Dorchester Free School
A Chance to Learn
A small brick building once stood here housing the Dorchester Free School. The school offered free education to omly a few poor students. All others paid tuition. Opportunities for white children to learn outside the home or shop was limited. Black children had even fewer chances. Most were slaves and trained only to work.
The Dorchester Free School operated only a short time here. It opened in 1761 then closed during the Revolution and did not reopen for almost twenty-five years. In 1818 the school moved to the nearby town of Summerville.
(Left picture): Students learned with limited supplies, such as this pencil found by archaeologists at the site. Students wrote handwriting lessons into blank copy books with simple lead pencils.
(Right picture): Several girls received scholarships to attend the Dorchester Free School. This was unusual in a time when most girls were only trained for a future as housewives and mothers.
Marker is on State Park Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
