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Bishop School (Detroit)

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Bishop School, also known as the Bishop Union School and Old Bishop School, was a public school in Detroit.[1][2] Students included African Americans and members of The Purple Gang, a predominantly Russian Jewish criminal gang.[3][4]

History

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Levi Bishop, the president of the Detroit Board of Education, saw a need to create a new union school as opposed to a high school. Though there was disagreement within the Board of Education, Bishop Union School was established in July 1858 and named after Levi Bishop.[5] It was the third union school built by the Detroit Board of Education,[6] and it served kindergarten to 8th grade and had a pool, baths, a clinic, a dental clinic, and a "Foreign Room".[7]

In 1894 the school was described as having a great variety of nationalities.[8] A 1914 report described the school as serving mostly Jewish students and stated that much of their education was done at the library with students "completing their education in a year and a half." Other Detroit schools served mostly Italian or Polish students.[9] The school was one of those selected for a program to "Americanize" Jewish community members and teach them English as well as assist them with naturalization papers.[10]

Notable people

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Cora Brown, the first African American woman elected state senator in the United States, attended Bishop School.[11] The Kaufmanns, businessmen in Detroit, attended the school.[12]

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Yusef Lateef recorded the song Bishop School on his 1969 Atlantic Records album Yusef Lateef's Detroit.

References

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  1. ^ Detroit Board of Education (February 3, 1912). Report of the Superintendent of Schools.
  2. ^ Detroit Board of Education (February 3, 1913). Proceedings of the Board of Education, Detroit. p. 251.
  3. ^ "The Purple Gang - Jewish Organized Crime - J-Grit.com". www.j-grit.com.
  4. ^ "Walter P. Reuther Library". reuther.wayne.edu.
  5. ^ Angus, David L. (1988). "Conflict, Class, and the Nineteenth-Century Public High School in the Cities of the Midwest, 1845-1900". Curriculum Inquiry. 18 (1): 7–31. doi:10.2307/1179559. ISSN 0362-6784.
  6. ^ Detroit Board of Education (February 3, 1967). Histories of the Public Schools of Detroit.
  7. ^ Detroit Public Schools (February 3, 1916). "Education in Detroit, 1916: Department of Superintendence, National Education Association, Feb.21-26, 1916" – via Google Books.
  8. ^ Educators of Michigan: (Illustrated Reference Book) ; a Choice Collection of Biographical Sketches and Portraits of the Teaching Profession. Wilton-Smith. February 3, 1894.
  9. ^ Detroiter. Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce. February 3, 1914.
  10. ^ The Detroiter. Detroit Board of Commerce. February 3, 1916.
  11. ^ Burns, Virginia (2006). Bold Women in Michigan History. Mountain Press Publishing. pp. 99–106. ISBN 9780878425259.
  12. ^ Marquis, Albert Nelson (February 3, 1914). The Book of Detroiters: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men of the City of Detroit. A.N. Marquis.
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