Emily Austin left an educational legacy in Knoxville | Opinion

Emily Austin was a pioneer without peer who succeeded in spite of the odds. She was a white woman who came to Knoxville in 1870 to educate Black children. Her name first appeared on the Austin School in 1876 and is still recognized on the building at Austin-East Magnet High School today. Her dedication to education and civic affairs are unequalled in our early history.

Born Oct. 1, 1829, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she became an active member of the First Presbyterian Church in that city. During the Civil War she volunteered in hospitals caring for wounded Black soldiers. She later became interested in the plight of newly freed slaves and came south with the Presbyterian Board of Missions in 1868 to help with their schools. Her first stop was in Greenville, South Carolina, where she suffered extreme hardships, including a bout with malaria.

The board sent her to Knoxville in 1870 to work with the Creswell School, which had been established for Black students in 1864. It was organized when a group of Black adults asked Robert Creswell of Ohio, who was here on a church project, to start a school for them. The school opened under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church.

The Knoxville Press and Herald of Aug. 19, 1872, reported, "The school is for the benefit of colored children exclusively and is under the management of Miss Emily L. Austin, who gave the committeemen a very cordial welcome. We were not long coming to the conclusion that Miss A is an excellent teacher. She exhibited before us a class of boys and girls whose ready and correct answers to questions were agreeably surprising to all visitors."

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The church also operated the McKee School for Blacks in Nashville. When the church decided in 1873 to combine the two schools to form Knoxville College, it closed the Creswell School, leaving Austin without a position. However, she was determined to stay here and began her "Select School" at Logan Temple A.M.E. Zion Church in October 1874.

The Daily Chronicle of May 29, 1875, commented on her work there: "The closing exercises of Miss E.L. Austin's Select School at Logan's Chapel last night was a grand affair, creditable to the teacher and scholars. The declamations were splendid, the singing excellent, showing that there is great musical talent in the school, and that great pains have been taken to develop it. This school has been in session for eight months with good attendance."

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On Jan. 11, 1876, the Knoxville Board of Education authorized funds for the establishment of a Black school and bought the Brown family's property at 327 S. Central St. It spent$1,000 for the home and adjacent lot and named it the Colored School. Three years later Austin returned to the North, raised $6,500 and asked the Board of Education to appropriate $2,000 to equip the building as a high school. It became Austin High School in 1879.

Considering the city's financial situation at the time, it was a marvelous feat. Mayor Daniel A. Carpenter had agreed to serve without salary and asked members of the Board of Aldermen to do the same.

Knowing that her Austin High School was under control, Austin established the Slater Industrial School on Payne Avenue in 1885 with her cousin, President Rutherford B. Hayes, as a board member. She died May 4, 1897, at age 68.

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: Opinion: Emily Austin left an educational legacy in Knoxville