Graymont Elementary School
- This article is about the white elementary school integrated in 1963. For the former Graymont Colored Elementary School, see Hill Elementary School.
| Graymont Elementary School | |
| |
| Active | 1908–1989 |
|---|---|
| School type | Public |
| District | Graymont (1908-1910) Birmingham (1910-1989) |
| Grades | K-5 |
| Colors | |
| Mascot | |
| Location | 300 8th Avenue West, (map) Birmingham |
Graymont Elementary School is a former elementary school in the Birmingham City Schools system. It was located at 300 8th Avenue West in the Graymont neighborhood.
The school was first opened in 1908 as a project of the then independent Town of Graymont. It was constructed at 601 Joseph Street (now 3rd Street North) in Smithfield in a classical style designed by William Spink.
Graymont was the first school in the Birmingham system to be integrated when James Armstrong, who had prevailed in his lawsuit, Armstrong v. Birmingham Board of Education, saw his sons Dwight and Floyd enter school on September 10, 1963 one day after they had been turned away from the door.
After integration, Graymont Elementary became largely redundant to Hill Elementary School, which had been reconstructed in the 1950s. It closed in 1989.
In the mid 1990s, the vacant former school was restored and adapted for the offices of the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity (JCCEO), which operates federally-funded social programs such as pre-kindergarten, adult day care, substance abuse, nutrition, utility assistance, job training, residential weatherization, and family counseling. JCCEO also operates the Arrington Head Start Center, home of Alabama's first public pre-K classroom, from Graymont
In 2007 the Graymont School was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Principals
- E. J. Laney, 1923–1924
- Edward Eubank, 1950s–1961
- K. Joe Tortorice, 1966–1967
Gallery
Floyd & Dwight Armstrong, escorted by Fred Shuttlesworth, at Graymont Elementary School in September 1963
Scene during the integration of Graymont Elementary School in September 1963
References
- "Graymont School takes rank with leaders of city in writing and sportsmanship." (August 12, 1928) The Birmingham News/Birmingham Post-Herald joint edition
- Nelson, Linda (December 6, 2006) "Graymont School". National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, enrolled August 16, 2007
- "JCCEO Celebrates 100th Anniversary and Historic Designation of the Graymont School Building" (Winter 2009) Action News. Community Action Association of Alabama, p. 5