James Adams School
Early 1900's
JAMES ADAMS SCHOOL 1906-1964
HISTORY AND GENEALOGY
OF The
JAMES ADAMS SCHOOL
Merchant and 8th Avenues, Coatesville, Pennsylvania 19320
"All Life is an experiment; the more experiments the better" and because of the needs of African American Children, the Merchant Street Elementary School opened its doors in ???-1906. The school was of enormous value in the Black Community as an educational experience, recreational and for extra curricular activities.
In 1905, the first practical snow plow was invented, the building of concrete roads began, Henry Ford invented something called Mass Auto Production, Einstein oveturned our view of space and time, showing that it is insufficient to describe lights as purely wave, and laid the foundation for the discovery of the atom. Futher, ice skates were invented, Grand Prix Racing first began and the X-Ray Machine came into existence. All of these were of great value or importance to some people, but for the "Children of Color" living in the City of Coatesville, there was a need to educate our own and with that in mind, the Merchant Street Elementary School was built. In 1906, the Merchant Street Elementary School name was changed, and became known as James Adams School.
The Merchant Street School/James Adams School was located in what is now known as the First Precinct. The First Precinct included that part of town east of Fourth Avenue and North of Chestnut Street, where nine-tenth of the children of color resided.
After being built in "The Merchant Street School," as it was called, increased in numbers rapidly, causing the school to (develop) expand from and Elementary setting to Junior High (Ninth Grade School).
The School Board, at that time, began changing the names of schools from streets where they were located to names of citizens. The Parent Association of the school, in their desire to honor a businessman of the community, chose the first Black Man who served as a member of Coatesville City Council, James Morgan Adams. After his death in December 1901, the Merchant Street School's name was changed in 1906 and became known as the James Adams School.
Mr. James Morgan Adams was born to Richard and Eleanor Adams on December 18, 1842, in Valley Township. He served this community faithfully in government for over five years as a Street Commissioner and as a member of City Council. He was also in the freight business for twenty years and was known as a prominent Black Man of the town.
revised 4/07
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
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