Allen-White School

United States historic place

Allen-White School

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

School in August 2010, before fire

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Location| 100 Allen Extension Street
Whiteville, Tennessee
United States
Coordinates| 35°20′01″N 89°08′51″W﻿ / ﻿35.3335°N 89.1476°W﻿ / 35.3335; -89.1476
Area| 0.2 acres (0.081 ha)
Built| 1918 (1918)
Architect| Dresslar, Fletcher; Smith, Samuel L.
Architectural style| Rosenwald Plan 6A
NRHP reference No.| 05001214[1]
Added to NRHP| November 9, 2005

The Allen-White School, also known as Hardeman County Training School, was a Rosenwald school in Whiteville, Tennessee, United States, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

## Description

[edit]

The school was started in 1905 as Hardeman County Training School, a school for African Americans that held classes in a Masonic lodge building. The school was led by Jessie C. Allen, who is one of the two men that Allen-White School was later named for. Circa 1918–1920, the school's own building was built on donated land with a $4000 bank loan obtained by the school's trustees, matched by a $4000 donation from the Julius Rosenwald Fund.[2][3]

The school's second namesake, J.H. White, became school principal in the 1928–1929 school year. In 1930 the school added a junior high school program and in 1932 it expanded to include the four grades of high school. The school's first high school class graduated in 1933.[2][4] Allen-White was Hardeman County's only high school for African Americans and enrolled students from throughout the county; some students boarded in Whiteville in order to attend.[4][5]

After it closed as a school, the building was acquired by an organization associated with the El Canaan Missionary Baptist Church.[3]

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.[6] It was destroyed in an arson fire in May 2012.[3] Alumni of the school hoped to rebuild it and contracted with an engineering company to investigate the feasibility of reconstruction.[4]

## See also

[edit]

* National Register of Historic Places portal

* National Register of Historic Places listings in Hardeman County, Tennessee

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. ^ a b "Allen-White's History" (Notes for a school reunion, circa 1980s).
3. ^ a b c "Allen-White School: correspondence regarding historic registers" (metadata). Middle Tennessee State University.
4. ^ a b c Smeltser, Jennifer (December 12, 2012). "Allen-White High School: More than 75 years worth of history will never be destroyed". Bolivar Bulletin-Times.
5. ^ "Whiteville". Hardeman County Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
6. ^ Harper, Herbert L. (November 28, 2005). "Letter to Reverend Guy Hendree". Tennessee Historical Commission.

## External links

[edit]

* Allen-White High School collection Archived February 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Volunteer Voices: The Growth of Democracy in Tennessee, Tennessee Electronic Library

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