Contents
- Descriptive Summary
- Historical Note
- Cited Sources
- Scope and Contents note
- Processing Information note
- Indexed Terms
- Inventory
Collection Access
Foster School Reunion Collection
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Foster School Reunion Collection
- Identifier
- BRMC.SHOREFRONT.FOSTER_SCHOOL
- Repository
- Shorefront Legacy Center
- Language
- English
- Size
- 0.5 Linear feet
- Dates
- 1926-2004
- Abstract
- Foster School was a de facto segregated public school in Evanston, Illinois. Opened in 1905, Foster School began with a one hundred percent white student body and faculty, but demographics began to shift, and by 1945, it was nearly one hundred percent African-American. In 1976, the school was closed. The Foster School Reunion collection includes Reunion Committee meeting minutes, Foster School Yearbooks, programs, event fliers, mailers, newspaper clippings, and photographs detailing the School's working history and its continuing legacy.
Historical Note
Foster School was a de facto segregated school in Evanston, Illinois named after Northwestern University president Randolph Sinks Foster. Founded in 1903 and opened in 1905, Foster School began with a one hundred percent white student body and faculty, but by 1945 it was nearly one hundred percent African-American. Foster School was one of the only public schools in the Evanston where African American children were encouraged to attend and where African American teachers could find employment until 1967, when School District 65 was desegregated. In 1967, Foster School transitioned into the Martin Luther King Jr. Laboratory School in which 25% of the school's student body was African American during the first year of enrollment. The school moved from the Foster School building into the Skiles Middle School building in 1976.
Cited Sources
- Gavin, Larry. Evanston Roundtable, "A History of Foster School and Desegregation in School District 65." June 19, 2002. Accessed July 10, 2012. http://evanstonroundtable.com/main.asp?
Scope and Contents note
The Foster School Reunion collection is arranged into three series: “History,” “Reunion,” and “Photographs.” It spans from 1926 to 1992 and includes Foster School Yearbook, Reunion Committee meeting minutes, programs, event fliers, mailers, newspaper clippings, and photographs detailing the School's working history and its continuing legacy.
Processing Information note
Processed by CLIR funded Black Metropolis Research Consortium “Color Curtain Processing Project.”
Indexed Terms
- African American parents' and teachers' associations
- African American--History.
- African Americans--Illinois--Evanston.
- Evanston (Ill.)--History.
- Parents' and Teachers' associations.
- School integration--Illinois.
- Segregation in education.
- Foster School (Evanston, Ill.)
Inventory
This series is comprised of materials documenting the history of Foster School, including the Parent-Teacher Association, the integration of, and events and activities taking place and relating to the school.
- Title
- Programs and Events,
- Dates
- 1940-2004
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings and Articles,
- Dates
- 1926-1991
- Title
- Foster Parent-Teacher Association,
- Dates
- 1943-1961
This series contains material detailing the organization and carrying-out of the Foster School Reunion. It includes both draft versions and published copies of Foster School Yearbook, Reunion Committee meeting minutes, programs, fliers, and mailers.
- Title
- Reunion Materials: Programs, Fliers, and Meeting Minutes,
- Dates
- 1989-1992
- Title
- Foster School Yearbook,
- Dates
- 1991
- Title
- Foster School Reunion t-shirt,
- Dates
- undated
This series contains photographs and copies of photographs of students and classes at Foster School.
- Title
- Photographs,
- Dates
- 1945-1957, undated