Georgia Historical Society to Dedicate Marker for Historic E.D. Stroud School

Savannah, Ga., May 15, 2014 - The Georgia Historical Society announced today the formal plans for the unveiling of a historical marker commemorating the E.D. Stroud School, a Georgia Equalization School in Watkinsville, Georgia.

“This marker is special because it is a direct result of a third grade class project into the history of  Colham Ferry Elementary School,” said Christy Crisp, Director of Programs for the Georgia Historical Society.  “We always want kids to get excited about learning the history of Georgia and for these students, now about to finish 5th grade, there will always be a reminder of their time at Colham Ferry and the school that existed here long before they ever arrived.”

The dedication will take place this Saturday, May 17, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. at the Colham Ferry Elementary School in Watkinsville.  The featured speaker will be Ms. Jeanne  Cyriaque, African American Programs Coordinator, State of Georgia Historic Preservation Division.  Other remarks will be given by Mayor Charles Ivie, City of Watkinsville; Dr. Jason Branch, Supt. Oconee County Schools; Reverend Kevin Daniel, Bethel Baptist Church and Mr. Charles Stroud, the Grandson of E. D. Stroud for whom the school was named.  The students who began the class project will serve as ushers.

The marker reads as follows:

E.D. Stroud School was established in 1956 as part of a statewide “equalization” effort for Georgia’s African-American public schools.  As part of Georgia's massive resistance to federally mandated school integration, politicians and school officials sought to address the blatant geographic and racial disparities in education by constructing hundreds of new (but still segregated) schools across the state during the 1950s-60s.  This school was built to replace the Watkinsville Rosenwald School, located here until its demolition in 1956.  Named for Rosenwald School Principal Edwin David Stroud, E.D. Stroud School included a home economics lab as well as a workshop and cannery in addition to traditional academic subjects.  In 1969, as part of a countywide plan for desegregation, E.D. Stroud School became the integrated Oconee County Intermediate School.  The school was renamed Colham Ferry Elementary School in 1996.

Erected by the Georgia Historical Society, the Watkinsville City Council, Bethel Baptist Church, the Oconee County Historical Society, and the Georgia Natural Resources Foundation.

 

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