Springfield Community Center Inc

In 1825, when Taliaferro County was formed from five counties, our ancestors were here as enslaved people on the Plantations in Georgia Militia District 606, later called. They trained
After emancipation, our great-great-grandfather, his siblings, cousins, and friends drove seventy miles to Augusta University, later to become Morehouse College, pursuing an education.
In 1935, the Springfield School board purchased land, secured the plan for a Rosenwald design, and began to build the log cabin school, which opened as a school for Black children and operated as such from 1937 through 1955.
From 1955 until 1965, it served as a meeting place for the Masons, Odd-Fellows, and other Black organizations in the Community.
In 1965, a community member, Springfield School graduate, and educator solicited others. They trained under the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Citizen Education Program to prepare Taliaferro County Black citizens to register to vote. They were joined by Summer Community Organization and Political Education (SCOPE) volunteers.
Mr. Turner, a local leader, and five other educators involved in voter registration lost their contracts with the school. Not renewing the contract upset the student, and a protest began. The Springfield School became the headquarters for SCOPE and the Freedom School for the boycotting Black students. The boycott ended with the Freedom School students integrating Wilkes and Warren County.

The Log Cabin later became a textile mill and silk-screening plant. SCLC secured a larger facility as the textile mill grew, and the old school was used as a Head Start and Day Care for the plant workers.
Taliaferro County (Georgia) has a majority Black population, with the school system being 90 percent black. The county's historical markers and statues honor Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy. Springfield Community wants to change the biased perception by teaching our history, which is America's History.
The Springfield Log School is part of Georgia's untold story that needs to be told. We are working to become a part of the Civil Rights Trail and restore the building as a museum and repository.

SPRINGFIELD COMMUNITY CENTER INC.RECEIVES

awarded $10,000.00 for your Springfield Community Center ARP Subaward project, as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

$25,000 FROM NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION TO HELP TELL THE FULL AMERICAN STORY
This year, 2025, we won $750,000 from the African American Civil Rights Grant, which will help stabilize the building.

The plans to restore the Log Cabin as presented by Joseph Smith of AIA and Reed Sheet can be found at ths YouTube link, https://youtu.be/xTqOxOx2uXM