Louisiana African American high school history was not realized, perhaps, because 12th grade was not offered until 1949, one year before its closure. Rising from the Central Colored High School’s ashes like a phoenix, Booker T. Washington High School was the capable successor. Central Colored High School, a shadow of itself during its days of glory, stands in the United States Registry of Historic Places.
e a child, Washington High School took a tribe and did a service to their community , state and country. They were well respected as fierce competitors in all aspects of education and athletics. The school provided the framework and launching point for students for nearly two decades. Please share their success story by viewing their year books and documents.
Charles P. Adams High School, Oberlin, Louisiana, Allen Parish was an afterthought in Allen Parish. African American education in Oberlin, Louisiana was self-directed from its early beginnings and paradoxically its foundations still exist as a basketball court. Mysterious origins and glorious and triumphant existence succumbed to a murky termination. Its footprint is a memory of past struggles and victories.
African American High Schools in Louisiana Before 1970 