![[3727867] Statement of Scope, Condition, Purposes and Needs of Downingtown Industrial School, 1907-1908. W G. Parks.](https://rareamericana.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/3727867.jpg?auto=webp&v=1706601303)
Statement of Scope, Condition, Purposes and Needs of Downingtown Industrial School, 1907-1908.
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Unrecorded in OCLC and possibly unique illustrated report of this Pennsylvania African-American industrial school in need of funds to further their mission.
The Statement provides a “snapshot” of the school as it was in 1907, just two years after its founding in November 1905. It includes a report from the school’s co-founder and president, William A. Creditt, the school’s “Rules of Government,” and lists of the names of the students, trustees, and faculty.
Half-tone illustrations show the school, the chapel, and the barn as well as interior views of the sewing room and the dining room. Two illustrations show “Pennsylvania Hall,” the new dormitory and trades building, then under construction. An appeal within discusses the need to raise $10,000. to complete that building. The appeal likens the work being done at the Downingtown Industrial School to “...what Tuskegee and Hampton are doing for the South.” (f[2r])
“The Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School operated from 1905 until 1993 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The school was a non-profit institution geared toward neglected or under-achieving African American youth. Founded by prominent Philadelphians John S. Trower and William A. Creditt, the Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School was established to provide academic and vocational training to African American teenagers who were in danger of being declared “delinquent.” Creditt, who was pastor of Philadelphia’s First African Baptist Church, felt that a northern counterpart to Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute was much needed. John Trower, a member of Reverend Creditt’s congregation, also shared this belief. Trower was a prominent businessman and caterer who counted himself as one of the wealthiest black men in Pennsylvania. Together, the two men located land in Chester County and established the school. Both Trower and Creditt served as principals of DIAS until their respective deaths in 1911 and 1921.”¹
Description: Statement of Scope, Condition, Purposes and Needs of Downingtown Industrial School, 1907-1908.
[Philadelphia: Press of Banner Publishing Company for Downingtown Industrial School, c.1907]. [12]ff, irregularly foliated. 7¾ x 5¾ inches. Printed wrappers. Illustrated with 8 half-tone plates from photographs. Small losses to blank corner of front and rear wrap; numerous small creases or small paper defects throughout; one gathering loose from stapled binding; good.
[3727867]Note. 1. Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School Collection | Temple University Libraries [Blockson Collection] accessed online. This finding aid mentions a “President’s report,” dated November 12, 1907 (the same date of the president’s report seen within the Statement), but it may not be the present printed report.
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