NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF BLACK HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI
(NCABHSA)

     Most of the former African-American high schools in North Carolina, including those located in Edgecombe, Nash and surrounding counties, closed their doors between 1969 and 1973 in response to the desegregation plan set forth by the state of North Carolina. Shortly after that time, vigorously active alumni groups of those schools were established and have existed since the mid-seventies. These alumni associations are well organized and strong in their determination to stay connected, to make a difference among youth and to keep the history and memory of their schools alive within the communities.

      The schools listed below were among the many affected by the closures and are the charter schools of the North Carolina Association of Black High School Alumni (NCABHSA).  Although Brick School was not a part of the state’s action at that time, it holds a special place in the African American educational history of the state. Brick School was the forerunner of several area high schools including Phillips in Edgecombe County, Swift Creek in Nash County and Inborden in Halifax County.

NCABHSA CHARTER SCHOOLS

 Edgecombe County___

Phillips High School - Battleboro

Booker T. Washington High School – Rocky Mount

W.A. Pattillo High School - Tarboro

Conetoe High School - Conetoe

George Washington Carver High School - Pinetops

 Nash County

Nash County Training School/Nash Central High School -

Nashville

Swift Creek High School – Whitakers

C.C. Spaulding High School – Spring Hope

     Brick School, a private institution funded by the American Missionary Association, was among one of the earliest of the secondary schools that served the African-American community in Edgecombe and surrounding counties in Eastern North Carolina. Brick School originated in 1895 with 54 students attending thru grade four. In 1926 it became a junior college and was the only place African Americans could get a secondary education in the area. It was the first accredited school for African Americans in North Carolina.

     Brick as a junior college, was forced to close in 1933 due to the economic hardships of the great depression. However, the AMA transferred its school building to the three surrounding county boards of education in Edgecombe, Nash and Halifax for use as a public high school. In 1946, the building housing the high schools on the Brick campus was destroyed by a fire caused by a boiler malfunction. The area's county students who were attending Brick continued their schooling in local African American churches until Phillips High School was constructed in 1949 in Battleboro. Shortly afterwards, Swift Creek and Inborden were built to accommodate the Nash and Halifax county high school students. Other schools in Nash and Edgecombe built for African Americans included, Nash County Training School and C.C. Spaulding in Nash County; G. W. Carver and Conetoe High School in southern Edgecombe.  Conetoe had actually been built for the white students in that area but was given to African Americans living in the southern end of the county for use in 1948-49. Public schools, Booker T. Washington and W.A.  Pattillo had been established in the early 1920s and served African-Americans living within the city limits of Rocky Mount and Tarboro, respectively.

  After they were closed, each of these high schools formed an alumni association or alumni organization with numbers ranging from less than a hundred to over 400 members. They meet regularly to conduct business, to fellowship, and to structure projects that will support the college endeavors of graduating seniors and the success of other school children. Many of those projects have involved contributing and raising money for scholarships, donating school supplies and library books. The scholarships are awarded during their annual school reunions which are generally held at various   times each year from May to September. Many of these alumni groups have also been involved in other projects such as collecting canned goods for the community, providing personal supplies for the local women’s prison, and awarding annual savings bonds to outstanding middle-school students.   The alumni associations have been formed for as many as 30 to 37 years and have remained full of pride for their schools and their former teachers and principals. Several have chapters in cities along the East Coast. Many graduates of these schools have enjoyed a multitude of successful careers and a great many continued to live in the area after graduation from high school and college, with more returning to the area over the recent years as retirees. These former African American schools may have been closed, torn down, changed to elementary and/or middle schools or forgotten by local newspapers, community leaders, and even some citizens in these counties; however, the love, memory, and pride felt by their graduates remains alive and well. Their alumni reunite regularly not only to award scholarships, but also in remembrance, celebration, love, and friendship with their fellow “Bulldogs,” “Falcons,” “Beavers,” “Eagles,” “Trojans,” “Lions“, “Bears,” ,”Wildcat,” and “Tigers”. They want to pass on their history and legacy to other girls and boys as well as the messages of hope through education and citizenship. These messages were the foundations of excellence instilled by many of the schools’ mottos like those of Phillip's “B-Somebody”,Conetoe’s, “Nothing Succeeds Like Success” and Gethsemane’s “Onward and Upward."  The annual school reunions have been the source of continued pride over the years and they have spurned greater connections with more individual class reunions, newsletters, websites, e-mails accounts, and, recently, the formation of the NCABHSA (North Carolina Association of Black High School Alumni) in July 2008.

      The purpose of NCABHSA is to link the Black high school alumni association members, graduates, and attendees for the purpose of carrying out its mission to preserve the history and legacy of Black high schools in the state of North Carolina, and to engage in educational partnerships that will promote and distribute scholarships to our youth.  The eight charter schools of the organization have been joined recently by new member schools from counties surrounding Edgecombe and Nash. Bethel Union High School of Pitt County and Gethsemane of Franklin County are among more recent members who have joined as well as an individual member from Darden High School of Wilson.

     The first activity of this organization was a dinner/dance on November 28, 2008, at Nash Central‘s O.D. Moore Alumni Facility, 806 South Alston St., Nashville, NC.  In keeping with its commitment to foster the alumni’s continued connection to the community, the first event by the NCABHSA also included exemplary participation in the annual Toys-For-Tots campaign. Attendees donated a multitude of toys for this program to benefit needy children for the holidays.

  Purpose

“To gather, share and preserve the history

of our former high schools.”

“To provide information and service to

fellow alumni associations, parents, students

and community leaders and to work

with each in areas that will directly benefit

the educational achievements and character

of our youth.

To support other organizations that reflects

our educational and mentoring ideals for

our youth.”