Growing up, Joyce Moore has good memories of singing “Jesus Loves the Little Children” with her class to start the school day. But, she also remembers riding old buses and using hand-me-down text books from white schools.
“Our school was, in comparison to the white schools, very poorly funded. Our books were generally second-hand, third-hand books that had been used at the white school,” Moore said.
Moore, 74, is a graduate of the Hooper-Renwick school, the only high school in Gwinnett County for Black students until integration in the 1967-68 academic year. The school closed in 1969.
After years in the making, Gwinnett County and Lawrenceville city officials officially took strides to protect the untold stories and history of Black students in the county.
In October, they joined with the Hooper-Renwick Legacy Preservation Committee to break ground on the Hooper-Renwick themed library in Lawrenceville. The library will be constructed inside the historic school, which was almost torn down to make way for Lawrenceville’s SouthLawn residential development.
Former students, such as 1956 graduate Rubye Wilburn Neal, spoke with city officials about preserving the building. In 2017, the preservation committee was formed to support the cause, with Neal being one of the oldest members of the committee.
The current 11,400-square-foot building, will be turned into a 25,000-square-foot library, serving as a community space for residents to read stories and see artifacts from that time.
The project will be funded with $7.6 million from the county’s 2017 SPLOST program, along with $1.7 million from the city of Lawrenceville. The city is also providing improvements to the outside of the building, including sidewalks, streetlights and benches.
The county’s first school for Black students was opened for nearly 40 years, until a tornado destroyed the building in 1924.
In 1944, Mack Renwick donated three acres on Neal Boulevard for the school that bore his name. The original, three-room building served grades eight to 11, Gwinnett County Commissioner Marlene Fosque, said.
In 1951, a second school replaced it and was named after its principal Marshall Hooper. The 12-classroom building, which had grades one through 12, served the county’s Black students until 1968.
“It is important for us to help tell that story of the Black students, the principal and faculty from that time,” Fosque said.
Gwendolyn Brown Taylor, 72, lived so close to the school, she could hear the bell ring from her kitchen. She remembers attending the prom and playing on the girls basketball team.
“One year I was, I believe, I was captain and my sister was co-captain, and the next year I think she was captain and I was co-captain,” Taylor said.
Taylor, who graduated in 1968, said although she enjoyed those activities, there were also times that weren’t so fun. In school, she loved to read and conjugate verbs in her English class.
Credit: Gwinnett County Government
Credit: Gwinnett County Government
As Moore, Neal and Taylor all remember being issued old text from white schools.
“I don’t recall hardly ever getting a new book,” Taylor said. “Some had the backs on them, some didn’t. Some had the pages torn out, some didn’t.”
Neal referred to the old books as “junk.”
John Maxey, 75, who played on the boys basketball team in the 60′s, recalled long drives to games because Black schools could only compete against other Black schools.
“We went to Canton. So, Lawrenceville to Canton,” Maxey said.
Credit: undefined
Credit: undefined
Lawrenceville City Manager Chuck Warbington said the library will preserve “incredible stories” from that era.
Former students of the school are looking forward to the day when the themed library opens its doors.
“It’s a great feeling to see that this portion of the school is going to be preserved. I never would have thought that this would happen in my lifetime,” Taylor said.
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