Docena School

Docena School was a school for children of white miners operated by the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company in their "model mining village" of Docena. The teachers, usually unmarried women, were provided room and board at the Docena teacherages, two-story houses in the center of town. Black children attended the Docena Colored School.

Outside the school was an old "hickory nut tree" which provided a shady playground area.

The schools were turned over to the Jefferson County School System in 1932.

Principals and faculty

• Mary Kate Gully, principal and teacher
• Juanita Bonds, principal and teacher
• Elene Higgins, teacher
• Wille Belle Baker Shotts, teacher
• Annie Norred, teacher
• Jeltie Deaver, teacher
• Clara Powell, teacher
• Blanch Bradley, teacher
• Lois Bonds, substitute teacher

Other teachers were named Jenkins, Black, and Land

References

• White, Marjorie Longenecker (1977) Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society.
• Kizzire, Melba Wilbanks (no date, c. 1977) "Beneath these Hills: Docena: The People, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow." unpublished typescript
• Rikard, Marlene Hunt (November 1981) "'Take Everything You Are...and Give it Away': Pioneer Industrial Social Workers at TCI." Journal of the Birmingham Historical Society Vol. 7, No. 2, p. 24-41.