Eleventh Street School, Portsmouth, Ohio

Postcard with a view of the Eleventh Street School in Portsmouth, Ohio. In 1876, the City's Board of Education purchased the lot from Judge F. C. Searl for $2,500. Designed by J. Hobbs and Son of Philadelphia and built for $8,067, the two-story structure, known as the Eleventh Street Colored School, opened in September 1876, with six rooms, accommodating over 350 students. At the time, Ohio Law did not require integrated schooling, but rather allowed for school boards to organize black-only schools, when such facilities were equal to those of the white-only schools. In 1885, Jacob Johnson, the father of Narcissa Johnson, sued the School Board to force the integration of Portsmouth High School. The Board decided not to hire legal representation to oppose the lawsuit and, on November 7th, 1885, the Scioto County Court of Common Pleas granted African American students "permission to all privileges of High School." The Eleventh Street school would continue to be operated as a segregated primary school. With the construction of the Booker T. Washington School in 1927, the old Eleventh Street School continued service, remaining attached to the new segregated primary school until its final closure in 1965.