Douglas School (1890s-1965)

Douglas School stared in the early 1890s on "Cat Island," Elizabethton. It was called the "Colored School" until the 1924-1925 academic school year when it became known as Douglas School and was a part the Elizabethton City School System. The educational facility evolved from a one-room, one-teacher school to a twelve-grade school community center. Continued: The Rev. W. A. C. Breedlove was instrumental in the early history of Douglas School. He served as the school's principal-teacher and as a pastor for the Phillipi Baptist Church. Mrs. E. Townes Whitley also served as a teacher, later followed by Mrs. Hildred T. Shearer. In 1936, Douglas became Elizabethton's first African-American high school, graduating the first class in 1940. In 1965, under the principalship of Mr. T. J. Harville, Douglas graduated the last class and closed due to the ending of school segregation.