Fate of historic Salley school discussed by 'concerned' community after open forum meeting is canceled

ERIN WEEKS, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·3 min read

Mar. 1—SALLEY — Community members gathered Feb. 29 to discuss their thoughts relating to the proposed sale of the town's historic Sardis School after a Salley Town Hall open forum meeting was canceled.

According to Brittany Wimmer, a member of Unique Impressions in Salley, no definite reason was given to the public to account for the cancellation which was made on Wednesday night.

Salley Mayor LaDonna Hall confirmed that the town council has plans to reschedule the meeting.

Sardis School's building, now unused and sitting adjacent to Sardis Park, was established in 1925. In its years as a school, it was a segregated institution serving Black students prior to the result of Brown v. the Board of Education in 1954. The school remained segregated until 1970.

The school was financed by The Rosenwald Fund, which was established by philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, who was passionate about providing proper education for Black students.

Rosalyn Hicks, a community member involved in several town committees, said that the community gathering at Sardis Park gave people a chance to sign an independent petition, which was unaffiliated with the Town of Salley or its government officials, "to see who wants to fight for the school."

"I'm not feeling confident ... that the current council is concerned about the ... citizens [of] the town and what they want and what they need," Hicks said. "That's what I'm feeling right now."

Hicks said that the next step will be to present gathered information to Salley Town Council.

Those who came out to sign the petition had much to say about the school and its significance. Mary Milhouse, a retired educator in Salley, said her daughters attended school there when it was being used as a YMCA Head Start Academy.

"It's the history ... my grandmother worked there as a cook and all her children went there," she said. "It's something that has been here for many years and all of a sudden it's going to be demolished or sold.

"So you're selling a part of the history that I have been associated with. It hurt me when I heard they wanted to sell it."

Nettie Odom, who was briefly a bus driver for the school, said the building is "almost like a landmark ... it's just special."

Rosa Hicks, who attended Sardis School from first through sixth grade, said "this was our school, before integration. All of the teachers were Black, all of the teachers were from the community, everybody knew and looked out for the children. It's important to us to keep it here for history's sake."

Cassie Thompson also attended the school from first through sixth grade, and said that selling the building would be "destroying Black culture."

"A lot of people care about the school. They're concerned," said former town councilmember Marion Milhouse Jr., who served in the role for 31 years. "I hope we can keep it ... I just believe in my mind that the man upstairs [is going] to make a way, I know he will."

Sarita Williams said that Sardis School was where she received her elementary education.

"This is part of my heritage ... we need to preserve our heritage," she said.

"What happens to the building when they sell it?" Williams added. "We don't have access to the building once it's sold. It's just ... property gone. We need to maintain this property. Hold onto it."

Hall, the town's mayor, said that she supports the preservation of the school building.

"The school is a historic landmark in our town ... that was our Black school ... my dad went to school there as a kid," she said. "It's very important to keep it. It's going to make it, I really feel like it's going to make it. Whatever happens, I feel like it will definitely be a staple in the community regardless."