Clay County African American Legacy, Inc. -- Garrison School Cultural Center502 N Water Street, Liberty, MO 64068 Website: https://ccaal-garrisonschool.org/ Garrison School, established in 1877, was the first public school for African American youth in Liberty and is the only historically Black school still standing in Clay County. In the fall of 1954, after the Supreme Court case Brown vs. Topeka ordered “separate but equal” schools unconstitutional and to desegregate “with all deliberate speed,” the Liberty School District initiated integration by desegregating the high schools. Garrison became a fourth-grade center in the fall of 1958, and the kindergarten for all Liberty students in 1961. Today, owned by the Clay County African American Legacy, Inc., Garrison is a visual and cultural center preserving African American history, celebrating the culture and promoting human relations.(Excerpted from African American Historical Sites of Liberty, Missouri.) |
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