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Overview
1852-1935 John Henry Kelly founded the first public school for African Americans in Maury County. Born and raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Kelly finished school at an early age and began the study of law with the view of making this his life’s work. While visiting his family in Columbia, he discovered the need for teachers and decided to work to educate the African American students. First, he and partner Frank Wigfall acquired the former orphan asylum for school purposes. In 1880, supporters of the public-school concept, gathered "friends of the cause" to discuss the school situation in Columbia. The discussion resulted in an ordinance to provide common school education for both black and white children. The committee secured a building for the white children and developed a plan to fund and build a structure for the black children. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen purchased two acres to build the new school. In 1885, an agent representing the school went North to raise funds to assist in the building of the new school. In addition, the school closed for 10 months, and those funds were used to assist in the building of the school. In 1886, the Colored Public School at College Hill, later named College Hill School, opened with Kelly serving as the first principal. The next challenge was finding African American teachers. In 1896, Kelly established the Maury County Colored Teachers’ Institute. Each summer, 85 to 100 new or inexperienced teachers attended a two-week session. The superintendent of schools placed the students who passed the “certification” examination in city and county schools. Kelly was the son of Columbia natives, Edmund, and Paralee Walker Kelly. He married Annie Flippin, and they had four children. Kelly died in 1935 and is buried in the Rose Mount Cemetery.
