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Kountze Baptist College (also known as Jermany College) served African American students in the area for nearly two decades. In 1910, the Trinity Valley Baptist Association opened the primary and secondary grade level school. Such institutions were often known as colleges at the time. Professor W.H. Jermany served as president of the school and also taught classes along with four other teachers, including his wife. Affiliated with Bishop College in Marshall, the school initially enrolled 15 students housed in a small wooden building. Classes included Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Home Economics and Sewing, Dressmaking and Millinery, Music and Theology. The school also operated a truck farm on part of its 81-acre campus to support its agricultural education programs, and included a college preparatory academy and a teacher training program. Kountze Baptist College thrived in the 1910s and into the 1920s. The small wooden school building was replaced by a larger structure, and in 1915 the school obtained additional land and erected a three-story building which contained dormitory rooms, classrooms and a chapel. By the late 1920s, Professor Jermany had resigned and was replaced by a Professor Schlyde. Because of financial difficulties compounded by the Great Depression, the school closed in 1930. Many of the young African American men and women who were educated here went on to graduate from college. Serving as a source of pride for both blacks and whites in the area, Kountze Baptist College left a legacy as an institution of vital importance and significance in Hardin County. (2007) |
