Phoenixonian Institute

The Phoenixonian Institute, also known as St. Philip’s Mission School for Negroes, is a former secondary school for African American students active from 1861 until the mid-1870s and located in San Jose, California, United States.^[1][2][3] It was the first African American secondary school in the state of California, founded by Peter William Cassey, and was a residential school.^[3][2]

Phoenixonian Institute
Address
625 North 4th Street, San Jose, Santa Clara County, California United States
Coordinates	37°20′57″N 121°53′47″W / 37.3492°N 121.8963°W / 37.3492; -121.8963
Information
Other names	Phoenixonian Hall, St. Philip’s Mission School for Negroes
School type	Private boarding school
Religious affiliation(s)	African Episcopal Methodist
Established	August 29, 1861
Founder	Peter William Cassey
Closed	mid-1870s

The school building no longer stands. The site of the former school in present-day Japantown has been listed as one of the ethnic sites in San Jose identified by the state of California (number 81).^[4]

History

 

Rev. Peter William Cassey, c. 1863

By the 1860s there was a lack of schools in California, and few offered a secondary-level of education for white students.^[5][3] Until 1875, the Constitution of California forbade African American students from attending public schools.^[3] After 1865, the Constitution of California provided public funds for African American education at the discretion of the local school district; with some school districts created separate segregated "colored schools", and other school districts did not provide education unless a Black child attended a private school.^[3]

On December 2, 1862, the school was founded by Peter Williams Cassey as the St. Philip's Mission School for Negroes.^[6][7][8] It had one large school building, surrounded by shade trees, with an artesian well on the property.^[8] Enrollment in the boarding school averaged around 22 students a year,^[6] with students coming from throughout California and even Oregon.^[3]

In 1863, the California State Convention of Colored Citizens was held in San Jose, which helped drum up financial support for the school from the Black community.^[3] The 1865 California State Convention of Colored Citizens passed a resolution that each Black person in the state should contribute one dollar to support the school.^[3] For a period, the school also received some funding from the common school fund,^[3][9] in the amount of $125 per year.^[3] Another source of income was school tuition, which cost $16 to $20 per four-week term in 1867.^[3][10] There was an additional charge for instrumental music lessons of $6 per month.^[3][10] Cassey himself put in $3,000 of his own money.^[6] The school nevertheless struggled financially, leading journalist Jennie Carter to comment that the constant need to perform at fundraising concerts and exhibitions was an unfortunate distraction for the students.^[2]

According to the St. Francis Episcopal Church in San Francisco, the Phoenixonian Institute closed sometime in the mid-1870s.^[11] In 1874, the California Supreme Court established the notion of "separate but equal" schools in Ward v. Flood.^[12] That year, the San Jose Board of Education set up its own "colored school", and discontinued its annual appropriation to the Phoenixonian Institute.^[3]

Legacy

Notable alumni of the school's seminary included Sarah Massey Overton.^[13] Historian William Sherman Savage wrote in 1976 that "the Phoenixonian Institute was not a great school, but it did show that black citizens were determined that their children should have at least a minimum education."^[8]

See also

• African Americans in California
• Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (San Francisco, California)
• Elizabeth Thorn Scott Flood
• List of high schools in California
• Phoenix Society (New York), co-founded by Cassey's grandfather

References

1. Rivera, Alicia (January 30, 2007). "Peter William Casey". BlackPast. from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
2. Carter, Jennie; Gardner, Eric (2007). Jennie Carter: A Black Journalist of the Early West. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 39–41. ISBN 978-1-60473-313-6. from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
3. Five Views. State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, Office of Historic Preservation. 1988. p. 78. from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
4. "Cultural Resources Existing Setting". Basin Research Associates, Inc. July 2009. from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
5. "A History of Black Americans in California: Historic Sites; Phoenixonian Institute Site San Jose, Santa Clara County". ParkNet, National Park Service. from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
6. Smith, Jessie Carney (December 1, 2012). Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events. Visible Ink Press. p. 1037. ISBN 978-1-57859-425-2.
7. "EDUCATION! EDUCATION!! The Prospectus of the Phoenixonian Institute San Jose Organized December, 2d. 1862 Incorporated Jan. 5th, 1867". California Digital Newspaper Collection. The Elevator. July 5, 1867. from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
8. Savage, W. Sherman (1976). Blacks in the West. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 174–175. ISBN 0-8371-8775-3.
9. "Proceedings of the California State Convention of Colored Citizens, held in Sacramento". The Elevator. Vol. 1, no. 32. November 10, 1865. p. 3. from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
10. "Notice". The Elevator. Vol. VIII, no. 6. May 11, 1872. from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
11. Metoyer, Eric. "Peter and Anna Cassey, Early African-American Church Leaders in California". St. Francis’ Episcopal Church. from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
12. Ficker, Douglas J. (Autumn 1999). "From Roberts to Plessy: Educational Segregation and the "Separate but Equal" Doctrine". The Journal of Negro History. 84 (4): 301–314. doi:10.2307/2649034. JSTOR 2649034. S2CID 156545977. from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
13. Namdar, L. (2016). "Biographical sketch of Sarah Massey Overton". Alexander Street. Alexandria, VA. from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.