Ada Jenkins
Words on image: Top image: Ada Jenkins.
Bottom image: The Davidson Colored School / Ada Jenkins Center.
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Davidson Colored School/Ada Jenkins School In Davidson, Mecklenburg county, NC.
In Davidson, NC, an effort to educate the town’s White children began in 1892, and in 1893 a substantial two-story brick school building was completed.
The graded school was supported by local taxes, and by 1911 had an enrollment of nearly two hundred students, all White.
No such effort was made to educate the rest of the town’s children. Black children were educated in small frame buildings located in the African American Westside neighborhood.
By the 1930s, two frame school buildings were needed in the neighborhood to hold all the children. One building was described as a “one teacher school,” and the other as a “three-teacher school.”
These frame buildings were not adequate. In 1937 a new brick six-classroom school, Davidson Colored School, opened to serve the black community. Staff included three teachers from the earlier schools in Davidson.
One of these was Mrs. Ada Jenkins. Designing and supervising the construction of Davidson Colored School (now the Ada Jenkins Center) and a gymnasium was assigned to Willard G. Rogers (1863-1947).
In addition to the gymnasium, a classroom wing and a freestanding cafeteria were added around 1958. In 1966 the school closed when the Mecklenburg County schools became racially integrated. The present owner of the property is Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools/Board of Education which uses it as an Education Center
The Davidson Colored School, later the Ada Jenkins School, is the largest and most prominent historic element of the built environment of Davidson’s traditionally African American Westside neighborhood. The building, which originally served as a segregated school, helps document segregation and the Jim Crow era in Davidson and in Mecklenburg County.
It is a reflection of the Black community’s commitment to improving the education of its young people. It is also an artifact of an unusual time, a time when Mecklenburg County was facing huge economic challenges and yet found the resources to greatly improve the infrastructure for public education.
The property known as the Davidson Colored School/Ada Jenkins School possesses special significance in terms of the Town of Davidson and Mecklenburg County.
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- In the 1930’s, fire destroyed a small wooden schoolhouse in the Mock Circle area of Davidson. Despite the Great Depression and limited funding from the Mecklenburg County Board of Education, local schoolteacher Ada Jenkins rallied the community to raise enough funding to build the Davidson Colored School. It was renamed the Ada Jenkins School after Mrs. Jenkins’ death in 1955.
The school opened for the 1937-1938 school year. After Mrs. Jenkins’ death, it was renamed the Ada Jenkins School and served as the educational center for black students in Davidson until integration in 1966.
From 1967 until the early 1990s, the building served as a daycare, a food co-op, a dance studio, and an after-school program. Recognizing the changing needs of the community, volunteers renovated the building and established The Ada Jenkins Families and Careers Development Center in April of 1994. Mrs. Jenkins’ daughter and granddaughter attended the celebration.
The Center continues to promote the importance of education and equal opportunity for all citizens. Today, we are a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization helping those in poverty break the cycle and gain economic independence. The Center has become a resource hub for Davidson, Cornelius and Huntersville and a well-respected model for community centers in the region.
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The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmark Commission judgment was based on the following considerations:
1) The Davidson Colored School/Ada Jenkins School is a rare and well preserved example of a substantial African American school building that dates from the era of Jim Crow in Mecklenburg County.
2) In terms of Mecklenburg County, the Davidson Colored School/Ada Jenkins School is a rare early 20th century school building which is in good condition, and has retained a high degree of integrity.
3) The Davidson Colored School/Ada Jenkins School is the oldest public school building in Davidson.
4) The Davidson Colored School/Ada Jenkins School is an important landmark in Davidson, representing the strength and resourcefulness of the town’s African American community during the era of racial segregation.
5) Built during the Great Depression, the Davidson Colored School in an important artifact representing the work of the Public Works Administration in Mecklenburg County.
Source: The Ada Jenkins Center web site
Source: The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmark Commission