The Eckstein School, located at 42 Washington Avenue, played an important role in the local community as well as the educational lives of Glendale’s Negro residents between 1915 and 1958.

The school is a source of pride and fond memories to ex-students. Many of them recall caring teachers with high standards and expectations for their pupils. The athletic field near Eckstein was the site of many community barbecues and baseball games, and civic groups, including the NAACP, held meetings at the school. At the same time, the school was a symbol of separate and unequal education.

THE EARLY YEARS: The “Verdin house” was a small residential dwelling when it was purchased by John J. Burchenal. Various additions enlarged and changed the building in the following decade. The building we are familiar with today did not emerge until the final addition was completed in 1928.

1915 Miss Theodore Oxley was the school’s first teacher and Miss Agnes McClure went over to Eckstein from the Congress Avenue School to teach music classes.

1916 Money was raised by private subscription to improve the school. In September the school was named the Eleanor Eckstein School in recognition of her work. Jane Kinmont, Miss Eckstein’s niece, donated money to the school which was used to purchase the bronze plaque that sits just inside the main door.

1917 Domestic science equipment was purchased.

1918 A large 18 x 30 foot room was added to the building.

1920 Some parents unhappy with the facilities at the Eckstein School tried unsuccessfully to reenroll their children in the Congress Avenue School.

The following articles from the Union, a weekly newspaper, owned and edited by Wendell Phillips Dabney discuss the situation.

Dabney, born in Richmond Virginia in 1865, was the son of a slave who had purchased his freedom. His newspaper’s motto was “For no people can become great without being united, for in union there is strength.” He was the first president of the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP, which was established in 1915.

1921 Miss Cornelia Medley becomes principal of Eckstein School. She taught grades 7 and 8, and remained at Eckstein for eighteen years.

1922 Miss Viola Burgess Burr began teaching at the school. She too was a long time member of the Eckstein community.

Charles Parrish was five years old when he started at Eckstein in 1923. He remembers the building still had its front porch and there were only two classrooms.

1924 An extra room was added for 7th grade students.

1926 A $30,000 bond issue was passed.

1928 A gymnasium/auditorium was added to the school. The exterior of the building was stuccoed creating the exterior facade that we see today.