When Oakland became a city in 1852, there was no free public school. A private school at the corner of 2nd and Broadway was run by Mrs. Monroe.
African American Museum & Library at Oakland Photograph Collection
The town trustees saw the need for a school, so they rented a room at the rear of a dance hall called a Fandango House at 2nd and Washington. The room had half a dozen wooden benches, a teacher’s table, a blackboard, a map of the world, and a rawhide whip. 12 to 15 children attended.
Horace W. Carpentier donated a school building to the city in exchange for (control of)the area around the harbor. Oxen teams from the hills brought redwood lumber, and they erected a small structure at 4th and Clay Streets. It was 30 x 20 feet with a 12-foot ceiling and a shingled roof. A belfry with a little bell. Carpentier described the building as “substantial, elegant, and commodious.”
In June o853, when the school opened, the citizens held a parade, and 16 students carried a banner reading, “Our Duty to Our Country, First, Last, and Always.”
The school’s first teacher was Miss Hannah Jayne. She taught until 1856, when she resigned to marry Edson Adams, a pioneer in Oakland.
In 1853, the First Presbyterian Church used the building for services. The church’s current sanctuary (built in 1914) memorializes the schoolhouse in one of its stained-glass windows, which shows the church’s history.
By 1855, Oakland had 155 school-age children. The little schoolhouse could not house them all. The old Carpentier school was replaced by a slightly larger building between Jefferson and Grove ( now Martin Luther King) on 11th and 12th Streets.
The city continued to grow, and so did the need for schools. By 1873, 13 buildings served more than 2,000 children. By 1875, 3,225 children were attending school, an increase of 1,000 in 2 years.
First A.M.E. Church
A small group in Oakland founded the A.M.E. Church in 1858, and it is the oldest African American church in Oakland. The church founders purchased the Carpenter School House in 1863, which became the first church building.
According to the article below, the building was still there in 1921
In 1943, the school district celebrated its 90th Anniversary with nearly 2,000 teachers, 75 schools, and almost 45,000 students.
More Info:
- The First Schoolhouse – Oakland Local Wiki
- Oakland’s First Schoolhouse – Oakland Tribune May 26, 1918
- Know Your Schools 90th Anniversary – Oakland Tribune Sep 12, 1943
- Oakland’s First School Bell – Pt 1 –Oakland Tribune Feb 08, 1970
- Oakland’s First School Bell – Pt 2 – Oakland Tribune Feb 08, 1970