The Twin Schools: From Equalization Schools to Desegregation in Monticello, Georgia

Washington Park Elementary-High and Monticello High schools were both built in 1956 in Monticello, Georgia to educate black and white students, respectively. The new schools were built under the Minimum Foundation Program for Education enacted by Governor Herman Talmadge. The act aimed to close disparities in school funding between black and white schools through “separate but equal” institutions. Schools built under the MFPE included elementary, high, and combination schools that housed all grades one through twelve. After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, districts began approving “freedom of choice” plans to achieve desegregation. These plans overwhelmingly resulted in a number of African Americans attending white schools with few to no whites attending black schools. Green v. County School Board determined that “freedom of choice” was inadequate for desegregation. A series of federal lawsuits followed which eventually led to the desegregation of Jasper County Schools in 1970. This resulted in all students both black and white students attending Monticello High School and Washington Park School becoming the school district’s elementary school. Athletics also played prominently in the desegregation story as former Washington Park Indians became Monticello Purple Hurricanes and record of black athletic teams was left largely incomplete or non-existent.