Hope Community aims to bring new life to Fairhope’s Anna T. Jeanes School

FAIRHOPE, Ala. (WALA) - A non-profit group based in Fairhope is trying to breathe new life into a historical school site there and are asking for help. Hope Community’s goal is to revitalize the property where the old Amma T. Jeanes School for African American Children stands.

It won’t be easy or quick to accomplish all that Hope Community wants to at the school site, but they’re determined, and fund-raising has already begun. Nearly fifty thousand dollars was raised in the last four weeks alone.

The 10-plus acre piece of property south of Fairhope doesn’t just have potential. It’s already played a key role in the history of Baldwin County. To understand its significance, it’s important to understand the person who made it all possible. Anna T. Jeanes was born in Philadelphia in the early 1800s and by the time of her death in 1907, the Quaker philanthropist had dedicated much of her money and effort into establishing southern schools for African American children.

“That is one of the best stories about this,” said Hope Community president, Shawn Graham. “We don’t want to do stories that have been done before that lead to a result that goes to nowhere. This is a great, positive story of blacks and whites working together for the education because we know that anybody within the community, that we can help those that are underserved, it only lifts all boats, so she got that, and we’re really recreating that passion and energy around, hey, let’s make sure we’re taking care of everybody.”

Graham has a vested interest in seeing the school flourish again. The original school was built in 1907 and burned down. A new one was built in 1947 and is recognized as a Baldwin County Historical Site. Graham’s mother Vickie and her friend, Paula have great memories made there.

“It was just the neighborhood,” Vickie Graham recollected. “Everybody that went to school here actually lived in the neighborhood, so you knew everybody.”

Hope Community plans to bring a new life with very modern concepts…an inclusive, community-based educational facility with its own take on curriculum. The aim is to bring together young and old in an environment that offers something for everyone.

The Arts and Cultural Center would house a museum, showcasing local African-American and Anna T. Jeanes history along with an engaging community center. Then there would be the teaching farm and teaching kitchen, offering opportunities for after school cubs and cooking classes. The group is using the highly successful Jones Valley Teaching Farm in Birmingham as a model for their program.

The membership is as diverse as its ideas. Rebecca Dunn Bryant owns Watershed Architectural Firm in Fairhope and is part of the group. She has the challenge of bringing the site together.

“We’re not trying to recreate the history in detail but to build on that and to look to the future, so as a shell, they’ve got Clay City tile. They’ve got large, north-facing windows to let daylight in,” Bryant said. “They’re boarded up now but if you imagine those boards coming off and us bringing that shell to the future, they’re going to be filled with light and filled with people and a great sort of launching point for a community initiative.”

So, what will it take to make this happen? The first and most important thing is to get an extended lease on the property from the Baldwin County Board of Education. Hope Community will plead its case later this month.

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