Columbus dedicates markers honoring black excellence and education
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Research by students from the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science is leaving a permanent mark on two sites in Columbus.
Those students, their teachers, and area leaders helped dedicate historic markers honoring the city’s African American History and Heritage.
Markers telling the stories of Henry Baker, Junior, and Union Academy were unveiled at ceremonies on Friday, Feb. 20.
Baker was born enslaved in Columbus a few years before the start of the Civil War.
After gaining his freedom, he was able to go to school, where he excelled.
He became just the third African American to be appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy, and the first from Mississippi.
There, he faced many obstacles, including harassment and threats. He was dismissed from the academy because of racial discrimination, but found a new educational path that eventually led to Howard University’s Law School.
From there, he got a job in the Patent Office, where he used his knowledge to recognize and advance the work of Black inventors, writing 2 books that focused on their contributions.
“He overcame challenge after challenge for his period to do the best he could. We like to say we’re standing on the shoulders of those who came before us, his shoulders are the shoulders we’re standing on right now,” said Chuck Yarborough, History Teacher at MSMS.
“He made it his life’s mission to make sure people knew the genius of black excellence here in America,” said State Representative and Chairman of the Mississippi Black Caucus Kabir Karriem. It’s always the right time to tell the truth. and with the mood of the country going the way it is, with denying history being taught, it’s even more reason to do all we can to make sure folks know who Henry Baker Jr. was and he did his life’s work preserving history.”
“I just want people to know, their circumstances do not have to hold them back,” said Althea Wells, a senior at MSMS. “I hope people remember our history because these are triumphant moments of our history. We should look at the past and consider it, but be proud of how far we’ve come.”
About 9 blocks south, on 9th Avenue, a second marker was unveiled at the original site of Union Academy.
Originally established in 1865 by the Freedman’s Bureau, it was the only school for African Americans in the city of Columbus for about 40 years.
“This is where over 140 years of educational opportunity started,” Yarborough said.
The school moved to it’s better known northside location in 1903.
Yarborough says that at the start of the Civil War, 70% of the population of Lowndes County was enslaved. Union Academy would make education available to a majority of residents.
State Representative and Chairman of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus Kabir Karriem says having the marker at the original location reminds citizens of the impact the school had on the community.
“This school was built, put aside so that blacks would have a chance at education. This marker here is symbolic because it shows the foundation, the site, where this school once stood,” Karriem said.
“Just remembering what Union Academy has done for Columbus, especially me being a Columbus Native, you hear about Union Academy all the time, and it was an incubator that shaped the community and created leaders. It just shows perseverance to beat the odds, to overcome your challenges and push through hardship,” said MSMS Senior Vincent Young. “I believe it’s just important to know our history, honor it, preserve it, and keep it close to your heart.”
“I think honoring our past and all the people who contribute to the community we have is a way to inspire people to then work toward a better future. So, I think the lives of those who dedicated their lives to educating people in this community is that we have to carry on that legacy,” Yarborough said.
You can visit the Henry Baker Jr. marker at Main Street and 9th Street South and the Union Academy Marker at 9th Ave. South between 8th and 9th Street South.
