365 PROJECT: Douglass School Alumni Promote Community Pride Online

***NOTE: All 365 PROJECT content was reposted after Tricities.com underwent a website renovation Spring 2008.***

Originally Published: February 29, 2008
NICKI MAYO, WJHL-TV/Tricities.com

Kingsport’s Douglass High School closed its doors June 8, 1966, just one year after desegregation.

“They closed this school and three months later everybody else was going to a white school,” said Douglass alum Calvin Sneed. “That was a culture shock,” he added. The Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni group webmaster says the building was more than just a school.

“It was home away from home for hundreds of students,” said Sneed.

Sneed attended the Douglass High School back in 1965. After the school closed, many of the black students transferred to nearby Dobyns-Bennett High School.

Another “Dobbins,” served as principal at old Douglass High School before it closed. Van Dobbins was principal over the Black School. Today his son, Van Dobbins Jr., is retired and working to give back to the Riverview community.

“My life is going down now so why shouldn’t I help bring others along,” said Dobbins Jr.

Van Dobbins Jr. says Douglass’ “Tiger-Spirit” goes beyond the building. It lives through the community. The Douglass School is now the V.O. Dobbins Community Center. It sits at the heart of the Riverview Community.

African-Americans first flocked to Riverview in the 1930’s. The area was close to industrial jobs at the Eastman Chemical and the Penn-Dixie cement plants.

The old Douglass school building will become a hub for non-profits and social services, including the “Sons and Daughters of Douglass” alumni group.

For more information:
Sons and Daughters of Douglass
http://www.sonsanddaughtersofdouglass.org/history.html
Riverview Community History
http://rivervieworalhistories.blogspot.com/

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