Greenville Magazine - August 2008 - (Page 55) dollars a month. In two short years, the student body grew out of the lecture room and trustees bought the entire church building. The congregation moved to new quarters on Falls Street. Growing pains forced the sale of the property in 1902 and the purchase six acres of land outside the city limits. The responsibility for securing the land fell to Reverend Minus who then asked for assistance from the trustees and leaders to make the first payment. They rallied together to support what was rapidly becoming the heart and soul of the community. Then Reverend Minus appealed to several influential white businessmen who each accepted positions on the board, including Thomas Parker who made the largest donation to the school. He erected a two-story building, worth $2,500 and gave the school a mule valued at $250. With financing secured, it was time to come up with a name for the “new” school. Several were suggested, but in the end Sterling Industrial College won the vote. It served a dual purpose. One was to honor the woman who made it possible for Reverend Minus to receive higher education at Claflin University. Minus said Mrs. E.R. Sterling of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. “deserved all the honor we could bestow upon her for it will take eternity to tell the good she has accomplished for the uplift and elevation of suffering humanity." Then 87 years old, Mrs. Sterling made a first donation of $75. The other purpose was reflective of the emphasis on vocational education made popular by Booker T. Washington at the time. The school’s mission was “the intellectual, industrial and religious training of the boys and girls of the Negro race.” The original building was designed and constructed by Mr. W.R. Sewell, one of Greenville's leading black contractors. By 1907 Sterling served two hundred students and employed six teachers. With all this growth, Rev. Minus was asked to give up ministerial work and devote all his time to the school. He did this for seven years and was succeeded by Carey Jones, who subsequently resigned, forcing the school to close for a short period. In 1915, the Enoree River Baptist Association picked up where Sterling left off. They bought four acres of land with a nine-room building, orchard and city water, within the city limits. The name changed to Enoree High School and Rev. E.C. Murray became the president, with Rev. E.E. Riley of Seneca, as the first principal. It became a boarding school and was operated for fourteen years. The School District of Greenville County stepped in and purchased the building in 1929 for $2,518.39 and change the name back to Sterling High School. Sterling became the first black public high school in the county. Professor Robert L. Hickson served as administrator for ten years, growing the student community and the school’s “sterling” reputation. It was admitted to the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges in 1953. By then, students congregated at the "Huddle" Soda Shop, attended football games at Sirrine Stadium or watched baseball and track at Meadowbrook Park. Sterling became a "AAA" school. And then the unthinkable happened. A headline in the paper shouted "Burned but Not Consumed" after a fire decimated the building in September 1967. Indeed, the spirit of the students, teachers, administrators and parents ignited like fire. Calls and letters flooded the Board. Over one thousand parents and students signed petitions to keep the school together. The Board of Trustees agreed to house students on an interim basis at Greenville Junior High on Westfield Street, naming it Sterling Junior-Senior High School. But not three years later, on February 17, 1970, the School District of Greenville County was integrated. Sterling graduated its last class and became a memory. Sterling boasts a stellar list of influential African-American alumni. Nationally-recognized for his bid for president of the United States, local son Reverend Jesse Jackson is perhaps the most wellknown, but other locally prominent figures include: Lillian Brock Fleming, Thomas Kerns, County Councilwomen Lottie Gibson and Xanthene Norris, State Senator Ralph Anderson and Greenville County Schools Trustees Leola Robinson and Grady Butler. For a long time, many believed that the only remains other than fond memories would be the former gym, which has been turned into a recreation center on Jenkins Street. Then the City installed a sculptural tribute by Marie Kirby Smith at the corner of West Washington and North Main Streets – now Sterling Square. It remains to be seen if the new Sterling School will weave itself into the fabric of Greenville history as prominently as the old. Many thanks to Ruth Ann Butler whose history of Sterling provided research material for this article. Information also taken from Greenville News Aug. 29, 2004, “School exhibit brings back 'Sterling' Memories” by Kathy Spencer-Mention auGust 2008 | Greenville MaGazine 55
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