With construction beginning in 1910 during segregation, the Havre de Grace Colored School was to provide African American primary school-age children with an education. A news item in the June 29, 1912, Cecil Whig, states, “The colored people of HdG have raised $2,000 towards a new colored school building which is to be built in that town during the summer months.” The school was formally opened in December 1912 at a cost of $1,700, with $200 of that donated by the City of Havre de Grace [Baltimore Afro American Ledger, December 27, 1912]. The Ledger continued that “Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Smith donated a beautiful clock and a promise of a flag was made.” Mr. Abel Cromwell was named as the principal and Miss Cora I. Newsome as the vice principal.

The lots in the parcel of land on which the school was built in 1910 had been owned by different individuals until together they sold the parcel to the Board of County School Commissioners in April 1910. They were Peter Leslie Hopper, A. Hamlin Carver and his wife Nettie J. Carver, and Samuel J. Ennis (1872-1943) and his wife Annie Ennis. Tandra Ridgley of Aberdeen is the great-granddaughter of Samuel and Annie Ennis, whom she describes as wealthy African Americans who, with the white philanthropists, donated the land. The deed shows that it was a sale but most likely was a minimal amount.

Harford County at that time only provided education for African-American children through grade 8. As a result, African American students seeking a public high-school education had to travel to Baltimore, Cecil County, or elsewhere to obtain it. For many, this was a deterrent or impossible. 

In 1930, as a result of the efforts of Clayton C. Stansbury, Sr. (1893-1962) and other community leaders, Harford County agreed to establish the first high school for African-American students. The county selected Havre de Grace as the location and named it the Havre de Grace Colored High School. To house the high school students, a small four-room brick building was erected in 1930 adjoining the existing 1910 white-framed primary school building. The school board selected Leon Stansbury Roye (1905-1966) as the principal of the high school, the first African-American principal in Harford County. He served from 1930 to 1953.

Despite this victory, the school had its physical and other limitations. High school music classes, industrial art (called “Manual Training”) had to be held in the basement of St. Mathew A.U.M.P. Church, which also served as the school’s auditorium for graduation and other events. And without any sports facility, students and teachers creatively improvised. For the track team, they marked lanes along Alliance Street where the runners could practice their hand-off of batons. And basketball hoops were set up with discarded peach baskets attached to backboards for the team. And no new educational materials were provided to the Colored School; they had to use outdated and hand-me-down books and equipment from white children’s schools.

The quickly overcrowded classes met at a variety of locations, including St. Matthew’s Church, the Chesapeake Lodge#134 IBPOE, the second floor of the “Black Elks House” at Stokes Street and Pennington Avenue (no longer there), and 620 South Freedom Lane.

James M. Langston Hughes (1902-1967), the well-known poet, writer, and social activist, was a former roommate and fraternity brother of Principal Leon Roye at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. The students were grateful to have had him visit the school at the request of the principal and he sometimes surprised the students by reading books to them.

In 1953, Harford County moved the elementary and high school children to a new building at 201 Oakington Road to serve African-American students from grades 1 through 12. It was named the Havre de Grace Consolidated School. Despite the fact that segregation of public schools was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954, Superintendent Dr. Charles Willis fought for 10+ years to avoid complete desegregation of Harford County schools. It was not until 1965 that Harford County schools were integrated.

These adjoining buildings and property were sold by the Harford County Board of Education in 1972 to the Harford County Commissioners. It is not known how the buildings were used from then until 1986 when the property was sold to the Dee General Partnership, made up of the three daughters of former Havre de Grace Mayor, Dr. Gunther Hirsch (1925-2015). Dr. Hirsch had always been known as a friend to the Havre de Grace Colored School and its leaders. In 2005, with the changed name to Alliance 555, LLC, the Hirsch family renovated the buildings as medical offices with a reception area and examining rooms. The buildings were vacated 10 years later and in 2018 were acquired by The Havre de Grace Colored School Foundation of Community Projects of Havre de Grace, Inc., through the donation by the Hirsch family of a portion of the cost of the building.

The Foundation is now The Havre de Grace Colored School Museum and Cultural Center and is raising funds to transform the building into a state-of-the-art museum and cultural center. Its mission is to remember, promote, and preserve the rich history and legacies of the Havre de Grace Colored School. To that end, the Center is hosting a series of events in 2022 to commemorate the Life and Legacy of Dr. George T. Stansbury (1922-1996).

County Records
Built 1910. 5,384 sq ft classroom building, 22,500 sq ft lot.