‘It was just us’: Seven students from one family tie histories of Franklin, Union academies
On Friday, the Columbus Municipal School District will hold a ceremony at Franklin Academy to celebrate the second of the city’s two landmark events in the history of public education.
At 4 p.m. former Franklin Academy students, school officials and local and state dignitaries will gather in front of the school on Third Avenue North for a program and monument unveiling to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the school, the first public school in Mississippi.
Photo: Celebrating Union Academy
Columbus Municipal School District Superintendent Cherie Labat addresses a group of local and state officials during the unveiling of a monument commemorating the 155th anniversary of Union Academy, the first public school for Black residents in Lowndes County, on Wednesday.
Ask Rufus: Union Academy
I planned for today’s column to be a history of Union Academy in Columbus, but the scope of the column narrowed as I became fascinated by the trials of its first few years.
Union Academy: A significant part of Columbus’ education story
In February, Columbus Municipal School District will celebrate a milestone in public education — the 200th anniversary of Franklin Academy, the state’s first public school.
The city of Columbus has long taken pride in its status as the birthplace of public education in the state.
But the city’s historic connection to public education does not end there.
For CMSD board member, Union Academy roots run deep
When Columbus Municipal School District board member Telisa Young was in college, her father gave her a history book.
It wasn’t the kind of book she was likely to find at the Mississippi State University bookstore or library. It was a hardcover book detailing the history of Lowndes County, and it included her father’s entire family history.
After Feb. storm, Hunt Museum to move to Union
Since 2012, the R.E. Hunt Museum and Cultural Center inside the old Hunt High School building has played host to hundreds of historical artifacts. Hanging on the walls and displayed around the room were documents, letters, photographs, an old washboard and sewing machine, and a typewriter that once belonged to Carlotta Walls LaNair, one of the Little Rock Nine who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas in 1957.
Union Academy renovations to start by mid-April
With cost estimates still unclear, Columbus Municipal School District plans to move ahead with renovating Union Academy by mid-April.
Union Academy to open doors to students next year
Cindy Lawrence walked through the doors of Union Academy and for a moment, she was taken back to 1966.
That year, Lawrence started her education as a first grade student in the now closed down school.
“It brought back so many memories,” Lawrence said. “I knew where all my classrooms were. Everything just about looked the exact same.”
Union Academy without water service after pipes burst
The Recruitment and Training Program (RTP), which has been in operation throughout the state since 1983, provides an array of services, but the focus in Columbus is narrower.