(copy) Elizabeth Hurton and her School for Black Students, Newburgh, NY

Thanks to Mr. Vince of NCPP, we learned of a possible reason why Elizabeth Hurton's School for Black Children closed, and the building became a parking lot. He said that a lot of Black history a long time ago was not recorded, so we sometimes have to use what we have to sort of guess what happened. He told us that maybe the Alsdorf family (a very important family in Newburgh at that time) had something to do with why Elizabeth Hurton's school is now a parking lot. So, we had to look up that family (Vince Cianni).

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It is important to share information about Elizabeth Hurton and her school because she was one of the few Black teachers that would teach Black children at that time. We think that it was a great service that she did for her community and people should know about it. We feel sad but we also feel inspired by what she did. We want to teach people about her how she worked hard to help her community. When we think about her, we know that even when things are hard, we can still do it, no matter what. The primary and secondary documents helped us get our information. We were able to see the pictures and then answer the questions.

Who was Elizabeth Hurton and why and how did she help Black children and her community?

We wanted to study Black schools because we wanted to know what school was like for Black kids back then. We also wanted to know about the teachers who taught them.

We think that people in the community must have been happy and grateful that Elizabeth Hurton decided to teach Black children because Mr. Vince, NCPP explained that Black and White children could not go to the same schools during those times (Vince Cianni). They had a place to go before Mr. Alsdorf changed things. Elizabeth Hurton was a Thinker because she thought of ways to help Black children get educated. She was Caring because she helped the Black children. She was a Risk-Taker because she risked her life to teach the Black kids. She was Knowledgeable because she was teaching the Black children and she didn't give up on them at all.

1. We notice there are a lot of words. 2. We notice that article is old. It was written in 1895. 3. We notice the article is from Newburgh, NY.

1. We wonder who wrote this? 2. We wonder who put mean comments on this? 3. We wonder why she was one of the only teachers that was teaching Black kids?

A Colored Woman's Work, Newburgh Daily Journal, 1895 (“Mothersofamerica”)

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1920 Census (“Mothersofamerica”).

1. We notice Elizabeth Hurton's name on line 3 and it said she was a servant. 2. We notice a number of people living in the house. 3. We notice this is a census report made in 1920.

1. We wonder why they did not say she is a teacher? 2. We wonder why they wrote in cursive? 3. We wonder where to find the date?

Re: The two past pages with the location where Ms. Hurton's school used to be.

1. We notice the street looks like a place we know. 2. We notice Ms. Hurton's school location is now a parking lot. 3. We notice it has a gate. 4. We notice there are other people's houses still there.

1. We wonder if the street is my (Lucy's) street? 2. We wonder why her school is a parking lot now? 3. We wonder who decided to destroy it? 4. We wonder how she could afford to open a school and she was a servant? 5. We wonder how the children's day was in school?

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Audio Recording: Discontinuation of Colored School <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-810345172/desegregation-tashae_5">https://soundcloud.com/user-810345172/desegregation-tashae_5</a> (“Stream Discontinuation of the Colored School by In Washington's ...”)

“Dubois Alsdorf… petitioned the Board of Education and they… gave this information to their committee of laws… and they voted six to two to discontinue the Colored School [in 1873] and allow all of the African American children to attend the all-white Grammar School ... He goes on to petition again for his [three] children to attend the prestigious [all-white] Newburgh Academy, [now Newburgh Free Academy... (“Alsdorf Family and the Underground Railroad”). "His sons were the first 3 Black students to attend Newburgh Free Academy. Alsdorf said he was not just fighting for his kids but he was fighting for all African-American kids. He thought they would attend school more and have better instruction..." (“Stream Discontinuation of the Colored School by In Washington's ...”). One day we will be attending Newburgh Free Academy, thanks to the Alsdorfs.

It is super interesting to know that although she was a servant, she was also a teacher. The 1895 Newburgh Daily Journal article, that we got from NCPP, proved that she was a teacher who was appreciated (“Mothersofamerica”). The article told us that at Elizabeth Hurton's school located on Washington Street, she taught 15 - 20 colored children. She taught them godliness and cleanliness (Ibid). Mrs. Vince of NCPP in an interview with me (Lucy) said she was middle class and that all the Black families living on Washington Street were middle class at that time (Vince Cianni). Elizabeth Hurton rented out rooms and she worked for the Stoutenburgh family as a servant to help afford the school. A New York Philanthropist, someone who wants to help other people, rented rooms, gave them furniture, fuel and food. He didn't want people to know his name (“Mothersofamerica”). We thought maybe because he didn't want the White people to get mad at him for helping a Black woman and children. Mr. Vince of NCPP thinks maybe he didn't want the attention but just did it from the goodness of his heart (Vince Cianni). Although the article was nice to Elizabeth Hurton, we thought it was also rude because it says colored people back then were ignorant and that their communities were filled with crime.

Parking lot at 262 Washington Street where Ms. Hurton's School was once located. &nbsp;(“Truth Be Told:&nbsp;Elizabeth Hurton School-Delano Hitch Installation, Banner15”)&nbsp;

Source: https://newburghcommunityphotoproject.com/mothersofamerica

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Name of Featured Person &amp; Place: Elizabeth Hurton Servant/Teacher and her School for Black Children Newburgh, NY

Names: Lusandra (Lucy) S. C.--5th Grade Spec. Ed. &amp; Royal D.--4th Grade Spec. Ed.

Classroom Teacher: Mrs. Dolfinger/Ms. Shirley

After looking at the primary source documents, we found Elizabeth Hurton so interesting that we had to find out more about her. One of the most important things we noticed from the picture of the parking lot is that some houses are still there, and some important things we wondered are why was her school knocked down and who decided to knock it down? We decided to interview Mr. Vince of NCPP who researched her life. Here is the interview:

Lucy's interview with Mr. Vince, Newburgh Community Photo Project (NCPP) (Vince Cianni)

Lucy's SC's & Royal D's Annotated Bibliography

1. We notice her name is tiny. 2. We notice that she died on December 16, 1920. 3. We notice her birthday is not on the gravestone.

Elizabeth Hurton's Gravestone, Woodlawn Cemetery, New Windsor, NY (“Mothersofamerica”)

1. We wonder why she has a little gravestone? 2. We wonder why there is so much grass? 3. We wonder how she passed away? 4. We wondered if her gravestone looks different because she couldn't afford a big one? 5. We wonder if her date of birth is not on the gravestone because she might not have known it? 6. We wonder why there is not a picture of her?

Washington Street where Elizabeth Hurton had her School &nbsp;(“Truth Be Told:&nbsp;Elizabeth Hurton School-Delano Hitch Installation, Banner10”)&nbsp;

This is actually her house, and it is not a parking lot. Please change the word "house" to "school".

Re: The pages about the school location, the census and the gravestone: It was very hard to imagine someone who lived so long ago. So, we looked at some primary sources that Mr. Vince and the Newburgh Community Photo Project (NCPP) gave us as proof that she really lived. The sources were: 1) Banner pictures of her school location 2) Census records 3) Picture of her gravestone (“Mothersofamerica”). We see that her school was on Washington Avenue where I (Lucy) live. I could not believe it! We saw the census from January 1920, and she is listed on the 3rd line. It says she was 65 years old and a servant and then we saw her gravestone showing she died on December 16, 1920. This means she died the same year of the census. She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery just outside of the City of Newburgh (Ibid). We learned that she is buried in a separate area from White people in the cemetery because Black people and White people were buried in separate areas back then. Black people were usually buried on the edges of cemeteries. (Vince Cianni).

When we did this collage we looked at Elizabeth Hurston's gravestone and we thought it looked plain and small. We thought that she probably could not afford a fancy gravestone or a fancy house because she was Black. We made her gravestone shiny and colorful. Then, we imagined what her house looked like and made it big and fancy. We feel she deserves it for teaching Black children.

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