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Thanks to our partner, Henderson Institute Historical Museum, a batch containing Henderson Institute school census cards from the early 1900s are now available on our website. These cards feature various information on students including their name, grades, marriage status, address, birth dates, birthplace, and more.
Individual school census card for Henderson Institute student E. Roy Brandon.
Established and operated by the Freedmen’s Board of the United Presbyterian Church to educate the Black community, the Henderson Institute opened its doors to students of Vance County in 1887. The school remained opened for 83 years before its operations as an official high school ceased in 1970 due to integration. During its years of operation, the school served as the only secondary school open to Black individuals in Vance County. In 1986, the Vance County Board of Education deeded the school’s Library Science Building to the Henderson Institute Alumni Association. With funding from graduates, friends, and the general assembly, the association restored and renovated the property. Today the building houses the Henderson Institute Historical Museum.
To learn more about the Henderson Institute Historical Museum, please visit their website.
To view more materials from North Carolina’s African American high schools, please view our North Carolina African American High Schools Collection.
Ten issues of the student newspaper from the Henderson Institute are now on DigitalNC. The Henderson Institute was founded in 1891 with the goal of educating the Black community. It was funded by the United Presbyterian Church. The school closed in 1970 but maintains an active alumni group and our partner, the Henderson Institute Historical Museum stands on the original grounds of the school in Henderson, NC.
Editorial in the 1941 Campus Herald discussing the inconsistency of the US policy abroad and at home
The topics covered in the paper include events happening at the school, topics of study in classes at the school, as well as important events in the Black community both locally and nationally. The issues of the paper span 1937 through 1969, showing the evolution of the school in the middle of the 20th century, including some very interesting papers from the World War II era where there is discussion by the students of the juxtaposition of the United States push for liberty abroad while race relations on the home front remained fraught. The early papers published in the 1930s were done under the direction of the English department but later issues appear to be have been produced by a specific group of the student body independently at the school.
The introduction of Student Council at the Henderson Institute in 1969
To learn more about the Henderson Institute Historical Museum visit their partner page or their website. To see more newspapers from across North Carolina, visit our newspaper page.
A student’s photograph taped into a commencement booklet from 1933
Graduation programs and invitations from the Henderson Institute, provided by the Henderson Institute Historical Museum, are now available on DigitalNC. the Henderson Institute was a high school started in 1887 by the Freedmen’s Mission Board of the United Presbyterian Church. It was closed after the 1969-1970 school year due to integration. Through the years that the school was open, it was the only secondary school open to African Americans in Vance County. Part of the original school building now houses the Henderson Institute Historical Museum.
The collection of 19 graduation programs and invitations date from 1924 through the school’s final 1970 graduation. Although each program is structured differently, many include the full names of the members of the senior graduating class along with a schedule of events.
Also in this collection are five theater programs from the Henderson Institute. These include programs for student productions of The People Versus Maxine Lowe, Rest Assured, and Once in a Lifetime.
Click here to browse through the programs. To learn more about the Henderson Institute Historical Museum, visit their partner page, or take a look at their website.
Student yearbooks from the Henderson Institute, an African American school located in Vance County, are now available in the North Carolina High School Yearbooks collection. The Henderson Institute was founded in 1891 and served the community in and around Henderson, N.C. until its closing in 1970. The original yearbooks, ranging from 1952 to 1970, are held by the Henderson Institute Historical Museum, which documents and preserves the history of the school and works closely with the Institute’s active alumni group.
Thanks to our partner, Henderson Institute Historical Museum, yearly record envelopes for African American students who attended Vance County schools with last names A through Z are now available on our website.
These envelopes, filled with a multitude of information, are a great resource for researchers and individuals looking to learn more about Vance County residents, students, and schools. The front of the envelopes include a students’ name, address, date of birth, years they attended school, which Vance County school they went to, how many days they attended, if they were promoted, and noted if they moved out of the county.
Due to the inclusion of medical records and other sensitive personal information, the content within the envelopes were not digitized. If you are interested in learning more about the documents inside of the envelopes, please reach out to the Henderson Institute Historical Museum for more information.
To learn more about the Henderson Institute Historical Museum, please visit their website.
To view more materials from North Carolina’s African American high schools, please view our North Carolina African American High Schools Collection.
