Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School Collection
Collection ID
Record Group MS005DI
Collecting Areas
Description
This collection is housed at the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection in Sullivan Hall, Temple University Main Campus. Please contact Blockson at 215-204-6632 or blockson@temple.edu for access to this collection.
Processed by:
Lyndsey Brown
Jessica Clark
Timothy Horning
Jenna Marrone
Megan Miller
Group leader: Sara Borden
Supervisor: Aslaku Berhanu
Processing completed: April 2010
Background Note
The Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School operated from 1905 until 1993 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The school was a non-profit institution geared toward neglected or under-achieving African American youth. Founded by prominent Philadelphians John S. Trower and William A. Creditt, the Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School was established to provide academic and vocational training to African American teenagers who were in danger of being declared “delinquent.” Creditt, who was pastor of Philadelphia’s First African Baptist Church, felt that a northern counterpart to Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute was much needed. John Trower, a member of Reverend Creditt’s congregation, also shared this belief. Trower was a prominent businessman and caterer who counted himself as one of the wealthiest black men in Pennsylvania. Together, the two men located land in Chester County and established the school. Both Trower and Creditt served as principals of DIAS until their respective deaths in 1911and 1921. They were succeeded by J.N.H. Waring and his son, John Waring II, both notable for their work with inner-city African American youths.
DIAS boasted a 110-acre campus and two dormitories that housed approximately one hundred and ten students a year, both boys and girls. Though it originally operated as a non-denominational private institution, it became state funded in 1907. The school achieved national recognition and was well-known and respected by the local community. Under the Warings’ regime DIAS was advertised in African American newspapers from all major northeastern cities. Applications to the school were accepted from parents, guardians, and child welfare programs. The school prided itself on the wealth of available extracurricular activities, including sports teams for boys and girls, domestic studies, and college prep classes. Group activities and socialization were highly encouraged in addition to the academic curriculum or vocational training. The Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School closed in 1993. In 2002 Delaware County Community College opened its Chester County Campus on the school’s former site.[1]
Scope & Content
This collection documents the Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School (DIAS) from 1907-1993, a vocational high school for African-American students located in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Items included are administrative and financial documents, publications, correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, memorabilia and other ephemera. The earlier years of the school’s history are well-documented, but the later years are less well-represented in this collection. Also not included are student rosters or enrollment information. The strengths of this collection include a visual documentation (in photographs) of the early years of the school, as well as how DIAS was portrayed in the press.
Organization
The collection is divided into five series:
Series I, Administration and Financial
Series II, Publications
Series III, Scrapbooks
Series IV, Memorabilia & Ephemera
Series V, Photographs
Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Acquisition Information
The collection was donated to Temple University by Mr. Charles L. Blockson in 1985. Mr. Blockson acquired the materials three years earlier, courtesy of a Downingtown faculty member, while giving a commencement address at the school.
Access Points
These headings represent access points under which the collection has been indexed in Diamand: Temple University Libraries’ public access catalog.
Corporate name
Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School
Authors
Creditt, William A
Trower, John S.
Document type
Photographs
Clippings
Topics
African Americans – Vocational education – Pennsylvania – Downingtown
African Americans – Education (Secondary) – Pennsylvania – Downingtown
Youth with social disabilities – Education (Secondary) – Pennsylvania -- Downingtown
Processing Note
The collection maintains its deposit organization structure. Loose materials (primarily photographs, but also newspaper clippings, publications, and memorabilia) were found tucked into the photograph book of George B. Lomax and the scrapbook of Clara Clark. These items were removed and re-housed in separate folders or envelopes and placed within the appropriate series.
Recommended Citation
Please cite as, Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School (Accession # MS005DI), Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, Temple University Libraries.
Series I, Administration and Financial, (1907-1964; 1976-1985)
This series documents the earlier years of the school, including the president’s report of 1907, and a minute book that was curiously used off and on. Also included are documents pertaining to the estate of school founder William A. Creditt. There are a few financial records (1946-1964), including insurance policies, that document the aftermath and resulting construction after a devastating fire in 1946. A few pages of correspondence are also in this series (1976-1985).
Box / Folder Folder Title Date(s)
1 / 2 Correspondence 1976, 1981-82, 1985
1 / 9 President’s report November 12 1907
2 / 2 Reassessment for fire insurance June 10, 1948
2 / 4 Insurance survey December 1950
2 / 5 Insurance correspondence & policy 1956
2 / 6 Dormitory construction bid (1950, 1964)
solicitation & fire insurance
2 / 7 Building contract & insurance 1949, 1950, ?
2 / 8 Minute book [1907-1908, 1911, 1921-1929]
2 / 10 Executive Committee 1921-1922 [1907-1908, 1911, 1921-29]
from minute book
2 / 11 Office of Principal, [1907-1908, 1911, 1921-1929]
1922 from minute book
2 / 12 Re: William A. Creditt estate to 1921
principal, 1921 from minute book
2 / 13 Students absent, female 1918-1919
2 / 14 Student Records 1918-1921
3 / 43 Receipt removed from Lomzx book 1925
5 / 1 Trustees elected 1923 from 1923
Clark scrapbook
5 / 2 Undated school history from None
Clark scrapbook
Series II, Publications, (1929-1985; n.d.)
This series spans many decades of the school’s operations and serves to illustrate the depth of events going on at DIAS. Included here are commencement programs, banquet programs, a few issues of the Downingtown Bulletin, and a yearbook, the 1972 Downingtonia. Also included are newspaper clippings, some of which are undated.
Box / Folder Folder Title Date(s)
1 / 1 Commencement exercise programs 1951-54, 1956-60, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1975-76, 1981-82, 1985
1 / 3 Creditt-Bradford Memorial Club Flyer 1976
1 / 4 Dedication ceremony program, Creditt- October 6, 1968
Bradford
1 / 5 Founder day’s banquet programs 1967, 1969-71, 1973-79
1 / 6 Founder day’s banquet programs 1980-82, 1985
1 / 7 Raymond A. Lemon. Appreciation October 25, 1980 banquet [Copy and draft of
acceptance speech]
1 / 8 Middle Atlantic Association bulletin, 1934-35
football and basketball
1 / 10 J.H Warning, Jr. testimonial banquet October 19, 1959
1 / 11 Publications 1923, 1968, 1976, 1980-81, and undated
2 / 1 Pennsylvania State Police: 1946
Bureau of Fire Protection
2 / 3 Yearbook – The Downingtonian 1972
2 / 9 Bulletin of information 1981-82
4 / 2 Downingtown Bulletin, Newspaper 1933
clippings & misc. items found in
1933 scrapbook
4 / 4 Downingtown Bulletin, Vol. XVII, No. 1 October 1941
Downingtown Bulletin, Vol. XIX, No. 7 April 1944;
Downingtown Newsletter 1962, 1968-70
5 / 4 Newspaper clippings from 1951
Clark scrapbook
5 / 5 Newspaper clippings Clark scrapbook None
5 / 6 Commencement exercises (copy) from 1929-1940
Clark scrapbook
5 / 7 Promotional pamphlet from None
Clark scrapbook
5 / 8 Downingtown Bulletin (copy) from 1936
Clark scrapbook
5 / 9 Negro History Week Program from February 15, 1935
Clark scrapbook
5 / 10 Football & Basketball bulletin from 1934-1935
Clark scrapbook
5 / 11 31st commencement booklet from 1936
Clark scrapbook
5 / 12 Newspaper clippings from None
Clark scrapbook
5 / 13 Downingtown Bulletin (copy)
from Clark scrapbook
5 / 14 Newsletter from Clark scrapbook 1964
5 / 16 Newspaper clippings from 1985
Clark scrapbook
5 / 17 Downingtown Bulletin (copy) 1932
from Clark scrapbook
5 / 18 Downingtown Bulletin from 1930
Clara scrapbook
5 / 19 Girls’ championship booklet 1929
from Clark scrapbook
Series III, Scrapbooks, (1906-[1943])
This series contains scrapbooks that include newspaper clippings arranged chronologically and comprising various subjects. Included are: School business, including hiring, tuition, honor roles, commencement and other official events; girls’ and boys’ sports; an advertisement for DIAS; discussions of funding; the effects of World War II, including Civilian Defense training of students and teachers, the sale of war stamps, and the impact of the draft on DIAS’s faculty; health issues at the school, including smallpox vaccination and a scarlet fever quarantine; racial issues at West Chester Hospital and Cheyney State Teachers’ College; and “Friendly Cooperation Is Aim of Negro-Owned Institutions.” Additionally, various other newsworthy occurrences at the school are documented, including a fire, a fight, the marriage of faculty members, and the death of the President of the Board of Trustees.
Box/Folder Folder Title Date(s)
5 / - Clara Clark scrapbook of [1930s?]
newspaper clippings
(see Publications)
6 / - Scrapbook 1906, 1921-23, 1943
Dual purpose book of labeled
invoices, newspaper clippings,
commencement exercises
7 / - Ledger book/scrapbook 1909-1910
Dual purpose ledger book 1909-1910
overlaid with newspaper clippings 1913-1927
8 / - Scrapbook with newspaper clippings October 1935 – July 1937
9 / - Scrapbook with newspaper clippings July 1937 – April 1939
10 / - Scrapbook with newspaper clippings May 1941 – June 1943
Series IV, Memorabilia & Ephemera, 1929-1933; n.d.)
This series is made up of seven scrapbooks of photographs and newspaper clippings, memorabilia and other ephemera. The series is comprised of two parts. The first is a ledger book that was repurposed as a scrapbook, containing a significant number of newspaper clippings. The second includes a scrapbook and a collection of diplomas and records belonging to Clara Clark (1929-1933).
Box/Folder Folder Title Date(s)
4 / 9 Diploma/certificates, Vivian Evans 1933
5 / 3 Personal reminder note from None
Clark scrapbook
5 / 15 Varsity letters (basketball) from None
Clark scrapbook
5 / 20 Dance card from Clark scrapbook 1929
Series V, Photographs, (1929-1932; n.d.)
This series contains all photographs in the collection. One album which belonged to a school official named George B. Lomax is included here, and dated 1925, but not all of the photographs are from this year; dates are included where possible. This album and the Clara Clark scrapbook contained many loose photographs that are now in separate envelopes for maximum preservation. Most of the photographs are from the Lomax album. There are many photographs of students, faculty, and facilities, a large portion of which are unidentified.
Box/Folder Folder Title Dates
3 / - Photo book of George B. Lomax 1925
3 / 1 Newspaper clipping: “As a part of the None
commencement pageant Mr. Waring
drills his WACs” from Lomax book
3 / 2 Newspaper clipping: “Mr. Lemmon – None
Get a good look at him while he is
still single” from Lomax book
3 / 3 1 Photo: seated woman - “Mrs.Hunt 25. None
N. 40th St. 16th Ave 6868” from
Lomax book
3 / 4 1 Photo: woman with car “Mrs. None
Rhodes []” from Lomax book
3 / 5 1 Photo: three people in yard – None
“Kenneth Cousins, Dorothy
Peterson, Miss Carter” from
Lomax book
3 / 6 1 Photo: scenery - “Campus” from None
Lomax book
3 / 7 1 Photo: Group – “Mr. Tignore and 1926
service group” from Lomax book
3 / 8 1 Photo: standing man – “D.J.S.” June 1937
from Lomax book
3 / 9 9 Photos: women from Lomax book None
3 / 10 3 Photos: scenery from Lomax book None
3 / 11 1 Photo of men with a car from None
Lomax book
3 / 12 4 Photos: men/boys from Lomax book None
3 / 13 2 Photos: groups from Lomax book None
3 / 14 1 Photo: candid group of 8 people None
from Lomax book
3 / 15 1 Negative: group of 6 people from None
Lomax book
3 / 16 2 Photos: scenery – sports field and None
waterfall from Lomax book
3 / 17 5 Photo: posed groups of people –men, None
women, and children, from
Lomax book
3 / 18 1 Photo: Group of males and female from None
Lomax book
3 / 19 6 Photos: groups of couples, males None
and females, posed and candid from
Lomax book
3 / 20 1 Photo: candid shot of woman – None
“Mother Ni[]on” from Lomax book
3 / 21 1 Photo: posed shot of women’s None
basketball team from Lomax book
3 / 22 Advertisement: “The ‘Ideal’ – the None
original Album Pencil” from
Lomax book
3 / 23 1 Photo: shot of men’s baseball team in None
action from Lomax book
3 / 24 1 Photo: candid shot of people on None
beach from Lomax book
3 / 25 1 Photo: shot of individual male from None
Lomax book
3 / 26 1 Photo: shot of individual male from None
Lomax book
3 / 27 2 Photos: shots of building from None
Lomax book
3 / 28 5 Photos: candid and posed shots of males None
and females outdoors from
Lomax book
3 / 29 2 Photos: shots of scenery from None
Lomax book
3 / 30 1 Photos: posed shot of unidentified None
woman from Lomax book
3 / 31 1 Photo: scene from baseball game None
from Lomax book
3 / 32 4 Photos: sports and crowd from None
Lomax book
3 / 33 3 Photos (beach shots of children and None
adults) and photograph postcard
(two male children) from Lomax book
3 / 34 4 Photos: scenic images, including None
Washington D.C., from Lomax book
3 / 35 3 Photos: sports from Lomax book None
3 / 36 5 Photos from Lomax book None
3 / 37 3 Photos from Lomax book None
3 / 38 Postcard of Virginia Union University, July 10, 1920
Richmond, VA: card to Lomax
from Debora ]; from Lomax book
3 / 39 4 Photos: football from Lomax book None
3 / 40 7 Photos from Lomax book None
3 / 41 4 Photos: fire and portraits, from None
Lomax book
3 / 42 Postcard from Lomax photograph book None
3 / 44 Photos: page from unknown booklet None
for Alumni Assoc., officer list and
photo from Lomax book
4 / 1 Original aerial photograph of DIAS July 5, 1971
4 / 3 Photos: graduation 1972
4 / 5 Scrapbook 1933
4 / 6 Photos: Girl’s basketball team/ 1931
boy’s football team None
4 / 7 Photos: faculty & staff (?) (1920s?)
4 / 8 Photos: faculty & students(?) (1920s?)
5 / 21 2 Photos removed from Clark scrapbook None
[1] Information from the Diamond Jubilee (1905-1980) pamphlet, with notes corrected by Mrs. Clay Griffin.