Arkansas
Arkansas School for the Blind, Colored Department (Little Rock)
- Established 1889
- Integrated with the Arkansas School for the Blind, 1965
The Colored Department of the Arkansas Institute for the Education of the Blind was opened in October of 1889. The principal was Mr. T.R. Ish, who had been chosen by the Board of Directors "on account of good work and a peculiar adaptability."1 Mr. Ish's wife, Jennie, was the housemother and also taught the students sewing and other domestic tasks. The Colored Department employed a cook, laundress, and gardener. At the end of 1890, the department had enrolled fifteen students, nine boys and six girls.
In 1955, after Brown v Board of Education, the wrestling teams of the Colored Department began practicing with the white students. Although the students continued to attend separate schools, they traveled as one team to away wrestling matches. The music departments of the two schools entertained each other with band and choral music concerts. The two schools were not integrated in one location until the 1965-66 school year, when the students at the former black school (the "Madison School") joined the students at the "Markham Street School." (The Madison Street school was built expressly for the Colored Department in 1953, one year before Brown v Topeka.) According to Margaret Johnson, a senior in that year, the atmosphere was somewhat tense, especially at first. The principal canceled the school dance in the fall, fearing whites and blacks would dance together and antagonize parents. However, "we weren't bothered by it, so our parents weren't bothered, and he figured it was a bunch of fuss over nothing. He didn't cancel the Christmas dance and we all had a good time."
- Biennial report of the Arkansas School for the Blind, 1896-1898.