County of school: Warren County
Location of school: MO-J, about 1 mile N. of Wright City
Built: c. 1900
"Gibson School is a simple two-classroom, T-shape school with a front cloakroom, metal roof and clapboard siding. Several original windows have been replaced with smaller one-over-one units. An awning capps a single-leaf door. Interior features include: twelve-foot ceilings, hardwood floors, and some original fixtures. The stone foundation is exposed on the north side, providing an entrance to a walkout basement.
"In the late 1800s an African American community grew up outside of Wright City, to the north of the town, in an area around the present Route J. Its economy was largely agricultural. Sometime around the turn of the century they built a school somewhere along current Route J to serve the community's black children; its exact location is unknown. Gibson School, built on a separate site, on the edge of a ridge along the same stretch of highway, was probably constructed around 1920. This school functioned up until desegregation, which was late in Wright City, around 1962.
"Gibson is a large, T-plan frame building of classic design with a metal roof and eight-over-eight windows. There was a walk-out basement on the north end. The interior consisted of a front cloakroom and two classrooms, divided by a partition. There was no indoor plumbing; water was carried in buckets from the well outside. Grades one through four occupied the south classroom created by this division; grades five through eight held class in the north classroom. The playground
was behind and to the east of the building. The children benefited from the tight-knit community atmosphere and their teacher's involvement in church and community efforts. Parents were active in
annual events such as Christmas programs, school plays, and the Halloween costume parade through the town.
"The school day at Gibson started with a prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a song, often "America." Teachers there in the 1940s and 1950s included Gladys Sydner, Mrs. Gygans, Mrs. Hughes and Mrs. Riddley. Teachers were required to attend county teachers' meetings at the white school, where they were made to sit in a separate section at the back of the room, reinforcing the Jim Crow philosophy that would linger here for so long. From 1954 to 1962, the teacher was Betty Brown, who was noted to be strict, and who, typically, emphasized the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. The students at Gibson had few books, and those they did receive were passed down from the local white school; frequently they were damaged or incomplete.
"In 1961, upon desegregation, retired. By that year the Gibson School enrollment had increased to the point that the Wright City School District decided it was time to integrate the elementary schools.
The upper grades had integrated into Wright City Junior High in 1958, but the elementary grades remained segregated until May, 1962. Upon integration, Betty Brown was sent a letter of thanks and dismissed. Though many black teachers in Missouri vocally protested their firing after desegregation, Brown chose to remain silent. Subsequently she was hired as a second grade teacher in the Wentzville School district, becoming the first African American teacher in the Wentzville public
schools. She later received her MA and remained at Wentzville until she retired in 1990.
"After 1962, Gibson was converted into a residence and went through a number of owners. The interior arrangement and twelve-foot ceilings remain intact, as does much of the exterior. A substantial portion of the original clapboard remains, but Masonite replaced it on the east side of the building, which also exhibits fenestrations: the removal of several windows. A back door and deck have been added, also on the east side.
"Gibson is one of very few African American landmarks extant in Warren County; it is significant in the history of Wright City African Americans. A fine example of a T-plan schoolhouse, it has fortunately remained largely unaltered, despite its adaptation for reuse as a home." ~ Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Program, PDF page 294 [link below]