Gailor Industrial School (Mason, Tennessee) was founded in 1905 by the Rt. Rev. Thomas F. Gailor III, Bishop of Tennessee, and first became affiliated with the American Church Institute (ACI) in 1921. The school was originally named in part for the donor, Rev. Charles A. Hoffman of New York, and then renamed Gailor Industrial School in honor of Bishop Gailor after his death in 1935.
Gailor Industrial School developed into a four-year high school for girls and boys, including boarders. Fire completely destroyed the school in 1945 but it was rebuilt and continued to function. ACI appears to have discontinued funding the school in 1949. The year the school closed is not known.
Published
The school's Board of Trustees records (1935, 1940, 1944-1946) are slight, but other documentation is present concerning finances and the closing of Gailor Industrial School, dating from 1919 to 1951. ACI Director's correspondence (1938-1944) is with Gailor's principal and the Bishop of Tennessee, and with others concerning the school's building projects. Historical information can be found in historical summaries (1924-1928), publicity (1943), and a survey report of the school by the George Peabody College for Teachers (1946).
This material constitutes file series 13 of the ACI archive.
The Tennessee State Library and Archives holds Gailor Industrial School Records, 1917-1973.
Access to Episcopal Church records is governed by the Archives Public Access Policy. Research requests must be submitted in writing.
The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.