In 1881, one of the most educated Black men in the US became Austin School's principal

When John Wesley Manning came to Knoxville to be principal of Austin High School on South Central Street in 1881 at the age of 24, he was one of the best educated Black men in the United States. He finished Yale College earlier that year with a bachelor's degree. He had joined a comparatively few Black students who had graduated from American colleges since 1823. Alexander Lucius Twilight, an educator, preacher and legislator who finished Middlebury College in Massachusetts that year, was the first.

According to "Black Firsts," edited by Jessie Carney Smith, "By 1860 only about twenty-eight Blacks had received baccalaureate degrees from American colleges." The first to earn a doctorate degree was Alfred O. Coffin in 1889. W. E. B. DuBois received his in 1895.

When Manning arrived here to take his position, there was only one other Black college graduate in the city. He was William H. Franklin, who was born here in 1852 and graduated from Maryville College in 1880, the first Black student to do so. Knoxville College would not graduate its first class, with two people, until 1883.

John Manning was born March 31, 1857, in Edenton, North Carolina, the son of Alfred Manning, a ship carpenter, and Eliza Allston Manning. They moved to New Haven, Connecticut, when John was 5 years old. When he attended Yale, he was the only Black student in his class.

In 1917 he was elected president of the East Tennessee Association of Teachers in ColoredSchools. In 1921 he was invited back to Yale as speaker for the 40th anniversary of his class. Classmates were so impressed with his success at Austin High and in community activities they asked Congressman Will Taylor and others to ask President Warren G. Harding to appoint him Minister to Haiti.

Before Manning came to Knoxville, community leaders complained a lot about the leadership at Austin High. They accused the principal of not really caring about his students. But under Manning the Austin School went from a primary school to a well-organized preparatory school. A seventh grade was added in 1882 during his first year. The eighth grade was added in 1885 and the ninth in 1886.

But it was not easy. The Daily Chronicle of May 26, 1888, reported, "Prof. J.W. Manning had the fifteen pupils of the seventh, eighth and tenth grades. The school has experienced difficulty in keeping the colored children in school until they graduate. This is largely due to the fact they quit and go to work. There are four out of the fifteen who are in the tenth grade. All the examinations in this grade were excellent."

Hear more Tennessee voices: Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought-provoking columns.

In seven years Manning had been able to prepare Austin High for its first commencement. The Daily Tribune of June 9, 1888, reported: "The commencement exercises of the city schools, colored department, were held last evening at Staub's Opera House. An immense audience of the elite of the colored society of the city was present. Upon the stage were seated the four graduates, the colored teachers, and Prof. Albert Ruth, Superintendent of the schools."

It was the first of many commencements for the school. Manning was principal from 1881 to 1911. He died of liver cancer Jan. 18, 1922, at age 65.

Robert J. Booker is a freelance writer and former executive director of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center. He may be reached at 865-546-1576.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Austin School principal was one of nation's most educated Black men