Meridian, Mississippi - Education

Education

Early public education in Meridian was based on the 1870 Mississippi Constitution. From 1870 to 1885, trustees appointed by the City Council served on the Board of School Directors, which had authority to operate the schools. Although there were several schools in the city before 1884, they were privately owned and only enrolled about 400 students. The city did not build its first publicly-owned school until September 1884. The first public school for blacks in the city was held in facilities rented from St. Paul Methodist Church. The Mississippi Legislature amended the city charter in January 1888 to allow the city to maintain its own municipal school district, and in March of the same year $30,000 in bonds was approved for the city to build new public schools. From this bond, the Wechsler School was built in 1894, becoming the first brick public school building in the state built for blacks.

From this early district and later additions, the Meridian Public School District grew to its current size, which now includes six elementary schools, 3 middle schools, and 3 high schools. The city also contains several private schools including Lamar School, Calvary Christian School, Community Christian School, and St. Patrick's Catholic School. The campus of Meridian High School, the main high school in the district, occupies 37 acres (15 ha), including six buildings and 111 classrooms. The school is made up of grades 10-12 and enrolls approximately 1,500 students.

Meridian is home to two post-secondary educational institutions. Meridian Community College, founded in 1937, is located at 910 Highway 19 N and offers free tuition for four semesters to graduates from the Meridian Public and Lauderdale County School Districts as well as homeschooled children who reside inside Lauderdale County. Originally known as Meridian Junior College and located at Meridian High School, the college moved to its present location in 1965. After desegregation laws were passed, MJC merged with T.J. Harris Junior College in 1970, which had previously enrolled African-American students. The name change from Meridian Junior College to Meridian Community College took place In 1987 "to more accurately reflect the diversity of opportunities it provides for a growing community area." Mississippi State University also operates a campus in the city. As of the Fall 2008 semester, 763 students from 33 counties throughout the state and several in Alabama attended the college.

Meridian is served by the Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library, located at the corner of 7th Street and 26th Avenue. The city originally had two Carnegie libraries, both built in 1913 – one for blacks and one for whites. A group of women had formed the Fortnightly Book and Magazine Club in the 1880s and began raising money to build a library for the city. The books they collected and shared within the club were later the basis of the library collection for Meridian. With wide support for the library, the club enlisted Israel Marks, a city leader, to approach the national philanthropist Andrew Carnegie for funding assistance. The library for blacks was built at 13th Street and 28th Avenue on land donated by St. Paul Methodist Church, and the library for whites was established in a building originally owned by members of the First Presbyterian Church of Meridian, who sold it to the city on September 25, 1911. The African American library was the only library for blacks in the state until after World War I and is the only Carnegie library ever built for African Americans in the country. The two libraries served the city until 1967, when the institutions became integrated because of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, combined their collections, and moved all materials to their current location. The former white library was renovated and converted into the Meridian Museum of Art in 1970, and the former African-American library was demolished on May 28, 2008.