Remembering

Heiskell School

903 Campbell Street

Established in 1897

Heiskell Elementary School

Established in 1897

Heiskell School (also commonly referred to as Heiskell Elementary School) was built in 1897 at 903 Campbell Street. It was the first all new public school ever built for Black children in Knoxville and stood as one of the main structures in The Bottom where many of the city’s Black residents lived and worked.


A dedication ceremony for the school took place on November 11, 1897 and an estimated 2,000 people - nearly 400 or 500 of them being school children - were in attendance. Activities for that day included special remarks from city and community leaders, an invocation, as well as musical performances.

The Journal and Tribune, November 12, 1897

During its early years,

Heiskell School catered to children grades one through three but eventually housed fourth, fifth, and sixth grades for the remainder of its existence. A week after its establishment, the Maynard School for Black students was dedicated November 18, 1897 at 737 College Street in Mechanicsville.


It is at Heiskell School however where the majority of Black children that lived in East Knoxville received their education. While it lacked certain amenities that had been afforded to white schools in the city, Heiskell School was kept tidy and in good shape over the years. Through its ups and downs, many Heiskell alumni maintained lasting memories of their days as students. 

Leadership

The principals of Heiskell were:

  • 1897-1909 Samuel L. Dickson
  • 1909-1928 J.A. Leiper
  • 1928-1932 W.M. Jenkins
  • 1932-1933 W.S. Nicholson
  • 1933-1934 Lois H. Tinsley
  • 1934-1944 W.D.S. Bradley
  • 1944-1949 Dewey W. Roberts
  • 1949-1953 Edna Murdock LeFlore
  • 1953-1955 Landon C. Porter
  • 1956-1956 Mary Bacote

"By the time I got to Heiskell, the building was 44 years old, but still in good shape. It was built in 1897, the first all-new school ever built for black children in Knoxville, and it was named for Mayor Samuel G. Heiskell. As I remember it, the school had four large rooms on the bottom floor and three or four rooms on the top floor.


One room on the top was larger and sometimes used as an auditorium. There we saw school plays and a few movies.

In those days we could not participate in the local spelling bee, so we had 'spell downs' in the classroom. My sixth-grade teacher, Ozana Hunter, lined her classes up around the wall and asked each person to spell a word. The last person standing was the winner. Those were exciting times.



Heiskell did not have a cafeteria until I was in the sixth grade. Parents, friends and students of the school were asked to bring old dishes and other kitchenwares to be traded in or purchase plates and flatware for cafeteria use. After a year or more, enough was collected to make the project successful.

When urban renewal came in 1959, it wiped out all of the homes down there in the Bottom. There was no longer a need for Heiskell Elementary School, and it had to go, too. So I'll borrow a few words from Bob Hope and say, "Thanks for the memories."


Dr. Robert J. Booker (1935-2024), "Memories of wartime Heiskell school still clear," Knoxville News-Sentinel, May 21, 2011

Author, historian, former state legislator and former executive director of the Beck Cultural Center Dr. Robert J. Booker attended Heiskell School during the WWII era, graduating from 6th grade in 1946.

"Thanks for the memories!"

Absorbed by Urban Renewal

Heiskell School operated for nearly 60 years until the first of three Urban Renewal Projects, the Willow Avenue-First Creek Redevelopment Project (now commonly referred to as the Riverfront-Willow Street Project) took effect in 1959. Two years prior, the Board of Education relinquished the school building to the City Council in exchange for a 12 ½ acre city-owned site on Whittle Springs Road. Once it was in the city's possession, they transferred it to the Knoxville Housing Authority. As requested by the Board however, they continued using Heiskell School until the new Green School Elementary on Payne Avenue was ready for occupancy in November of 1957.

Children playing outside of Heiskell School. Courtesy of Knoxville Housing Authority, Knox County Archives

The Heiskell Elementary School collection has been digitized as part of the Cherished Institutions Project under the CLIR Grant. This collection continues to grow and we invite those with memories of Heiskell to share their story so that we can continue to keep the legacy going. The collection is currently available on Beck's digital archive collection.