Festival focuses on history of education in Berwick

Tri-City area locals remembered historical events in Berwick’s educational development at the Berwick Lighthouse Festival.
Before the establishment of an official public school system in the town of Berwick, many residents took ownership of ensuring the children received an education.
Today these schools would be considered private.
Eureka Hall is one of the first locations to educate children. All classes were taught by one teacher in one room.
Some of the first teachers were Tillie Grant, Lizzie Alexander and Josephine Parker.
Later on, Roder’s Bake Shop opened a school located in the back of the shop where Rosie Roder taught students.
As schools grew, it was important for the town to offer more classes. Bay Front Pavilion became another location to offer education to local children.
The pavilion was used as headquarters for the Naval Reserves.
A large two-story structure was built in 1904. It served as the town’s first public school and was located where Berwick’s Town Hall is today.
The building was used until 1927, when the current standing Berwick Elementary School facility opened. The school expanded in 1955 to include grades 1-8.
And in 1958, the ninth through 12th grades were added. The first graduation for the Berwick school was in May of 1959 and the last in 1966.
A new high school was built in 1966. That building is now Berwick Junior High.
Like most places in those times, Berwick reflected the same racial divisions by educating white and African-American children separately.
During the late 1800s, Capt. John Pharr built a small wooden church on his plantation and established the first school for African-Americans. Virginia Mack Burke served as the teacher.
The second school located near the railroad track off Sixth Street was by the Artfellow Lodge in the B.B.U. Hall. Melinda Calvin Robertson, educated in New Orleans, was the teacher.
The third school organized at St. John Baptist developed in the early 1890s.
Robertson’s cousin, the Rev. J.H. Leonard, taught the children.
Robertson Academy was established in the backyard of Melinda Robertson during the late 1890s. Students in grades 1-8 attended the school.
In 1909, a resolution required grades 8-11 to be added to the school. Schools with fewer than 10 students in a class had to be closed.
Because of that resolution, the first black public school was established.
It was a two-room wooden building with wooden benches and two large heaters that stood in the middle of the floor.
It was located at 714 Utah St. The teachers were Maggie Breaux, Pauline Wims, Ruth Humphrey Johnson and Maude Pinkston. They taught grades 1-6.
Students above sixth grade rode a ferry to Morgan City Colored School located on Fifth Street.
In 1932, Gov. Huey Long built a bridge across the Atchafalaya River to Morgan City. As a result, students walked across the bridge to school.
The Sarah T. Patterson School was built in Berwick to educate African-American students in grades 1-8 in 1957. James Ina and Elliot Jones were the school’s principals.
By 1969, public schools were integrated. As a result, the Patterson School became a vocational school for St. Mary Parish.
Berwick’s Mayor Pro-Tem Jacki Ackel coordinated the history of education event. She also portrayed teacher Mary Forgey Wiseman who taught students on Avoca Island.
Other education history presenters were Rand Dooley, Ruth Black, and Glenda Clark Stackhouse, who played the role of Sarah Patterson.