Celebrating Black History Month: This photograph of a student reading at her desk in the Pleasant Green School is one of three that were taken on October 6, 1921 by photographer Lewis Wickes Hine. The one-room schoolhouse for black students was built around 1898 on Seebert Lane near Hillsboro. Mr. Hine’s photo documented the students as part of his work for the National Child Labor Committee, when he turned his attention to rural agriculture and education. The building still stands at the junction of Seebert Road and U.S. Rt. 219. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under its original name Seebert Lane Colored School. (Courtesy of National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress; Pres. Poca. ID: PHP003961)
Black History Month was first celebrated in 1970 at Kent State University. In 1976, President Gerald Ford recognized Black History Month during the United States Bicentennial celebration. He urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
Photographs in the “Preserving Pocahontas” Digital Library may be found at www.pocahontaspreservation.org or www.preservingpocahontas.org
If you have photographs or documents to be scanned for the county Historical Archive contact Preservation Officer B. J. Gudmundsson at 304-799-3989 or email info@pocahontaspreservation.org Prints of photographs from the archives are available.
