This home was built for William Henry Spencer (1857-1925) by the Dudley Lumber Company in 1912. At a time when most African-Americans didn’t own their own homes, this was on par with any of the new construction in Columbus at the time.
According to Muscogee County Schools, William Henry Spencer “was a student in the Columbus public school system, the old Asbury Chapel, during the age of segregation. Dr. Spencer was an exemplary student who excelled in school and attained high honors. After obtaining his teaching certificate, he embarked on a fifty-year career in education.”
“As an educator, Dr. William Henry Spencer was the principal of the former Fifth Avenue School and the supervisor of the Negro Educational Department. He was dedicated to improving the curriculum of segregated schools and worked to establish courses in the fine arts and vocational arena.”…