African American schools; African American business enterprises; Education--Finance; Alexander City (Ala.); Kowaliga School (Tallapoosa County, Ala.); Benson, William E.
Format
correspondence
Genre
Business correspondence
Date
between 1909 and 1911
Physical Description
microfilm, 16 mm, b&w
Note (Reel no.)
Reel 73
Note (Status of gift)
Promised and made
Note
PDF may contain multiple grant documents.
Date based on grant approval.
Note (Historical note)
The Kowaliga School grew out of Will Benson's devotion to his 'home community'-a love of the land inspired by his father, John. John Benson was born a slave in 1850. His master was probably James Benson, a Virginian who owned a plantation on Kowaliga Creek. When James Benson died in 1863 at the age of eighty-six, neighbors purchased much of his property. The Civil War, meanwhile, soon rendered John Benson a free man... The oppression and terror blacks faced locally may have led Will to the conclusion that he could not spend his time 'in mere money-making.' He decided to build a new school for the community's children. Will's father agreed to donate ten acres and the lumber for a two-story school building, if the community would supply the labor. Over the next few months, Will Benson traveled the countryside gathering support. He formed a glee club with local farm boys and held concerts in towns and hamlets across the county, collecting donations at each performance. After bringing in the year's harvest in Kowaliga, local farmers set to work cutting down trees and firing bricks for the school's foundation and chimney. It took two years and the financial contributions of seventy local families and several distant benefactors to complete the building. In 1897 Benson incorporated the Kowaliga Academic and Industrial Institute and recruited a distinguished group of individuals to the board of trustees. Booker T. Washington served for a time... In 1900 Benson expanded his vision for Kowaliga by incorporating the Dixie Industrial Company, launching an 'industrial and commercial enterprise which would go a step farther than the school in the development of the natural resources of the community.'... By 1902 Washington had stepped down as a trustee, citing his disappointment with Will Benson's leadership and concern about Benson's handling of school finances... Despite the trouble between Benson and Washington, the Kowaliga School continued to expand, and by 1909 there were five 'substantial buildings' on the Kowaliga campus, as well as a barn and a small farm with livestock. A staff of twelve provided instruction to three hundred children... By 1913 the school reported an enrollment of over 320... By 1915, Benson had apparently lost control not only of the Dixie Industrial Company but of Kowaliga School.... Despite Benson's death, the Kowaliga School endured for another decade, run by its trustees. It finally closed in 1926..." [SOURCE: Sznajderman, M., & Leah, R. A. (2005, Spring). WILLIAM BENSON AND THE KOWALIGA SCHOOL. Alabama Heritage, 22-29. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/212177044?accountid=10226. Accessed 6 Sep. 2018.]
