Aiken's Schofield Normal and Industrial School joins Reconstruction Era National Historic Network

Jul. 2—The Reconstruction Era National Historic Network now includes a site in the City of Aiken, the Schofield Normal and Industrial School.

Dr. Walter Curry, a historian, and the Martha Schofield High School Alumni and Legacy Committee were among those who worked to get the Schofield Normal and Industrial School added to the network.

Curry said in 1868 Martha Schofield founded the school to provide education to former slaves after the Civil War during the Reconstruction Era.

"That school provided quality education in industrial arts," Curry said. "At the time industrial arts was pushed in the African American community, and other subjects as well... I also know that later on Schofield had several famous graduates. One of them, Dr. Matilda Evans wrote some history about Schofield, and Dr. Matilda Evans became the first African American female doctor licensed here in South Carolina and Martha Schofield was her mentor."

Network creation

The Reconstruction Era National Historic Network was created following the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act of 2019. Nathan Betcher, a historian with the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park and The Reconstruction Era National Historic Network, said the Dingell Act envisioned the Reconstruction Era National Historic Park running the network as a source of information. He added there were two goals for the network.

"One is sharing news about Reconstruction, and No. 2, and more practical, is we push out information on grants," Betcher said. "We don't distribute grants, we don't hand them out or anything like that, but we do get in contact with the state historical preservation office and also that National Park service and entities that have historical grants."

Betcher said members of the network can exchange ideas, and if they're facing similar challenges, they can get advice on how to handle those issues.

Joining the network

The process to join the network is fairly simple, Betcher said, before adding that applicants have to fill out a form and answer some questions about the site and how it ties to the network.

"It gets emailed to us and every quarter we convene a small board and go over the applications. Does it meet our criteria, have a tangible tie? And they get a thumbs up or thumbs down. It's not a very complicated process at all, and it's one of those things if people have questions we are there to answer them."

Betcher added that there are three criteria outlined in the Dingell Act that have to be followed.

"Criteria A basically deals with National Parks Service sites. Criteria B is sort of if you're applying for a buildings or if on its historic merit itself, one of the things we have to look at is if it's on the National Register of Historical Places or if it's eligible to be on the register. Then does it fit within our timeline, we go form 1861-1900, so does it fit within that timeline. Third is the very tangible ties to Reconstruction, what happened here that very much tells the Reconstruction story and Schofield is a great example of educational opportunities during Reconstruction."

During his research on the network, Curry discovered that historical sites that are part of the network will receive educational promotional materials about the site. So the decision was made to submit an application.

"We submitted our application and we also received help as well ... because the bell tower which is the only structure remaining of Schofield Institute is on the (Schofield Middle) school property, so we had to get approval from the Aiken County Public School District," Curry said. "So they wrote a letter in support of Schofield to be part of the network, and once we received that letter our application was approved. So Superintendent King Laurence and Patrice Rhinehart-Jackson, who is the school board member who represents this area, were very helpful and supportive of the effort."

The entire process took about two months. Earlier in July they found out Schofield was accepted to the network.

"We were excited, very excited," Curry said. "The Rev. (Lester) Smalls and Delores Harris here have been very supportive of my efforts in promoting African American history here in Aiken County, so we were very excited about receiving the letter, and it will definitely help us further in promoting the history of the Schofield Institute for many years to come."

First site in City of Aiken

Betcher said Schofield is the first site in the City of Aiken to be accepted into the network and he is hoping for some more.

"The ties between Aiken and the story we tell here in Beaufort, especially Prince Rivers, there's some strong ties there. I would like to see more stuff in Aiken," Betcher said.

"I love the fact that when Dr. Curry and the Rev. Smalls put in the application, it was very much a grassroots driven thing," Betcher added about Schofields acceptance. "It was 'hey, this is our site,' I think that's awesome that people are very much connected to their history, their town's history and want to show off what they have ... I can't think of any reason why Schofield shouldn't be on that list and it is now. It's exciting that people recognize the historic gems."

As for what the acceptance means, Curry said that Schofield Normal and Industrial School will be listed on the network website.

"That will also give us an opportunity to work with the network to promote its history with pictures, other initiatives that the alumni association has," Curry said.

According to Betcher, there are currently 82 sites that are part of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network, with 43 in South Carolina.

"We're in 26 states and the District of Columbia," Betcher said. "A lot of people associate Reconstruction with the deep South and it's anything but. You've got homesteaders who moved out West... the buffalo soldiers out West, railway workers, it's really, the whole gamut, the whole social strata, but also geographically. We've got a site in Idaho, Washington state, Yellowstone is one of our sites, we're looking to get a few more."

Betcher added that when looking at applicants, the network looks at the program.

"Sometimes people get hung up on the National Register part of the criteria," Betcher said. "If you have a museum or program, but you're located in a modern building — we look at the program itself. So being in a building built after 1900 doesn't eliminate you for consideration as long as your exhibits, interpretive programming, etc. is focused on Reconstruction."

Next steps

With Schofield's acceptance, the next step is to identify other historical sites throughout Aiken County, with Curry stating that many have connections to the Reconstruction Era.

"We want to encourage other sites to be a part of the network as well," Curry said.

Smalls, a member of the Martha Schofield High School Alumni and Legacy Committee, was excited about the designation.

"We certainly thank Dr. Curry for his motivations and efforts to lead us through that and it really has helped the resurgence and the consciousness of the Schofield neighborhood and beyond," Smalls said.

"We're looking at other projects such as a Schofield book just to preserve some of the paperwork and other items," Curry said. "We are very, very excited about this moment."

A list of all the sites part of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network can be found online at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/reconstruction/network.htm.