SOMERVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — The Somerville community suffered a heavy loss Thursday. A historic schoolhouse for Black children burned down, reducing nearly 100 years of history, culture, and memories to ash.
“We went over there to look, you know, and it was just horrible, just horrible,” said 78-year-old Alumni Ada Melton. “The only thing that I could recognize was the stairs, you know, the steps made of concrete.”
St. John Elementary School was founded in 1955 to serve Black children in the Somerville area. It was an original Rosenwald School, born out of a partnership between Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald…