Clark Street School

Clark Street School was a school for African American students. Built prior to when the building was used as the school in 1868. A new building was built to replace prior building in 1889. Located in downtown Evansville on 215 Clark St.  Today, the building has since then been destroyed and made into a new business. The location of the new business, and Clark Street School is right off the Lloyd, traveling east.

Clark Street School aka Lower Colored School was built prior to when the building was used as a school in 1868. The building was a manual training school for African American students at the high school level. In 1889, a new building was created to house the growing population of African Americans in Evansville. A few years before the newer building would be erected, Clark Street School had a relatively small amount of students each year, given the size of the school. According to an interview of Helen Best, in 1915 there were 9 graduates. After the new building was built, Clark Street School was made a high school. The school was renamed Frederick Douglass High School in 1919, after the famous abolitionist.  

Clark Street School (Douglass High School) was one of the few African American schools in Evansville at the time, and since it was a school that labor skills were taught, African Americans did not have as many opportunities for higher education in Evansville.They often times had to travel to Terre Haute to go to college. In 1927, the school was merged with the new Lincoln High School. Since the new Lincoln High School was in close proximity to Frederick Douglass High School, the students there were moved to Lincoln. After Frederick Douglass High School's students left for Lincoln High School, the building was left unused and abandoned for several years until it became a warehouse for a few years.

Both the original building of Clark Street School and the newer building of Frederick Douglass High School were razed in 1937 after school no longer took place in these buildings. The lot that Clark Street School and Douglass High School were built in was left empty until it was bought out by another company. Today, the location that once held Clark Street School and Douglass High School is now a heating and air conditioning business. The layout of the roads looks a lot different today than it did 100 years ago. The Lloyd is now on the left-hand side of the building, which is one of Evansville's busiest roads.

Meyer, Mona. “Separate, but Not Equal.” amUSIngArtifacts, February 8, 2021. https://amusingartifacts.org/2021/02/08/separate-but-not-equal/.  

“Historic Evansville.” Historic Evansville - Clark Street School. Accessed November 9, 2023. http://historicevansville.com/site.php?id=douglass.  

“Clark Street School Children in Evansville, Indiana.” University Archives and Special Collections. Accessed November 9, 2023. https://digitalarchives.usi.edu/digital/collection/p17218coll2/id/9143/rec/1.