129 Aubrey Street | Cartersville, Georgia 30120

Established by Ronald Johnson in 1889, the original Summer Hill School was a wood framed Rosenwald structure of white clapboard with only a few rooms. The original student body numbered 55 students in first through sixth grades. The property was acquired by the city of Cartersville in 1892. By 1893, enrollment had grown to 250, and by 1920, served 358 students. Parents, who had petitioned repeatedly for more grades over the years, were still dealing with discarded desks and worn-out textbooks from the whites only Cartersville City East Side and West Side schools.

Many students continued their schooling after finishing their early grades at Summer Hill. In 1925, Thomas Kiser reported to the Atlanta Independent, a black newspaper of the era, that Annie Hutcherson, Ada Thompson, and Harriet Edwards were off to Spelman Seminary, while Florence Gassett, Eva Gassett, and Robert Morris were headed for Atlanta University.

On May 20, 1922, the Cartersville School Board accepted a proposal by the Colored Committee and the Julius Rosenwald Foundation for $3000 total from the Foundation and Summer Hill parents to build a much-needed new school. The structure was completed in late 1922; the school continued to expand until all grades through high school were finally added by 1951.

The Cartersville School Board hired J. Stanley “Fess” Morgan in 1925. “Professor” Morgan, as he was known, and his wife, teacher Beatrice Morgan, introduced a range of extracurricular activities—including band, choir, interest clubs and men’s and women’s sports—to develop well-rounded, civic minded students. In January 1956, less than two years after the Supreme Court declared school segregation unconstitutional (Brown v. Board of Education), the brand new Summer Hill High School was opened. It was enlarged in 1961 to accommodate the lower grades, and the original school was vacated. The school closed in 1968.

The current campus operates a museum, library, youth and alumni programs, auditorium, nature trail, and sports complex that includes the historic Blue Devil Stadium, hand built by parents in the community. 770-331-9135 www.summerhillheritagegroup.org