Iron Hill Museum oral history recordings and transcripts

In 2003, oral historian Roberta Perkins and Laura Lee, director of the Iron Hill Museum, near Newark, Delaware, initiated a project to document the history of the Iron Hill School #112C, a former African American one-room schoolhouse from the days of segregated edcuation in Delaware.

The schoolhouse, in operation from 1923 until 1964, later became the Iron Hill Museum, operated by the Delaware Academy of Science. The building is one of 89 rural schools constructed through the philanthropy of Pierre S. du Pont for the community, and one of only a few that are still architecturally intact. A 2007 survey of the buildings by the Delaware State Historic Preservation office determined that 44 of the 89 schools are still standing, though many are in a state of disrepair or have been radically altered as homes or churches.

The Iron Hill School and others like it were constructed in an era of educational reform. In the early 1900s a federal survey of all schools ranked Delaware very low, with only those in the deep South ranking lower. Delaware's response was to pass laws supporting improvements of the white schools, but the state reserved virtually no funds for the segregated black schools. Pierre S. du Pont, in a fashion similar to Julius Rosenwald, the president of Sears who personally funded construction of 5,000 schools for Southern blacks, took it upon himself to improve the educational situation of African American students in Delaware. He embarked on a school funding project to either improve existing schools or construct new schools throughout the state. Du Pont also provided funding for white schools.

As director of the Iron Hill Museum, Laura Lee met many former alumni who would visit the museum and share their school memories. In order to preserve these stories, she enlisted the help of oral historian Roberta Perkins and transcriber Marcia Adams to establish an oral history project. (Marcia Adams conducted a few of the interviews, as well.) The oral history project received partial funding from the Delaware Academy of Science, Delaware Humanities Forum, and Delaware Heritage Commission. In addition, Rohm & Haas Community Partnership Initiative provided funding for a school outreach program featuring the oral history project.