Former students of Escambia County Training School will join students of state and local history, public officials and others this Friday, Dec. 2, in unveiling and dedicating a marker commemorating the former school’s designation as a historic landmark.
The ceremony is set for 9:30 a.m. at 100 Martin Luther King Drive, where the former school, which opened in 1926 and closed in 1970, was established as the county’s first public school for black children.
Either Mayor Jim Staff or former Atmore City Councilman and local coaching legend Cornell Torrence will read a proclamation designating Friday as Escambia County Training School Day, and Atmore Historical Society officials will recount the effort to have the former educational facility listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.
A black heritage program will follow at 10:30 a.m. in the auditorium of Atmore City Hall.
Dr. Richard Bailey, noted black historian and author, will be the keynote speaker and will autograph copies of his books, “They Too Call Alabama Home: African American Profiles, 1800-1999” and “Neither Carpetbaggers Nor Scalawags: Black Officeholders during the Reconstruction of Alabama, 1867-1878.”
Following the program, refreshments will be served and fellowship enjoyed in the auditorium lobby.