Frederick Douglass Elementary School

Originally a school for African-American children operated in the home of Rev. Dangerfield Early, when Walnut Hills was annexed to the City of Cincinnati in 1870, the school became part of the Cincinnati Colored School District and known as the Elm St. School located in a new building in 1872. After Ohio desegregated schools in 1887, local African-Americans resisted this change, knowing that their teachers would struggle to find employment, and their children would not receive the quality of education they'd already been getting within the Black community. Although any child in the neighborhood could attend Douglass School (re-named in 1902), the institution was able to maintain an all-Black faculty and primarily served African-American children. The beloved 1911 building that served as the school until 1980 no longer exists. The building on the school's current site was its 3rd iteration. The current school, built in 2008, exists nearby at 2627 Park Ave. Spencer Educational Center has been operating on the site of the original Douglass School since 2017.