Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School | |
---|---|
Location | |
Chester County, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
Coordinates | 40°01′34″N 75°44′42″W / 40.026°N 75.745°W |
Information | |
Motto | "self help through self work" |
Established | 1905 |
Founders | John Sheppard Trower, William Abraham Creditt |
Closed | 1993 |
The Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School (DIAS) was a school for African American students in Chester County, Pennsylvania, from 1905 until 1993.[3] Its motto was "self help through self work".[4] It was located in what is now East Brandywine Township.[5][6]
The school was founded by John S. Trower and William Abraham Creditt. Both were well-known, successful African Americans from Philadelphia. Tower was a local businessman and Creditt was pastor of the city's first African Baptist church.[3]
The school's purpose was to provide vocational training.[7] By 1907, an illustrated report on the school was published showings the school's chapel, barn, dining room, and sewing room.[1][8] The school was included in Philadelphia's colored directory in 1910.[9]
The school was aimed at educating African-American youth that struggled with schooling.[10] In July 1912 the school announced that it would be sending fifteen graduates to Lincoln University that fall.[4]
James N. H. Waring Jr. (1890–1973), served as the school's principal in the 1930s.[11] Mortelia Womack, who worked as a secretary for W. E. B. Du Bois, applied for a job in the school in 1931 and Du Bois sent the school's principal, J. H. N. Waring, Jr., a reference for her.[12]
In 1980, a thirty-six-page publication authored by Clay Griffin about the school was published.[13]
Delaware County Community College's Downingtown campus is on the site of the former school.[14]
Notable alumni include Cab Calloway famous for, among other things, Minnie the Moocher, or The Hi-De-Ho song.