Colored Industrial School of Cincinnati

Colored Industrial School of Cincinnati

In 1909 Sallie J. McCall left in her will instructions, property, and funds to establish a school to serve the African American community. She assigned twelve trustees, six white and six African-American, to create a not-for-profit corporation to this effect. The school opened May 1914 as the Colored Industrial School of Cincinnati at 724 W. Sixth Street. It provided instruction to African American students in domestic science (for women), chauffeuring, carpentry, brick laying, and kindred trades (for men). Staff in the early years consisted of a superintendent and as many as nine teachers. In its first decade the school graduated close to 600 students. The school remained open for nearly fifty years, finally closing its doors in 1962 at the end of the school year. In 1964, it was ruled that the remaining funds of the school be turned into scholarships for African American students.

To learn more about the Colored Industrial School,
consult the following resources:

Annual Reports of the Trustees of the Colored Industrial School of Cincinnati
R.B. 371.974 C574i
The annual reports of the Colored Industrial School contain documents regarding the establishment of the school including the last will of Sallie McCall and the school charter. It also lists courses offered during the year and a breakdown of expenses. View catalog record Request this

Negro Business Directory
Pamphlet 917.714 N393
This 1940 business directory has a brief description of the Colored Industrial School. View catalog record Request this

Cincinnati's Colored Citizens
By Wendell P. Dabney
General 301.451 D114, 1988 reprint
This book by Wendell P. Dabney covers the history of African Americans in Cincinnati and includes a sketch for the Colored Industrial School. View catalog record Request this

Charles P. Taft II Papers, 1922-1977
Mss 562
Charles P. Taft II served several terms as a Cincinnati City councilman, was mayor from 1955 to 1957, and was on numerous boards and committees. During the 1940s, he was a board member and the treasurer of the Colored Industrial School. His papers include correspondence about the school's investments and expenditures as well as more general information about the school. For more information, please consult the collection register available in the Library. Request this

Sources Used for Historical Sketch:

Annual Reports of the Trustees of the Colored Industrial School of Cincinnati , 1914, 1919, 1920, 1924. R.B. 371.974 C574i. Cincinnati Historical Society Library, Cincinnati Museum Center
Dabney, Wendell Phillips, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens; Historical Sociological and Biographical, New York: Negro Universities Press, 1970 [Reprint of the 1926 ed.], p. 355. General 301.451 D114 1970. Cincinnati Historical Society Library, Cincinnati Museum Center.
"Judge's Ruling Will Benefit Negro Students," Cincinnati Enquirer, February 4, 1964, page 8. On microfilm. Cincinnati Historical Society Library, Cincinnati Museum Center.