Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1921-1965 (Creation)
Extent
.3 cu.ft. (2 boxes partial)
Name of creator
Administrative history
Founded in 1902 by Wallace A. Battle, Okolona Industrial School (Okolona, Mississippi) did not become affiliated with The Episcopal Church until 1920 when the Diocese of Mississippi and the American Church Institute (ACI) assumed oversight. When Battle became Field Secretary for ACI in 1927, his wife Effie T. Battle took over as administrative head of the school and remained until the arrival of A.M. Strange in 1933.
The school had been renamed Okolona College in 1932. Strange is credited with most of the modernization of Okolona’s physical plant and equipment. In 1965 the Diocese of Mississippi decided to transfer its funding from Okolona College to areas of the state it considered having greater need. The school closed that same year. The campus remained unused until 1990 when the National Council of Negro Women purchased the site with plans of reinstating educational and other support programs for the African American community. The Okolona College site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
ACI records on Okolona School include meeting minutes of the Board of Trustees (1938-1953, 1966) and its Executive Committee (1941, 1948-1952), the school President’s reports (1937-1942, 1944-1946, 1948), and financial records (1935-1968). ACI Director’s correspondence (1937-1944, 1950-1951) is primarily with the school’s principals and the bishops of Tennessee and Mississippi. This series includes a survey report of the school by the George Peabody College for Teachers (1946).
System of arrangement
This material constitutes file series 14 of the ACI archive.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Access to Episcopal Church records is governed by the Archives Public Access Policy. Research requests must be submitted in writing.
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
The Archives is able to respond to limited requests for reproductions subject to copyright restrictions, internal policy, and the condition of the source documents.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- American Church Institute (Subject)