DuPont schools history program set Oct. 8

The Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice  will host Delaware historian and lecturer Syl Woolford at its town hall meeting from 7 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 8, at Trinity Faith Christian Center, 15516 New Road, Lewes.

Woolford’s presentation, The Journey: from Shirley Bulah to Ruby Bridges, traces the history of the “colored schools” that Pierre du Pont built when the state of Delaware did not provide education for black children. In what was called the Great Experiment, between 1920 and 1930, du Pont built 85 schools intended to shrink the education gap between blacks and whites.

The program will explain the planning process for building these schools, the experience of the students who attended them, and the process of closing the schools after Brown vs. Board of Education.

As a native Delawarean currently living in Newark, Woolford has been involved in the restoration and preservation of several of the du Pont schools. He has been active with historical and genealogical societies including the Delaware Heritage Commission, the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, and the Delaware Genealogical Society.

Woolford is a graduate of Delaware State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting, and a graduate of Rutgers University with a master of business administration degree in marketing.

The alliance is committed to saving and restoring the Nassau School in Belltown, with the aim of converting it to an African American Museum. Alliance Chair Charlotte King said, “This is going to be a mammoth, expensive, complex project, including establishing ownership and moving the school to a new location, and it will likely involve several years of work for our community volunteers.”

For more information, go to www.sdarj.org.