Governor Morehead School
Governor Morehead School (GMS), formerly North Carolina State School for the Blind and Deaf, is a K–12 public school for the blind in Raleigh, North Carolina. In the era of de jure educational segregation in the United States, it served blind people of all races and deaf black people.
Its namesake is John Motley Morehead, Governor of North Carolina.
History
editIn 1845 the school was established; it took ages 5–21. It served African-American students from the beginning, in separate facilities under educational segregation in the United States.[1] In 1898 a dormitory for the school was built by Frank Pierce Milburn.[2]
It was the first American school to educate black, blind, and deaf students.[3]
In 1923 white students moved to its current site in Raleigh, while black students were on the original campus,[1] in Garner. The school took both deaf and blind black students.[4]
In 1964 it got its current name.[1] In 1966 the U.S. federal authorities were withholding $89,927 aid in Title I funds as the school had not yet desegregated.[4] In 1967, as part of racial desegregation, the school began swapping the racial groups across the campuses.[1] Black deaf students were to be moved to the North Carolina School for the Deaf and the East North Carolina School for the Deaf, so Morehead became a blind-only school.[4] In 1977 desegregation was completed.[1]
In 2014 there were discussions over whether the City of Raleigh should buy land that included GMS property.[5] The property concerned included a field, unused, with 7.3 acres (3.0 ha) of land total. In 2014 the City of Raleigh offered to buy the Dorothea Dix property and the Morehead field for $51.26 million.[6] The North Carolina House of Representatives approved a bill allowing the sale.[7]
Campus
edit
The school has dormitory facilities.[8]
The campus hosts grades 6–10 of the Wake County Public Schools institution Wake Young Women's Leadership Academy.[9]
It is adjacent to Central Prison.[10]
Student body
editNotable people
edit- Skeeter Brandon, blues musician[12]
- Martha Louise Morrow Foxx, educator of the blind in Mississippi[13]
- Fred Hedrick, jurist[14]
- Vernon Malone, politician, former school superintendent[15]
- Ronnie Milsap, country musician[16]
- Doc Watson, bluegrass, country, folk, blues, and gospel musician[17]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e "About GMS". Governor Morehead School. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
- ^ Robert Topkins, John Baxton Flower, III, and Catherine Cockshutt (June 1982). "North Carolina School for the Blind and Deaf Dormitory" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places – Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "North Carolina Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind, Colored Department (Raleigh)". Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
- ^ a b c "$89,927 Blind-Deaf School May Lose U.S. Aid". The Charlotte Observer. Associated Press. 1966-09-15. p. 18A.
Under the plan, the Negro deaf [...] integrated basis.
- "Morganton and Wilson" refer to North Carolina School for the Deaf and the East North Carolina School for the Deaf - Clipping at Newspapers.com. - ^ "Raleigh wants to add part of Morehead School land to Dix deal". WRAL. 2014-05-07. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
- ^ "Raleigh offers $51.26 million for Dorothea Dix property and Morehead School field". The Times News. McClatchy News Service. 2014-05-09. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
- ^ "N.C. House OKs Dix bill; Senate's turn". Triangle Business Journal.
- ^ "Residential Life". Governor Morehead School. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
- ^ "2020-2021 High School Profile" (PDF). Wake Young Women's Leadership Academy. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
- ^ Welton, J. Michael (2018-05-04). "These 81 acres may be developed in Raleigh's future. What are your dreams for the site?". News & Observer. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
- ^ Owens, Evan (2016-06-02). "Governor Morehead School for the Blind graduates six seniors". News & Observer. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
- ^ Toenes, Chris (January 16, 2008). "Skeeter Brandon | Spotlight". Indy Week. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
- ^ Pridgen, Rosie L. T. "Martha Louise Morrow Foxx". Hall of Fame: Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field; American Printing House for the Blind. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
- ^ Weigl, Andrea (July 19, 2009). "Former judge dies at 86". The News & Observer. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
- ^ "Funeral arrangements set for Sen. Vernon Malone". WRAL-TV. April 18, 2009. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
- ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 848/9. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
- ^ Kaufman, Steve (1999). The Legacy of Doc Watson. Mel Bay Publications. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-7866-3393-7.
Further reading
edit- Chase, Alan Anthony (2017). Educational Policy Formation: The Closing and Unclosing of The Governor Morehead School for the Blind (PDF). Raleigh, North Carolina: North Carolina State University.