Black & White Ball – Pop Up Event
August 2, 2025
|Douglass Park
POP-UP EVENT: Remembering and Honoring Frederick Douglass High School and the Black Community,
Time & Location
August 2, 2025
Douglass Park, 400 N Providence Rd, Columbia, MO 65203, USA
About the event
The school received state and local tax money and became part of the Columbia School District when the district was organized in 1872. In 1884, the school board approved a $5,000 loan to construct a new school. A lot was purchased at the northeast corner of Park Avenue and Providence Road. During the summer of 1885, a two-story brick building was erected to accommodate 291 fall students.
The school was initially called Cummings Academy but was renamed Excelsior School. In 1898, the name was changed to Frederick Douglass School to honor the former enslaved person who became a prominent abolitionist speaker. This school was the only one for Black students in Columbia, MO.
(https://dhs.cpsk12.org/about/history)
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