Historic Missouri school: George Washington Carver School in Fulton, Missouri

Historic George Washington Carver School in Fulton, Missouri.Photo byAmmodramus, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The George Washington Carver School is a historic school building constructed in 1937. This two-story building is also known as North School. It's located at 909 Westminster in Fulton, Missouri (Callaway County).

This building was the only African American school in Fulton for over three decades. It was closed in 1982. On December 2, 1996, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

There's no particular architectural style associated with this building. It has a concrete foundation and brick walls.

In 2019, the Board of Directors of the George Washington Carver Cultural Center entered into an option contract with MACO Management Company to restore the building and convert it into affordable housing for senior citizens.

Photo byAmmodramus, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

This school building is significant because of its association with education and ethnic heritage. The school was dedicated to and named for African American scientist George Washington Carver. This school also replaced North School built in 1882 for African Americans.

By 1968, Fulton integrated schools so the Carver School became a school of sixth graders for all races. In 1982, it closed down and was used for storage until the George Washington Carver Memorial Corporation was formed in 1989.

The first floor was turned into an African American history museum. The second floor was going to be used by the Fulton Family Resource Center.

George Washington Carver (c. 1910 restored photo).Photo byunknow, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Backstory

In 1865 after the Civil War, Missouri's constitution required separate schools for whites and African Americans. Later, the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution said all persons born in the U.S. were citizens and had equal protection under the law. However, the court still accepted separate but equal facilities which included schools.

It was unlawful for any non-white child to attend a white school and vice-versa. Through the 1950s, Missouri had two separate school systems. Schools for African American students were authorized by the Missouri legislature in 1866.

Twelve years after the first Fulton public school opened, one opened for African American children. Before this, their classes were held in churches. The North Elementary School opened in 1880.

The image on the board depicts what's to come to develop senior apartment housing.Photo byGeorge Washington Carver Cultural Center via Facebook.

At the time when there were two white schools with modern sanitation facilities and furnace heat, North School had neither.

In 1932, due to overcrowding, the School Board decided the North School should only be for elementary levels. There wasn't enough money to build a new high school for African Americans so they were bused to a high school department at Lincoln University in Jefferson City.

In 1935, the Board of Education determined a new school would be built on the same site as North School. A federal grant was approved which allowed for the purchase of land, the construction of a new high school for white children, a new North School for African Americans, plus remodeling of the old high school building for use as an elementary school.

The architectural firm of Felt Dunham and Kriehn from Kansas City designed the new school. On November 12, 1937, 78-year-old Dr. George Washington Carver traveled to Fulton to dedicate the new school.

Dr. Carver was a child born of slave parents in Diamond, Missouri. Later, he became internationally known for his scientific experiments with agricultural products. There are other schools in the country named after him.

On May 17, 1954, a Supreme Court decision ruled that segregating students only due to race could no longer be practiced. However, in Fulton, complete desegregation took 14 more years.

When the building was nominated for the National Register, the classrooms on the first floor were used to house memorabilia of Dr. Carver and his visit, local black history, and a black history library.

In 2021, it was reported that a proposal to convert the school into apartments for seniors was approved by the city council. According to Google Maps, the property was still a proposed development in October 2023.

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