DuBois on Main Museum
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
DuBois on Main focuses on preserving the history of DuBois High School in Mount Hope, West Virginia. One of two all Black high schools in Fayette County, West Virginia prior to integration, DuBois High School was erected in 1917 and served until 1950. The building had eight classrooms and only one microscope to share among the student body. Dubois High School was destroyed by a fire in 1950, and the students were scattered through out the city of Mt. Hope for four years until a new school was built. The idea for DuBois on Main started at a reunion held in the late 1990s for all DuBois High School alumni. Since the reunion collections of newspapers, articles, pictures and other memorabilia has been donated to the museum, and are now on display. The owner, Jean Evansmore, entertains visitors with stories of the former DuBois High School.
After the devastating fire on June 23, 1950, Dubois High School had a temporary campus for four years (1950-1954). The classes took place in local churches and rooms in local businesses (First Baptist Church, First Union Baptist Church, and American Hardware & Lumber Co.). DuBois High did not let this slow down their academic progress. There were still many accomplishments made by the faculty and students during these years when a DuBois High School location did not even exist. If the plan Kathleen Scott speaks of is true, then the parents and faculty got their wish in due time. Plans for the new facility created by the Fayette County Board of Education began shortly after the fire.
After four long years of a temporary campus, the new DuBois High School opened for the 1954-1955 school year. The school was completed in 1954 and was the most advanced high school in the state at the time, AND it was an African American school. However, the segregation of the new and improved DuBois High School was short lived. The board of education in Fayette County decided to integrate DuBois High School because it was a new and up to date facility by closing the white high school and bringing those students into the African American high school. The name was changed from DuBois High School to Mt. Hope High School. Evansmore claims this is because power shifted to the white members of the community after integration, and they did not like their children attending a school named after a prestigious African American man. Evansmore and other African American students recall the quality of their education declining significantly after the integration of DuBois High School. Evansmore said teachers were excellent at DuBois because they actually appreciated their opportunity to be educated and to provide education to others.
DuBois on Main celebrates the successes and sense of community that correlates with DuBois High School. You can become a member of the DuBois on Main Museum for an annual fee of $10.00. This fee entitles you to: a newsletter update, a copy of the annual report received by e-mail and the opportunity to attend the annual meeting in October or date determined by the board of directors.