'The mother of the children of the people': Macon woman pioneers education for black children in the 1800s
From Macon to Augusta, Lucy Craft Laney impacted education across the state with her dedication, by starting her own school.
For Black History Month, we are honoring a Macon legend that helped educate and inspire kids across the state.
As a black woman herself in the 1800s, the odds were stacked against her, but Lucy Craft Laney didn't stop in her quest to open a school dedicated to serving black children.
It all started in Macon From an early age, Laney took her education seriously.
"The mother of the children of the people."
Those are the words etched onto Laney's tombstone now, but her journey to that title began in Macon.
"She was born into an enslaved family, but her family was what we call in history going free, they were legally slaves," Historian Kent Leslie said.
Leslie says Laney's father was a pastor at Washington Avenue Presbyterian Church in Macon, while her mother worked at the Hay House.
"One of the common cores you always hear about is about [Laney's] faith," Pastor of Washington Avenue Presbyterian Church Kenneth Moye said.
From an early age, Laney saw the importance of education and made it her life's mission to give that opportunity to African-American children.
"For her to go out in the world and be the woman that she has become, it is truly phenomenal and a wonderful blessing for us here," church member Latrell Taylor said.
A woman at the Hay House where her mother worked took an interest in Laney.
"So Mrs. Flora taught her how to read and write by the time she was four and taught her Latin by the time she was 12," Leslie said.
It was uncommon at the time for blacks to be educated. Still, Laney pressed on with her schooling.
"It was called Louis at first and then Ballard, and then she got to go to Atlanta University in the first class in 1869," Leslie said.
Laney graduated in 1873 from what is now Clark Atlanta University, in a class of four teachers. She taught in Augusta and then Savannah, until a new journey came calling.
"So in 1883 she is called back to Augusta by Reverend Allen, who was working with the Presbyterian church, to open a school for black kids," Leslie said.
Leslie says the school started in the basement of Christ Presbyterian Church in Augusta.
"It's going to be the story of her life, as kids show up, as kids want to learn, and she takes them into the school," Leslie said.
Laney's dedication earned her the respect of many church members who helped fund her own school, called The Haines Normal and Industrial Institute, until her death in 1933.
Laney's legacy lives on Laney is continually honored through an Augusta high school.
But her impact has spanned centuries.
Today Lucy Craft Laney Comprehensive High School sits near the location of the school Laney built in Augusta.
"It gave us a sense of ownership and pride," Principal Virgil Smith said.
Smith graduated from Laney himself in 1974.
"In order for you to know who you are and where you're going, you have to know where you come from," Smith said.
From the streets of Augusta to the churches of Macon, the legacy of Laney resonates across the state and through the years.
"It was so important for her to be about education and for us to learn more than what we have already known," Taylor said.
"It is beautiful, because she believed the power inside the individual was greater than any other power outside the individual," Moye said.
Lucy Craft Laney's Legacy
To learn more about Lucy Laney's legacy, a documentary called "Love Them First" will be publicly screened on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Professional Resource Center at SOAR Academy, located at 2011 Riverside Drive in Macon.
The documentary follows an under-performing north Minneapolis school that carries Lucy Laney's name, and how the principal plans to turn it around.
To learn more about Lucy Laney online, you can visit her museum's website. The museum is located in her old home in Augusta.
Photos: Lucy Laney's museum and school in Augusta
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