News

Residents to rededicate Ninth Ave. school marker

Historic marker at U.S. 64 and Valley Street commemorates the schools that served black children before desegregation.

By Bill Moss, Published: June 13, 2012

Residents have been invited to the rededication of a historic marker on U.S. 64 West and Valley Street in Hendersonville next week.

The sign commemorating the first black schools in Hendersonville was taken down during widening of the highway. "The marker has been replaced and we feel this is an opportune time to rededicate it," Tom Orr told the Hendersonville City Council last week. The marker commemorates the old Sixth Avenue and Ninth Avenue schools, which from 1916 to 1965 "served as a beacon for the education of Black Americans and a as a regional community center."
The rededication will honor Hannah Edwards and Mary Valentine Mims, two influential teachers who taught in the black schools before desegregation and went on to long careers at Hendersonville High School.
The rededication, at 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 20, will include a ribbon cutting, wreath-laying, music and speeches. Orr has been the leading researcher for the Henderson County Education History Initiative, which seeks to preserve the history of the local schools and make the history accessible to the community.