Piney Woods Country Life School

Infobox Private School
name = Piney Woods Country Life School
motto = "Head, Heart, & Hands"
established 1909
type = Private, boarding
religion = Christian
head_name = President
head = Dr. Reginald T. W. Nichols
city = Piney Woods
state = MS
country = USA
campus = Township, convert|2000|acre|km2
enrollment = 233 total
homepage = [http://pineywoods.org pineywoods.org]

The Piney Woods Country Life School (or The Piney Woods School) is a co-educational independent historically African-American boarding school for grades 9-12 in Piney Woods, Mississippi. It is one of four remaining historically African-American boarding schools in the United States. It is currently the largest African-American boarding school, as well as being the oldest continually operating African-American boarding school.

History

The Piney Woods School was founded in 1909 by Laurence C. Jones. [ [http://www.uiowa.edu/~afriam/Jones.html African-Americans at the University of Iowa] ] Jones added the Mississippi School of the Blind for Negroes in the early 1920s, and in 1929, with the arrival of Martha Louise Morrow Foxx serving as principal, the Mississippi Blind School for Negroes was founded at Piney Woods. The school eventually moved to an urban location in Jackson, Mississippi.

Piney Woods was where the International Sweethearts of Rhythm were formed, by Jones, in 1937. [Handy, A. (1998). "The International Sweethearts Of Rhythm: The Ladies Jazz Band From Piney Woods Country Life School." Scarecrow Press.] The band included jazz musician Helen Jones, the daughter of the school's founder. Other bands associated with the school included the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi and the Cotton Blossom Singers. Beginning in the 1930s the school also sponsored baseball teams as part of the fund-raising efforts. [Wilson, L.K. [http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/1538/singing.html "The Singing Baseball Team."] Negro Leagues Writings. Retrieved 2/16/08.]

The school was presided over for more than 60 years by Jones, until 1974 when Dr. James S. Wade became the second president. Charles Beady led the school for several years, and today the school is presided over by Dr. Reginald T.W. Nichols. [ [http://www.pineywoods.org/about/history.asp "History"] , Piney Woods Country Life School. Retrieved 2/16/08.]

In 1954 Jones appeared on the "This Is Your Life" television show. During the show the host asked viewers to each send in $1 to support the school, [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,857909,00.html "The Week in Review"] , "Time magazine." December 27, 1954. Retrieved 2/16/08.] eventually raising $700,000, [Schmidt, D.A. (2002) "Iowa Pride." Xulon Press. p 209.] with which Jones began the schools' endowment fund, reported to be at $7,000,000 when Jones died in 1975.

Since then the school has conducted a number of notable publicity and fundraising activities. A variety of speakers have spoke at the school, including George Washington Carver, [ [http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=1742&category=MusicMakers&occupation=Musician%20%26%20Retired%20Nurse&name=Helen%20Jones%20Woods "Helen Jones Woods"] , TheHistoryMakers.com. Retrieved 2/16/08.] LeRoy T. Walker and Mike Espy. Wynton Marsalis played a benefit performance for the school in 1994, as well.

Morley Safer reported on the school in 1992 and again in 2005 for the CBS television show, "60 Minutes". [ [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/27/60II/main704572.shtml?source=RSS&attr=_704572 "Piney Woods: An academic oasis."] CBSnews.com. June 29, 2005. Retrieved 2/16/08.]

Currently

Today the curriculum at Piney Woods combines strict discipline, Christian teaching and chores with classroom instruction. More than 98 percent of Piney Woods' graduates go on to attend colleges, including Xavier University, Princeton University, the University of Chicago, Smith College, Harvard University, Vassar College, Tufts University and Amherst College. [Mitchell, M.A. (1998) "Black schools bolstered by remarkable gestures," "Chicago Sun-Times." March 22, 1998.]

The Piney Woods campus is located convert|21|mi|km southwest of Jackson, Mississippi. It sits on convert|2000|acre|km2 of rolling hills, forest, open fields and lakes. Funded by donations and a significant endowment, the school houses 300 high school students in grades 9 through 12 from more than 20 states, Mexico, the Caribbean and several African nations. The self-sufficient campus includes a post office, a farm, athletic fields, chapel and amphitheater. [Roach, R. (2003) "A rich, but disappearing legacy: Remembering Black boarding schools: a tradition obscured by desegregation's impact." "Black Issues in Higher Education." August 14, 2003.]

Notable alumni and faculty

* Socrates Garrett of Garrett Enterprises [(2006) [http://www.mississippilink.net/index.php?id=25 "Piney Woods prepares for centennial by reaching back to alumni"] , Mississippi Link. Retrieved 2/16/08.]
* Helen Jones Woods
* Grace Morris Allen Jones, wife of Laurence and pioneering African American educator
* Cotton Blossom Singers
* Five Blind Boys of Mississippi
* International Sweethearts of Rhythm
* Yvonne Busch, noted music educator

References

External links

* [http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM00366/ Piney Woods Collection (MUM00366)] owned by the University of Mississippi.