Lee Academy (Mississippi)

Lee Academy
Location
Map
Clarksdale, Mississippi

Mississippi Delta
Coordinates34°13′15″N 90°35′16″W / 34.220959°N 90.5878866°W / 34.220959; -90.5878866
Information
Opened1970
Grades7-12
Websitewww.leeacademycolts.org
Last updated: 2 December 2017

Lee Academy is a grade 7–12 private school in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The school opened in 1970 as a segregation academy,[1] with an initial enrollment of 654 students.[2] In 1970, when Clarksdale submitted to integration, the public schools closed for an "integration break". When they reopened after a one-day hiatus, nearly all of the white students transferred to Lee or other segregation academies.[3]

As of 1986, the school had never had a black student.[4] The headmaster at the time, Gene Barbour, told a newspaper that the school "would admit blacks as long as they were cultured or want a college prep background. We wouldn't take any shuckers or jivers."[4][5][6]

In 2001, Bob Ellard, the former Clarksdale Municipal School District superintendent, recalled that the opening of Lee Academy was "the worst thing that ever happened to our schools." He explained that when the public schools integrated, most white families "ran" to private schools.[1]

Many members of the football team at Coahoma County High School transferred to Lee Academy as integration via court order was about to occur.[7]

As of February 25, 2020, the school's official history page stated that the school was founded in part to ensure "retention of local control of policies".[8] At the same time, the school's mission statement says that Lee "welcome[s] the application of students and staff members of any race, religion, color and/or origin and do not discriminate against individuals of such groups."[9][10]

As of 2010, 92% of the students at Lee Academy were white, while at Clarksdale High School 92% were black.[11]

  1. ^ a b Massey, Richard (March 17, 2001). "Is Bussing Order Still Needed?". Clarksdale Press Register. p. 1.
  2. ^ "History." Lee Academy. Retrieved on July 6, 2017.
  3. ^ DREILINGER, DANIELLE (September 19, 2019). "A charter school faces the ugly history of school choice in the Deep South". Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b Ingram, Ruth (November 9, 1986). "Perception of Racism still Keeping Black Students From Academies". Clarion Ledger. p. G1 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Pittman, Ashton (March 29, 2019). "GOP Leaders Trick House Into Sending $2 Million to Private Schools". Jackson Free Press.
  6. ^ Jones, Kevin (April 28, 1985). "School fights to regain tax-exempt status". Clarion-Ledger. p. 20A.
  7. ^ Hamlin, Françoise N. Crossroads at Clarksdale: The Black Freedom Struggle in the Mississippi Delta After World War II (John Hope Franklin series in African American history and culture). University of North Carolina Press, 2012. ISBN 0807835498, 9780807835494. p. 196.
  8. ^ "History". Lee Academy - Clarksdale, MS (via Wayback Machine). Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  9. ^ Mission & Vision — Lee Academy - Clarksdale, MS (via Wayback Machine)
  10. ^ About Lee Academy | About
  11. ^ Dellinger, Matt. Interstate 69: The Unfinished History of the Last Great American Highway. Simon and Schuster, August 24, 2010. ISBN 143917573X, 9781439175736. p. 147.