Parsons city commissioners on Monday agreed to contribute $6,500 in tourism money to the $20,000 stone memorial to the former Douglass School.
A number of people have been involved in the research and design of the memorial, which will be placed on Appleton near Central, north of the former Douglass School. Jim Kutz provided Parsons USD 503 the drawing of the memorial, using photography from the Buck Clayton Collection at the University of Missouri- Kansas City. Clayton was a jazz musician who was born in Parsons in 1911.
USD 503 Superintendent and USD 503 School Board member Lou Martino discussed the issue with commissioners a week ago. City commissioners approved the city’s portion of the funding on Monday.
The memorial will have a stone base and granite on top of that. It will feature some information on the Douglass School, which was razed starting in 1962, a photo of the school and a QR code where visitors can find additional information.
The cost of the project will be around $20,000, but that could cost more. The city agreed to contribute $6,500 (tourism and economic development money), the Parsons Area Community Foundation granted $6,500 and the school district hopes to raise its share through donations. The budget is tight with cuts handed down from the Kansas Legislature and the delays or withholding in funding from the federal Department of Education.
Commissioners appeared to like the drawing and supported the project. They hoped the memorial could be done by the Juneteenth celebration.
“This is beautiful,” Commissioner Leland Crooks said.
“I think it will be a beautiful addition. It will look like it be-
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longs with everything,” Perkins said.
Vicki Pribble said she would donate $500 and hoped others would match her donation. Perkins said checks could be dropped off at the district office. The memo line should read Douglass memorial.
Jim Zaleski, the city’s economic development director, said these projects drive tourism and help move residents and visitors to various sites around town. The concept could be expanded to other historical places in Parsons, he said.
On Monday, commissioners approved the project as part of the consent docket, items that are approved in one vote.
Douglass School, 822 S. Central, operated as a school for the Black children of Parsons from 1908 to 1958. Parsons school administrators had started desegregating city school buildings in the years before the 1954 Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education ruling required schools to desegregate. In July 1957, the school board agreed to move kindergarten students at Douglass to McKinley School for the 1957-1958 school year. And the board voted early in 1958 to discontinue Douglass School for the 19581959 school year, with the remaining students transferred to other district schools, according to minutes from the school board meetings and Sun archives.
In late 1962, the razing of Douglass School began, though a start date and completion date could not be found.
