In 1907 W. C Phillips, the Superintendent of the HoCo Board of Education reported to the State Board of Education that his plans for a Colored Industrial School did not yet occur due to “the great opposition to the education of the negro in this county.” But despite this great opposition the Guilford community pushed forward to make sure the Black children in Guilford received the education they deserved.

The Original Guilford Colored Public School at First Baptist Church

The original public school for Black children in Guilford began in the 1905-1906 school year had a total enrollment of 133 students that year, 47 in the elementary grades, and the teacher’s school year salary was $144. The only known possible location was on the Carter family property in the First Baptist Church. The first trustees for this school included Rev. Willis J. Carter, John Holland and David Thomas.

Guilford Colored School Trustees

After the untimely passing of Rev. Willis Carter, the trustees for the 1907-1908 school years included a Carter (first name not included), John Holland, and David Thomas. John Holland and David Thomas were both long-time resident of Guilford as well as neighbors of the Carters. The Holland and Thomas families were farmers dating back to the 1870s and earlier. David Thomas was a cook by trade. By the 1908-1909 school year, an additional school for black children was added in District 6, possibly at Jonestown, and the next year the enrollment at the Guilford school dropped to a total enrollment of 44 students, all in elementary grades.

From the 1907-8 through the 1919-1920 school years, the three faithful trustees of the school in Guilford were John Holland, James Carter, and David Thomas. Mr. Carter was Rev. Willis Carter’s younger brother who worked in the quarries as a block cutter but moved from the area by 1920. After James Carter moved away, Mr. Jacob Coleman was appointed as the third trustee of the Guilford school for the 1920-1921 school year.

Mr. Coleman was a quarry man whose family moved to Guilford for the job but who remained dedicated to education for the children and a school trustee until his death in the early 1940s. Mr. Thomas and Mr. Coleman were such prominent citizens in Guilford that the Coleman Thomas Road off of Oakland Mills in Guilford bears their family names. The Coleman family were original members of the First Baptist Church of Guilford and some still reside in Guilford.

Building a New Colored School in Guilford

The time of the Maryland Granite Company brought great economic and political growth seen by the annual Guilford Day celebrations attracting thousands for sporting tournaments, games, speeches, picnics, and comradery. By 1917 the Maryland Granite Company closed, Guilford Day ended, and the other quarry activities in the area ceased. This reduction of workers and their children was one result of a May 18th, 1920 request from a delegation of black citizens from the 6th District for consolidation of the schools in Annapolis Junction and Guilford to be located centrally (see below).

The Julius Rosenwald Fund

Based on his friendship and admiration of Booker T. Washington, one of the founders of Sears, Roebuck and Company began donating funds to promote education for rural Black communities in the South. This became The Julius Rosenwald Fund by 1917 and offered hope for raising funds to build “colored schools”. The Guilford community needed as much help as possible. (https://www.blackpast.org/.../rosenwald-fund-schools.../) When requesting a school to educate the Guilford and Annapolis Junction children, the May 1920 delegation to the School Board reported that they raised $700 from the community and could get another $800 from the Rosenwald Fund (the amount the Julius Rosenwald Fund allowed for a 2 room school).

By January of 1922, this delegation raised more money and requested an additional $450 from the Board towards the amount needed for constructing the school but the Board approved only $225 and agreed to put out a bid for its construction. In February 1922, the Board received just one bid of $4400 which they decided was just too expensive to approve. In the end, this school which was the first in Howard County to use these funds, were reported by the HoCo Superintendent to have received $800 in Rosenwald Funds, $900 in County funds, $1,000 from the Black community, and $300 in gifts for a total of $3,000.

The Guilford Colored School on Mission and Guilford Roads was built in 1922 and was the only community in Howard County to use Rosenwald Funds until 1926. The Guilford community lead the way for what appear to be the other two schools to receive these funds: Cooksville and Elkridge.

William Arthur and Samuel Carter built the new Guilford Colored School in 1922

In May 1922, with $2450 reported by the School Board available, Mr. William Arthur and Mr. Samuel Carter went to the board to inform them that they could build the school for the amount already raised. Since this was not a formal bid the Board had to consult with their attorney to see if they could accept it. No board records are yet found with a determination, but it is assumed the Board accepted the terms from Mr. Arthur and Mr. Carter as the School Board took out a $2000 insurance policy for the school in September 1922 for the beginning of the school year. If the School Board reported a total of $3,000 made available for the school, I would assume the difference in what what paid to Mr. Arthur and Mr. Carter would have been furnishing the school and supplying books.

This new school, located on Mission and Guilford Roads, stands today as a private residence. It seems it opened for the 1922-1923 school year. In May 1923 the School Board announced the trustees for school #3 in the 6th District being “William Arthur, Richard Carter, Jacob Coleman new board appointed at the new Guilford school”.

The Ellicott City Colored School has one of the first graduation diplomas from this new school earned by Nellie E. Thomas on the 14th day of June 1923. Ms. Thomas lived near Asbury/Annapolis Junction but I have not been able to determine if/how she was related to the Thomas family in Guilford.

This is the link to this school’s listing on the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties (open the scanned inventory form). The school was likely constructed in 1922, built by Mr. Arthur and Mr. Carter, much earlier than the 1930s as this listing estimated at the time. It was certainly a Rosenwald Fund school. https://mht.maryland.gov/.../medusa/mapintermediate.aspx...

Note: There are so many families that built Guilford before, during, and after the quarry industry. Over time, we will address the families in more detail, especially with the oral history project started by the First Baptist Church of Guilford with the Howard County Historical Society. If you have any knowledge of specific families that were part of the history of Guilford, please let us know.