East Lake Atheneum

The East Lake Atheneum in 1894

The same building in use as the Orphans' Home in 1906

The East Lake Atheneum was a private girls' school chartered in 1890 by State Superintendent of Education Solomon Palmer.

The school's main brick and stone Romanesque building was completed in 1892 on "Atheneum Eminence" in East Lake.

After Palmer's death in 1896, the school was headed by J. B. Cumming and, later, W. S. Weissinger.

The atheneum closed in 1900 and the property was sold to the Sisters of Charity who operated an orphanage, the St Thomas Home-on-Hill (sometimes referred to as the "Orphans' Home") there until 1971. After that date it was used for the offices of the Diocese of Birmingham.

The site was purchased in 2001 by Birmingham City Schools for Ossie Ware Mitchell Middle School, which opened in 2006.

References

• Owen, Thomas McAdory and Marie Bankhead Owen (1921) History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. 4 volumes. Chicago, Illinois: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.