Southgate Street School (Newport, Kentucky)

African American Civil Rights Network

In the fall of 1866, a school for African American students run by the Freedmen’s Bureau was opened in Newport, Kentucky. When the Freedmen’s Bureau’s funding was cut in 1870, the school was closed. The city of Newport then purchased the Southgate property with the intention of providing public educational facilitates for its African American students. A temporary school was established while a new facility was built. The Southgate Street School opened in 1873 and taught African American children from the first through the eighth grade. Between 1901-1921 the school also offered a three-year high school study course.

In 1955, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, Newport desegregated its schools. The city closed the Southgate Street School and moved the students to the formerly Whites-only Fourth Street School. Today the former school building houses the Newport History Museum.

The Southgate Street School became part of the African American Civil Rights Network in 2022.

The African American Civil Rights Network recognizes the African American Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the sacrifices made by those who fought against discrimination and segregation. Created by the African American Civil Rights Act of 2017, and coordinated by the National Park Service, the Network tells the stories of the people, places, and events of the U.S. African American Civil Rights Movement through a collection of public and private resources to include properties, facilities, and programs.