Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School explained

Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School
Motto:"self help through self work"
Location:Chester County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates:40.026°N -75.745°W
Type:Private Black
Established:1905
Closed:1993

The Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School (DIAS) was a private school for African American students active from 1905 until 1993, and located in Downingtown, Chester County, Pennsylvania, U.S.[1] [2] Its motto was "self help through self work".[3] It was located in what is now East Brandywine Township.[4] [5]

History

The school was founded by John S. Trower and William Abraham Creditt. Both were well-known, successful African Americans from Philadelphia. Tower was a local businessman, and Creditt was pastor of the city's first African Baptist church.[1]

The school's purpose was to provide vocational training;[6] and was aimed at educating African-American youth that struggled with schooling.[7] By 1907, an illustrated report on the school was published showings the school's chapel, barn, dining room, and sewing room.[8] [9] The school was included in Philadelphia's colored directory in 1910.[10] In July 1912 the school announced that it would be sending fifteen graduates to Lincoln University that fall.

Creditt served as the school's president for many years.[11] James N. H. Waring Jr. (1890–1973), the son of a prominent physician, served as the school's principal in the 1930s.[12] Mortelia Womack, who worked as a secretary for W. E. B. Du Bois, applied for a job in the school in 1931 and Du Bois sent the school's principal, J. H. N. Waring, Jr., a reference for her.[13]

Howard D. Queen, a US Army colonel and commander of the 366th Infantry Regiment during World War II, served in the mathematics department after his military career.

In 1980, a thirty-six-page publication authored by Clay Griffin about the school was published.[14]

Legacy

Delaware County Community College's Downingtown campus is on the site of the former school.[15]

Notable alumni include Cab Calloway, famous for, among other things, "Minnie the Moocher, or The Hi-De-Ho song."

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Background Note . Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School Collection, Temple University Libraries.
  2. Book: Burkholder, Zoë . An African American Dilemma: A History of School Integration and Civil Rights in the North . 2021 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-060513-1 . 235 . en.
  3. News: July 5, 1912 . The Dowington Industrial School . 2025-06-07 . . 1 . Newspapers.com.
  4. Web site: Downingtown Campus. Delaware County Community College. 2021-06-18. Downingtown Campus 100 Bond Drive Downingtown, PA 19335[...]built on the site of the former Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School,[...].
  5. Web site: Street Map. East Brandywine Township. January 2010. 2021-06-18.
  6. Blockson, Charles L. (1994). African Americans in Pennsylvania: A History and Guide. Baltimore, MD: Black Classic Press, 41.
  7. Book: Griffin, Clay . Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School . 1980 . Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School . Downingtown, PA . 992080215.
  8. Parks, W. G. et al. (c. 1907). Statement of Scope, Condition, Purposes and Needs of Downingtown Industrial School, 1907–1908. Philadelphia: Press of Banner Publishing Company for Downingtown Industrial School. Courtesy of Ian Brabner, Rareamerica.com.
  9. Web site: Statement of Scope, Condition, Purposes and Needs of Downingtown Industrial School, 1907-1908 by W G. Parks on Ian Brabner, Rare Americana, LLC ABAA. Ian Brabner, Rare Americana, LLC (ABAA).
  10. Web site: ExplorePAHistory.com - Image . explorepahistory.com.
  11. News: 1965-06-24 . New Principal Is Named For 'Aggie' School . 2025-06-07 . Brandywine Archive . 7 . Newspapers.com.
  12. Web site: Search results: Name:"Waring,%20James%20H.%20N.,%201890-1973".
  13. https://credo.library.umass.edu/view/full/mums312-b058-i104 "Letter from the Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School to W. E. B. Du Bois, September 3, 1931"
  14. Web site: Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School. Clay. Griffin. September 22, 1980. Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School. Google Books.
  15. Web site: Downingtown Campus . Delaware County Community College.

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