Athens High and Industrial School
Athens, Clarke County, Georgia
Marker Inscription
Athens High and Industrial Schooll. Established in 1916-1917 and accredited in 1922, Athens High and Industrial School (AHIS) was Georgia's first four-year public high school for African-American students. Originally known as Reese Street School, founded in 1914, AHIS offered a full curriculum of classes including Latin, Greek, literature, history, chemistry, and physics. Industrial classes were offered in the evenings for adults. Leading black educator Samuel F. Harris served as principal of AHIS until his death in 1935. In 1933, AHIS moved to this location, previously the site of the Knox Institute which was founded by the Freedmen's Bureau in 1868. 2010.7 Erected by the Georgia Historical Society, the AHIS/BHHS Alumni Association, Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation and the Athens Historical Society, Inc. 29-06
Erected by Georgia Historical Society
The Story
Established in 1916–1917 and accredited in 1922, Athens High and Industrial School was Georgia's first four-year public high school for African-American students, growing out of the earlier Reese Street School. It offered a rigorous curriculum—Latin, Greek, literature, chemistry, physics—alongside evening industrial classes for adults, under longtime principal Samuel F. Harris. In 1933 it moved to the former site of the Knox Institute, founded by the Freedmen's Bureau in 1868.
Why it matters
As the state's first four-year public high school for Black students, AHIS marks a milestone in the long struggle for equal education in the Jim Crow South.
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Related people
- · Samuel F. Harris
Themes & tags
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