HomeFinding Aids#9711 R.A. Clement School Collection

#9711 R.A. Clement School Collection

R. A. Clement School Collection

MSS #9711

July 1997

Abstract: Materials relating to the R. A. Clement School, an African American School in western Rowan County. Formed in 1943, it became West Rowan Junior High School.

Online catalog terms:

Afro-Americans--North Carolina--Rowan County--education

R.A. Clement School--North Carolina--Cleveland

Clement School--see R. A. Clement School

West Rowan Middle School--History

Size: Less than one linear foot.

Provenance: Principal Rick Hampton
West Rowan Middle School
June 1997

Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Introduction

In 1878, Rufus A. Clement and his wife, Emma, provided land for a colored school in Cleveland, NC. Two years later, the school opened in a one-room school house built by Obadiah Bridge, another local parent. Mr. George Huff was the teacher. By the mid-1920s the school had expanded to three rooms, and n 1926, a PTA was formed. Through the work of this organization a new building was erected and formally dedicated January 30, 1930.

Rowan County schools were consolidated in 1938. Avery Town, Barber, and Woodleaf students joined those in Cleveland to form the new Cleveland Colored School. In 1943, the PTA decided to rename the school, and chose to honor Rufus A. Clement, who had provided the land and provided moral and financial support for the school through the years.

In 1968 the school was integrated and renamed the West Rowan Junior High School, and in 1992 West Rowan closed its doors and moved to a new larger campus. The old campus has become a community center.

This collection contains materials relating to R. A. Clement School: copies of deeds, historical scketches, and programs from alumni assocation gatherings.

Series I.

1960s-1992

Arrangement: By Type

This collection contains materials relating to R. A. Clemnt School and West Rowan Junior High/Middle School. Most of the collection dates to the late 1960s-1992. The historical sketches are several versions of one short history of the R. A. Clement School. The Deeds are photostatic copies of the deeds transferring the land from the Clement family to the school. The correspondence is a 1971 letter from J. H. Knox to Flossie Martin describing the history of the Clement School. The Alumni Association materials is a program from the 1986 gathering of the Association. The program contains graduation photographs of various Clement classes. The West rowan Middle School information includes a history of the school which incorporates the history of the R. A. Clement School, a December 1968 school newspaper, and a program from the 1992 dedication of the new West Rowan Middle School campus.

Folder List:

Folder 1. Historical Sketches

Folder 2. Deeds

Folder 3. Correspondence

Folder 4. Alumni Assoc. 1986

Folder 5. West Rowan Middle School Info.